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Chapter Text

The boy lays on the floor of the shack. His belly was cut open and internal organs falling out of the wound. Blood pooled around him and leaked from his mouth. He clenched onto the arm of the girl who had followed him in. Now it sat on the floor with the boy. The arm had been severed but, at this point, he was too close to death to notice that.

Still, he promised. He made a promise he would fulfill no matter what.

"No Matter… What… I'm … going to… SAVE YOU!”

The boy yelled out with his last breath. His eyes lost their light. His body cooled and his vision threatened to give out. Dashes of silver sliced across his vision. Sparks of light formed where dashes met. His vision gave out soon after. If he still was able to hear, he would have heard the silver maiden's worried yells and the assassin's amused laughter as his life faded away. 

Everything went black.

The silver-haired girl had found it. This building nestled away in the corner of the slums and the place where the thief who had stolen her insignia was probably planning to sell it.

“I reaally hope I'm not too late! I need to get that insignia back.”

Quickly she approached the building. She was relieved as she heard the muffled sound of conversation inside. One voice is female and the other male.

“That has to be them. That girl is selling it to him now.”

Now she just had to get inside…

“Is it okay to just walk in. I don't want to break in… I'll knock.”

She knocked on the door twice. She heard someone get up and approach the door.

"Don't open it! We'll all be Killed!"

The male voice cried out as a blonde girl opened the door.

"Kill you!? I wouldn't do something so cruel."

The silver-haired girl stood in the doorway with a stern look on her face.

“I know stealing is wrong but does he really think I would want to hurt him that badly? I do look like her so…”

"I'm glad that I found you here. This time you won't get away." 

The girl eyed the blonde sternly. She had to ensure they didn't get away with her possession.

The face of the male voice sat there confused as he looked at her. The boy, a black haired, black eyed human with scary eyes and weird black, white and orange clothes was suddenly yelled at by the blonde thief.

"You never quit, do you?" 

She growled at the man as she backed away from the half-elf that confronted her. A spirit spoke into the half-elf's mind.

“I know you don't want to threaten them Lia but, you have to make sure they don't think about fleeing.”

“Puck, you're right. This is really important. Sorry thief girl and weird boy!”

The girl knew she could rely on her Great Spirit and father, Puck, for guidance and support.

A barrage of icicles manifested suddenly, the girl not even needing to make a motion with her hands.

"Sorry but, you have something of mine that I cannot give up on. Do as I say and you can leave unharmed." 

The blonde shivered as she watched the ice arrows form in front of the silver-haired haired girl.

 "I have only one demand. Return my insignia to me. It's very important."

A slightly intimidating aura began to fill the room. 

“I really don't like this!”

A voice rang out from the back of the room.

"Hey Felt, I don't think this is a fight we wanna take."

Another couple icicles formed and pointed toward the last person in the building, a large, dark-skinned old man. Seemingly, of the giant race.

Felt, apparently the thief girl, gritted her teeth as she watched the arrows form.

“Crap Rom, you're right and I can't believe it!”

Rom, the old giant, suddenly spoke as he observed the silver-haired girl with pointed ears features. She mentally prepared herself.

 "Young lady, you're an elf, ain't ya?"

“It's always this.”

The girl answered with a somewhat irritated expression. 

 "Not exactly, I'm only half-elf." 

 Felt backed even further away, now sweating a little more than before.

 "A half-elf… with silver hair… Wait! You aren't-"

“Always.”

She cut in quickly.

 "No, it's only an accidental resemblance. It causes quite a lot of problems for me."

Her expression darkened a bit.

The boy seemed to look around only to see Felt beginning to glare at him. 

 "You set me up. Happy now?!"

He stumbled trying to explain himself.

"Huh? No, I wasn't trying to set you u-"

"After you said you would return it to its owner, I thought you were suspicious!" 

The silver-haired girl raised one of her eyebrows as she listened.

"You two aren't working together?" 

The boy replied quickly.

“Nope. I just came here to get the insignia back to the owner.”

“He…that can't be?”

“Eh?”

The girl let out a surprised noise hearing those words. As she did so, the black-haried boy turned to the thief.

"Come on, isn't it enough, just return the insignia." 

He turned to the silver maiden and smiled.

"And you, try not to lose it again." 

The girl looked at the boy with an even more confused face.

"Why are you being so nice? I don't get it."

Felt stomped and yelled at him.

"And I don't get you either! What's up with you?" 

The strange boy smiled at the interaction. The silver-haired girl watched as the smile deepened as he looked at her. She watched in further confusion as he did so.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something funny on me? Only Pucks ever smiled like that at me.”

It was then that the boy's face suddenly changed, hardening as he yelled.

"Behind you!"  

The invisible hairs on her skin stood up straight as she detected something behind her. Her body tensed, instinct flared as she turned and jumped back away from the door just enough to narrowly avoid the business end of a kukri knife. 

“An attacker- if he hadn't warned me…”

"That was closer than I would've liked. Thanks for the warning!"

A cat spirit flew out of the girl's hair and thanked the boy before focusing his attention on the assassin before him. She wore a black cloak and beneath that, a very revealing black dress.

The attacker eyed up the floating cat with the eyes of a predator. A hunter who had found prey.

"A spirit, how wonderful, I've never seen a spirit's guts before."

Felt looked at the assassin with a confused expression. 

"What do you mean by that?!"  

"If the item's original owner is here, we can hardly negotiate. So, my plans have changed. Nobody will be leaving this place alive. You failed to see your end of the deal through. Now you're just another liability. A gutter-rat who failed to complete her task."

Felt glared at the woman. 

"You bitch…" 

The raven-haired boy growled at the woman in black, his eyes filled with anger. 

The Silver-haired girl spoke to the spirit quickly before the situation devolved.

"Puck, I think it would be best if you stop them from getting away while I deal with… her."

Puck looked at her hesitantly for a moment before relenting.

"Fine, but be careful. Feel free to retreat if you need to." 

“Your life is the most important thing here.”

He floated over to the group and conjured several more icicles, some aimed at the group. More aimed at the assassin.  

The silver-haired girl quickly scanned the hunter and the environment. She spotted two particular items that stood out.

The silver maiden walked off to one of the many weapon mounted walls and snatched two weapons up. In her hands, she holds two daggers. The daggers feel comfortable in her hands like they spoke directly to her blood.

“It's weird but, any weapon I pick up feels familiar somehow. These two should be really good against her.”

 She approaches the assassin. 

"Hoo, Hoo. Quite confident walking toward me with weapons you've never used before."

The hunter smiled darkly.

The girl glared at the assassin, she knew just who this was. Charged with many crimes numbering over a hundred. Almost all murders. The girl knew she could not let the assassin go about slaughtering any longer.

"On behalf of the Kingdom of Lugunica, I, Candidate for the throne, place you under arrest for your crimes against the innocent. Come quietly and you will not be harmed."

"So cool!”

The boy suddenly shouted, the girl picking it up.

“Buts it's not that cold in here… yet.”

The assailant laughed at the half-elf as she spun one of the knives in her hands.

"You say that as if there's actually a chance I would comply. Well then, come over here and arrest me if you can.”

She changed into a lower stance, ready to lunge at the drop of a hat. The half-elf assumed a similar position holding her requisitioned daggers, her face taking a more ferocious look. Her aura amplified a hundredfold as her blood responded to threat of the assassin.

The two sat there, ready to strike as silence filled the room until 

*creak* 

The sound of the shack settling was the signal.

“This will be fun.”

The woman in black dashed forward.

“I will stop you!”

The maiden yelled out as she blitzed forth.

A Hunter and A silver maiden flew at each other with killing intent. There was the sound of metal scraping metal as the blades clashed violently in the women's dance.

Kukri met dagger countless times. Sparks flew around the room which was barely managing to contain the two. 

"Pretty and an absolute powerhouse? She has to be the main heroine!"   

The boy suddenly shouted out.

“Jeez, he seems really excited.”

She couldn't really concentrate on the strange boy and what he had said. The woman attacked like she was the embodiment of death itself.

The two continued. The reaper flew at the elf girl attacking with both her knives. She met the blades with her own and batted them aside to leave the hunter open. The maiden coated her leg in ice and kicked the assassin in the midsection with enough force to send the bowel hunter flying into the adjacent wall. 

She landed with a violent crash. Huge amounts of dust flew up creating a smokescreen. 

“There! That should be it.”

The damage would have been enough to knock out any normal person and the girl knew that.

As she approaches, a knife suddenly flies out of the wreckage toward the half-elf at high speed. 

“Uh oh!”

She goes to block the projectile only for the dagger to shatter from the abuse it had sustained.

“Ah, it couldn't-”

Her thought was cut off with a sickening squelch. The knife connected and pierced the half-elf's chest. 

———————————————————

Subaru's eyes widened in dismay. Right as he thought this was the one, his work getting here in this loop was revealed to all be in vain.

The smug figure of Elsa, the reaper who had murder him multiple times, emerged from the smoke screen. Her body was undamaged and now without her cloak. She looked toward the half-elven girl intending to inspect her kill. As she looked, instead, her eyes widened. She moved her knife to counter the approaching blade. Kukris clashed as the half-elf came at her with the bowel hunter's own weapon.

"Ahh, I was not expecting to meet another cursed doll, especially one that's a half-elf."

The girl clashed with Elsa and their knives locked. For the second that they were still, Subaru could see the wound on the half-elf's chest steaming as it rapidly closed up. 

Subaru sat there positively confused as he watched the wound close. There was no way. In the first loop, he had watched her die…? He thought back and realized something. He had only seen her arm. If she could heal like this, then that meant she hadn't fallen next to him. Instead, she had survived the surprise attack and been fighting for her life against this monster. A thought that only served to sicken him more.

Elsa broke the knife lock and began springing around the room trying to find an opening as she spoke.

"You're really putting up a fight."

The heroine responded as she parried an incoming strike.

"Now that you're tired, would you come quietly?" 

Elsa jumped back before striking again. This time, she had her knife batted away where it became entrenched into a distant wall. She landed a couple of feet away and pulled out two more knives. The hunter spoke with a somewhat perverted tone.

"Prey like you is much too rare to simply leave be."

The girl closed her eyes for a second and shook her head slowly. She would need to go all out. 

"That's what I thought. Puck, I need to end this before someone gets hurt. I'm gonna need you to get everyone out of here." 

Elsa chuckled.

"My employer said you might try this. Luckily, they gave me just the ticket to prevent this kind of thing."

She whistled. As she did, a group of dogs ran in through the open door and strange creatures that looked like rats with wings flew in. Both kinds of creatures had a singular horn on their foreheads.

“What the hell is this! Now demon dogs too?”

Subaru yelled as he watched the unexpected reinforcements charge in.

Puck summoned a barrage of icicles that flew forward and skewered the animals. 

"Demonbeasts? Here in the capital?!"

Felt pulled out her machete and sliced a dog that had run at her. More beasts poured in. Rom caved in the skull of another dog that had tried to bite him and Subaru looked for a weapon. A demonbeast charged him and pinned him down. He struggled to free himself as the dog's snapping maw was inches from his face.

"AAAAHH Shit!”

He felt around the floor with his free hand. That's when he found it, a fishing knife that had been thrown on the floor during the scuffle. He stabbed it into the dog's throat. He threw the dog off himself and looked around.  

"Try to stay behind me if you wanna keep your head." 

Puck announced as he conjured a constant barrage of icicles. They impaled demonbeast after demonbeast. Even so, more slipped through. Felt and Rom soon found themselves fighting for their lives as the mob attacked. 

He then looked at the elf girl. If Felt and Rom were being overrun then, she was practically swimming. The majority that sprinted through the door charged straight at her. Despite this, the girl seemed to be in better shape than them.

The dogs ran at her only to be cut down quickly. More would come and more would fall. Dozens of corpses lay on the ground. All were expertly dispatched as if the maiden had trained her entire life with the kukri and dagger. Simultaneously, she had begun firing off icicles to put down any stray beasts. All the while she parried Elsa's strikes. The mage could only be described as a silver whirlwind of blades and ice. 

Despite her best efforts, she had been wounded several more times. All the wounds closed quickly but, just a quick glance would tell you she was tiring. Sweat poured down her face. Her chest rose and fell quickly. Her movements slowed slightly.  

Felt and Rom we're now beginning to tire too. Soon enough, one of them would crack. And sure enough…- 

*Crunch-Crunch-Crunch* 

Three dogs dug their teeth into Rom's limbs. He yelled as he fell to his knees and more dogs began to pile up on him.

"ROM!" 

Felt desperately tried to slash the dogs away from Rom only to get pounced on. She fell down with a pained scream as more bit into her. Puck tried to free them but there were simply too many beasts for him to safely snipe them off.

The silver-haired maiden's eyes widened in horror as she saw this and she yelled.

"Puck! Save them!”

“I can't! Theres too many at too close a range to risk it.”

The girl tried to snipe some of the dogs on Rom and Felt only for Elsa to intervene and destroy the icicles mid-flight.

“That was very rude of you to try and ignore me. Now I'm really starting to get curious…”

Elsa blushed as she fantasized.

“If I stand here and do nothing, somebody's gonna die!”

Things were looking grim. Subaru knew he had to do something. If they could take down, or simply remove Elsa for a few moments, then the dogs would be dealt with easily. So, he came up with a plan. A very stupid one. 

He picked up a club and charged. 

Across the room, Elsa smiled gleefully. 

"Things are looking bad for you. Now, will you please show me your guts?" 

She charged with a deranged blush painted on her cheeks. The half-elf and bowel hunter clashed. Sparks flew as they exchanged hits. The icy girl speeds up in an attempt to stop the assassin. They relock blades. It looked like the fight would go on forever when suddenly  

"EAT THIS, FREAK!" 

Subaru swung the club with everything he had. Elsa blocked the attack with her leg while staying locked with the half-elf. It was a stupid move if he was attempting to get a hit on her.

"My, My, I thought you would've tried to save your friends over there."

Subaru smiled. He had done it.

"I am. I just need to get a piece off the board.”

Elsa didn't seem to understand her mistake until it was a bit too late. She tried to dodge but the battlemage's icy fist slammed into the bottom of Elsa's jaw anyway launching her into the air. She tried adjusting her body midair to block the attacks but was too slow. A dozen icicles pierced her before she was slashed dozens of times by the elf who had followed her up into the air.

There, she formed an ice gauntlet on her fist and slammed it into Elsa's face so hard, it produced a shockwave that traveled through the entirety of the slums. 

Elsa was blasted to the ground and landed on top of a couple demonbeasts, crushing them and making a hole in the floor.

Subaru's plan had worked. With Elsa down for now-.

The silver-haired girl quickly diverted her attention to the thieves. She aimed and skillfully sniped all the dogs off of them. Now they both lay unconscious on the floor, heavily injured after being mauled by the demonbeasts.

 "Puck, heal them while I finish off the bowel hunter."

As she said this, she sprung toward the hole. An undamaged Elsa Granhiert leaped up from the hole and charged. The two moved toward each other at ludicrous speed. They accelerated and we're about to clash once more when-

"That's enough." 

 Both stopped and looked at the third party.

 A man in a noble uniform sporting bright red hair and blue eyes falls through the ceiling and lands between the two. Elsa leaps away 

"I'm glad I made it before anyone was killed. I thank you on behalf of the knights."

She looked and smiled at Reinhard confidently. Subaru smiled as he saw Reinhard make his entrance.

 "You can take this from here. I'll get everyone healed and safe."

Reinhard nodded and focused his attention on Elsa who was currently eyeing Reinhard and the half-elf like they were slabs of meat.

"My, my. The Reinhard Van Astrea. Born to a line of master swordsmen. How wonderful, a half-elf who's a cursed doll and an Astrea. How lucky can a hunter get?" 

 Rein warned the bowel hunter.

"I insist that you surrender now."

Elsa laughed.

"Back down when I've got two of the most interesting prey in the world in front of me?"

The silver-haired girl disengaged from the fight, dropped her knives and rushed over to help Puck move the injured girl and giant. Both had been kept alive by Puck but it took her healing hand to stabilize them. She held the injured under one arm each. 

She raised her leg and kicked the nearest wall. It caved in opening up to the outside. She ran through, Subaru following behind. He turned and offered one more word of advice.

"That woman fights like a demon. Be careful Reinhard."

He noticed the elf girl wince slightly at the word "demon". He would ask about it but, now was not the time or place.

He turned toward the newly made exit and ran through. He quickly caught up to the silver-haired girl and Puck who had gone some hundred meters before stopping and turning to look back at the loot house. Subaru looked back just in time to see a bright light erupt from the shack.

 "Holy shit!" 

 Subaru yelled in surprise.

 "I thought he was a swordsman!" 

 She responded simply.

 "He's the Sword Saint."

Subaru looked at her somewhat dumbfounded. She said that Rein was the "Sword Saint" as if it explained what they had just seen. Subaru heard the sounds of battle within the loot house shut down completely as the light faded.

"Jesus, he blew it away."

The loot house was now nothing more than a blown-out shell. Reinhard standing in the middle holding a sword which proceeded to crumble to pieces. Elsa is nowhere to be found.

"Hey, Reinhard did you blow that manic away or what?"  

Rein looked over at Subaru from a distance and nodded. Subaru's shoulders relaxed as he realized. 

"It's over! It's finally over!"

He walks into the shell of the loot house, True to Reinhard's word, Elsa was nowhere to be found. The half-elf walked in, no longer holding Rom or Felt who followed behind her. By this point, Puck had gone back into his crystal. 

"It doesn't hurt anymore but… augh. I feel like I'm gonna throw up." 

Felt wandered in, a queasy look on her face. Almost certainly due to the fact that only a couple of minutes prior, she had been a witchbeasts chew toy. Despite that, all her injuries had been fully healed. She scratched her head as she turned to the half-elf.  

"I guess we owe you. Sorry about the insignia."

She pulled out the insignia and prepared to hand it back when-.

"LOOK OUT!"

Felt screamed as she saw Elsa spring out from under the rubble and charge Subaru. Time slowed, he could see his life flash before him. 

"Dammit! I thought this was the one."

Subaru had nothing but a fishing knife to defend himself. He had no idea how to parry or block a blade with a knife. Elsa's blade steadily approached anyway. He moved to try anyway but he was to slow. Right as the blades were to connect with his belly-.

A wall of reinforced ice formed between the bowel hunter and Subaru. She slashed at the barrier before jumping back. The barrier held firm, saving Subaru's life. 

 Elsa jumped up to a surviving part of the roof before speaking with an annoyed tone.

 "The half-devil got in my way again it seems…It matters not. Soon enough, I'll disembowel everyone here. Till then, you two take good care of your bowels."

She leaped away and into the night. 

Elsa had left and everyone was alive.

“...”

"Damn, that was close."

Subaru's knife clattered to the floor as he relaxed. For real this time as the worried maiden rushed over.

"Are you alright? If I was any slower…"

"It's fine really, I'm still here thanks to you."

After he recovered from the near death experience. Subaru suddenly turned to the girl, struck a pose and shouted.

“My name is Subaru Natsuki and I just helped you stop a heinous villain.”

He smiled.

“Are we okay on that?!”

The girl tilted her head in confusion repeating.

“Oh-kay?”

“It means ‘are we clear on that’ or… Okay?”

She answered more confidently.

“Okay.”

“I helped you, the heroine, defeat the evil. Wouldn't that mean I need some kind of repayment. Wouldn't it?”

“Alright, I understand. I'll repay you with anything that's within my power of course.”

Subaru couldn't but be amused with how quickly and simply she had accepted his request. And so…

“In that case, I have one simple request.”

He pointed forward.

“Yes, that request is…!”

She looked on expectantly, Subaru flashed her a smile before undoing it and closing his eyes.

“To tell me your name.”

The girl smiled, chuckling before she spoke.

“Emilia.”

The name of the person he fought for, bled for, cried for and died for.

“My name is Emilia, just Emilia.”

She offered him her hand and a million-volt smile.

“I did all that just for a smile and a name… talk about unequal compensation.”

He reciprocated the smile as he took her hand without a second thought.

———————————————————

As the duo talked, Felt approached. 

"Thanks for saving me and Rom from that bitch. I still don't know why you did it though." 

Emilia turned and answered Felt.

"You were injured, I had to."

Felt scratched her head. 

"Yeah but, I stole your insignia. No one would save someone who stole something from them out of the goodness of their hearts." 

Emilia shook her head.

"That's because I didn't, I saved you so you could tell me who you were working with."

She concluded. However, Subaru could see straight through her lie. 

"An angel." 

Felt answered with an ashamed look on her face.

"My contract was with Elsa, no one else. She might have had employers but I don't know them."

"Well, then. You have given me a satisfying answer. You have no debt to me seeing as I got what I wanted from this arrangement."

She closed her eyes and nodded her head. 

"God, she's too cute!"  

Subaru chuckled at their interaction. Felt looked over to Reinhard and realized something. She asked with a tense tone.

"Hey, you're a knight. Right?"

 "Yes, But I am off duty right now, so I'm not supposed to be looking for criminals right now."

Emilia walked over to Felt and reassured her. 

 "If you give my insignia back, you're free to go."

Reinhard heard Emilia and came to a conclusion as well. 

"Give the insignia back and I'm sure I can overlook some things."

Felt held out the insignia and tried to hand it to Emilia when Reinhard noticed it was glowing. 

"Wait… How can that be???”

"I can't overlook this."

 Reinhard grabbed Felt's wrist. 

 "Hey! Let go, you're hurting me!"

 "What's your name?"

 "It's Felt!"

 "And your family name? How old are you?" 

 "Don't have anything fancy like a family name! I'm about fifteen, why!?"

 "I'm sorry, you're gonna have to come with me." 

 "Get over yourself, just because you-"

Reinhard made a motion with his hand and Felt immediately fell unconscious.

 "What do you think your!-" 

Reinhard repeated the gesture and Rom collapsed as well. 

Subaru and Emilia looked at Reinhard with curious and shocked expressions.

 "Hey, Reinhard, she said to let them off."

 "While I understand that they committed a crime. I don't think this is necessary."

 Reinhard turned to them and said a few more vague words. 

 "The crime that she committed may be great but it is trivial when compared to the crime of overlooking what is unfolding before me."

 With that, he scooped up Felt and jumped away leaving Subaru and Emilia dumbfounded.

"I'm sure Reinhard had his reasons. I can't see him doing that without a good reason."

Emilia tried to explain what they'd just seen.

"I don't know… He didn't strike me as a creep. I hope Felt’s ok." 

Subaru worried for Felt. How would they explain what happened to Rom?

"Rom's gonna have a heart attack when he wakes up. What should we do." 

Emilia thought for a second.

"His home has been blasted out, I'll leave him some money so he can eat for the next couple weeks and a note directing him to Reinhard."

Subaru was satisfied with that answer. Emilia walked over to a piece of paper on the ground and found a quill and some ink to write. She quickly did as she said she would and placed it on Rom's person alongside a holy coin. 

With that, she walked back over to Subaru. It had gotten late and the sun had long since gone down. 

"You helped me out back there. I do not doubt that one of those two would have perished if you hadn't made that opening for me… Is there anything else I could do to repay you? A name feels too simple.”

“Eh, haven't really thought about any other rewards.”

He itched his brain trying to think of anything he could possibly want at this given moment only to come up blank.

"I can't come up with anything right now. Maybe I'll know by tomorrow." 

That's when Subaru made a realization. He whispered to himself.

"Uh, I just realized I don't have a place to sleep.”

"You want to stay at my mansion?" 

"You have a mansion!?" 

"I only live there but, I'm sure the lord of the mansion would be generous enough to let you stay."

Subaru thought about it for a second before answering.

"Sounds…"

He paused for dramatic effect.

"Good!" 

He let out a toothy grin eliciting a couple of chuckles from Emilia.

"I hope it meets your expectations. Come, my attendant is probably worried sick."

She began walking with Subaru back to her attendant.

"Who is this attendant exactly?"

"Her name is Ram. She can be a bit… difficult but, now she doesn't mean everything she says."

"A tsundere… huh."

"Tsundere? I've never heard that word before?"

"Makes sense I guess. It's from my hometown. It's not anywhere in Lugunica."

Emilia turned her head to look at him.

"The mansion is where Ram and her sister, Rem, work. Rem is… Well, she can be a bit jumpy. She only wants to protect her sister. Please tell me if she starts giving you trouble."

Subaru grew concerned. 

"Why does it sound Like you talk from experience?”

"She… It's fine, it's all in the past now. Let's just get back before it gets any darker out."

With that she accelerated her pace. Subaru decided he would ask her more about it later. It was obvious she didn't want to talk about whatever had happened. 

“... Well, I hope the lord of your mansion accepts me.” 

The two continued to make small talk as they walked toward the rendezvous point under a peaceful full moon. 

The last peaceful moon for a long time.

Chapter Text

Subaru and Emilia now rode in a carriage. They had long since left the Capital and were on their way to the Mathers domain. 

Subaru sat in the carriage looking out the window. Open fields and plains expanded outward. Mountains could be seen peeking over the horizon. All illuminated by the full moon. As he watched the scenery pass by, he thought about what had happened earlier. 

When they had reached the carriage, the pink-haired maid, Ram, had been quite shocked seeing the bloody and destroyed state of their clothes. 

She also eyed the newcomer, Subaru, suspiciously. She didn't say a thing though. Subaru understood why the maid had been suspicious of him even after Emilia had explained the situation.

That's when he began thinking back even further. He remembered how Emilia had fought back at the Loot house. It was the kind of fighting you would only expect to see in an anime or an over-the-top action game. He especially remembered how she tanked a lethal hit and shrugged it off like it was nothing.

"Hey umm… What exactly happened back there."

Emilia, who had been sitting next to him in the carriage, responded. 

"You mean at the Loot house?"

He nodded 

"When Elsa landed that hit, I thought… Well…"

"You thought I was gonna die."

Subaru gulped 

"Yeah, are you alright? It looked pretty bad."

Emilia nodded 

"Yes, I'm fine now. There isn't even a scar." 

She presented the area where the knife had hit. Right over where her heart and lungs would be. No scar or evidence of the wound could be seen besides her blood-stained clothing. 

"How exactly did you… Do that?"

"What?"

"I mean... How did you heal that? I haven't been around here long but I don't think most people could do that." 

Emilia shifted uneasily 

"I have a lot of magical talent so I can heal myself like that."

She said it as if she was trying to justify to herself how she did it. Subaru knew she was lying. He knew that if she was lying, it meant she didn't want to talk about it. 

"Well, I've had a long day. I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me when we get there. Alright?"

He leaned against the carriage wall and closed his eyes. He hadn't been lying when he said he was tired. 

He quickly dozed off into a deep sleep.

" Sigh " 

Emilia let out a relieved sigh 

"Emilia-sama, I take it you kept your heritage a secret from him." 

"Yes, if he knew the truth…he would have probably run. No random person would want to stay near me… knowing what I am."

Emilia admitted shame in her voice. Ram and Emilia continued to converse.

"So why is it that you're taking him back to the mansion if you think he would be scared of you?"

"He doesn't have anywhere to stay. From what he told me. He found himself here suddenly and had nothing in the way of money. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I left him to fend for himself. Plus, I would like to reward him with something a bit more useful to him."

Ram thought about it and understood. 

"After he gets his reward. He'll be able to leave and live a comfortable life."

"far away from me" 

The last part went unsaid. Emilia had already felt a little guilty dragging him into all of this. 

The two went silent. They would stay that way for the remainder of the trip back to the mansion. 

They came to a stop in front of the Mathers' mansion surrounded by the expansive lawn and garden. Outside that, the forest stretched into the horizon. 

Emilia prepared to exit the carriage when she remembered Subaru sleeping next to her. She gently shook him.

"Subaru, we're at the mansion. Come on, wake up."

Subaru woke groggily. He sat up and took a peek through the window. His jaw dropped as he took in the view. The massive residence towering over him. 

Emilia chuckled at his reaction. 

"Come on, we've got to get to our rooms. It's late."

She beckoned him and he responded by rising from his seat. 

"So this is the place huh? Way bigger than I expected."

"It's one of Roswaals auxiliary mansions. He stays here for most of his time." 

"One? How rich is this guy?!"

"Well, the richest in Lugunica if I were to guess."

Subaru stood dumbfounded before Emilia rose from her seat within the carriage. Subaru remembered that it was the middle of the night and despite his nap, he would still like to sleep a couple more hours. 

"Is the hobo Miss Emilia brought going to be sleeping out here?"

The pink maid who had been driving now stood at the carriage door. 

"I'm not just some hobo!" 

Emilia chuckled a bit more before climbing out of the carriage. Subaru followed behind. 

The trio walked over and quickly entered the mansion. 

The interior is almost as grand as the exterior. Subaru would've been itching to explore the place had he been able to get a bit more sleep. 

"Ram will show the homeless man to his room."

"Geez, You don't have to rub it in!"

"Ram, I'll show him to his room. You've had a long enough day already."

"If Emilia-sama wishes so. I will retire for the night."

Ram walked off, assumedly, to her room. With that, Emilia motioned Subaru again and began walking down one of the hallways. Subaru followed behind her. 

Within a minute she turned to a door and opened it. The room it opened to was vacant and seemed to be a fully furnished guest room.

"This is your room. I'll have the staff notified of your stay here. Tomorrow, I'll give you a tour of the mansion if that is what you want."

Subaru nodded

"A tour? That would be a nice way to get acquainted with everyone. Well… we should get to sleep. I'll see you in the morning Emilia-tan!" 

Emilia tilted her head curiously

"Tan?"

"It's like a nickname. It's my way of showing affection."

Emilia stopped tilting her head and blushed deeply. 

"Well, I uhh… got to go to sleep. Bye."

Emilia quickly said before rushing out of the room. Subaru chuckled a little at her reaction before turning to his bed. 

He walked over, removed his shoes and placed them by the door. He took off his outerwear and tossed it into a nearby laundry basket. He then hopped into bed. It took him a few minutes but he quickly found himself drifting off to dreamland. 

Morning came and with it, Subaru's first day in the Roswaal residence. 

He awoke to see Ram standing by his door.

"Wake up hobo, Emilia-sama is waiting for you."

Subaru yelled indignantly. 

"The hell are you doing in my room? I'm not dressed!"

"This is not your room. It's Roswaal-sama's. Remember that. I'll be waiting outside to take you to breakfast."

As she said this, she turned to the door and exited to give the man some privacy. 

Subaru sighed before rising from his bed. He would have a long day ahead of him. He stood up and walked over to the bathroom which sat opposite the foot of the bed. He entered and found a mirror and working sink. 

He grabbed the clean toothbrush that was sitting on the sink and toothpaste.

"This is a medieval fantasy world, how do they have this stuff? Actually, how do the lights in here even work?"

He decided not to question it and went to work brushing his teeth and preparing for breakfast. 

He left the bathroom after finishing and found his clothes from yesterday folded on the foot of his bed. Seemingly washed and dried at some point prior to him waking.

He quickly put his track pants and jacket on. Slipped into his shoes and exited his room excited to start a new day. 

Ram, true to her word, stood outside. 

"You're keeping Emilia-sama waiting."

"I know, I know. Show me the way then."

Ram began walking and Subaru followed behind. Soon, they came to a set of double doors and walked through. They found themselves inside the dining hall. In the middle of the room sat a large table. 

Several people could be seen sitting at the table. A man wearing clown makeup, a little girl in a red and pink dress, and Emilia all sat at the table. Off to the side of the clown, who sat at the head of the table, a maid that looked almost identical to Ram but, with Blue hair and eyes instead of pink, stood. Rem as Emilia told him.

"Hey, my name's Subaru Natsuki and I'm new around here. While Emilia said I could stay here, I just wanted to confirm with the lord of this mansion. Where is he by the way?"

Ram facepalmed, Rem seemed to glare at Subaru a little and Emilia turned a little red from embarrassment.

The clown spoke up.

"I'm the Lo~rd of this Mansion. And I have already been no~tified."

Subaru quickly realized his mistake.

"Oh crap, sorry, I didn't mean to disrespect you."

"No ne~ed to apologize, it's a very common mistake. Even some of the oth~er lords mistake me." 

Subaru calmed down a little. Roswaal spoke once again.

"in a~ny case, Lady Emilia has decided to reward you for your efforts in helping her in her atte~mpt to arrest the bowel hunter."

Subaru sat there with a bit of a confused look.

"Umm.I told her yesterday that a place to stay was fine. I've already been rewarded."

"You have a cha~nce to get more than that. She believes that you might want something e~lse."

Subaru stood there a bit confused. He thought for a second before coming up with an idea. 

"I've got it. I don't just want to live here…"

Emilia had expected Subaru to choose not to stay here. She was a silver haired half-elf…No, worse. Who would want to stay around…

"I want to be Emilia-tan's personal butler!" 

Emilia sat there, completely discombobulated, and positively shocked. Rem only seemed to harshen her glare.

"Personal butler?"

The room sat silent for a second. 

"if Emilia-sama agr~ees. Then, it is settled."

Subaru turned to Emilia to see her staring at him like he had just sprouted wings.

"Umm… Did I overdo it?"

"That boy is clueless, I suppose."

The little girl who had been silent commented. 

Emilia found her voice and spoke up, still in a little bit of disbelief. 

"Your request is reasonable, I will honor it." 

Subaru's momentarily neutral face suddenly shifted to an excited and toothy grin. 

"is it alright if I sit next to you?"

Emilia nodded and Subaru sat down. Rem walked over and placed a plate on the table in front of him, still glaring at him. He didn't notice and simply chowed down on the breakfast. 

Emilia, however, noticed. 

"Um, Subaru. Once you're done, how about we take a tour of the mansion so you know where everything is? How's that sound?"

He nodded and sped up his pace, eager to go tour the mansion with Emilia. Within a couple minutes, he had finished his breakfast and gotten up. 

Emilia took his hand and quickly walked out of the room. Subaru was too busy blushing up a storm to notice the blue oni staring at them with murderous intent. 

Emilia walked down the hallway. As she walked, she couldn't help but think to herself about Rem. Before and after the incident , Rem would send glares her way. However, today was different, now she was also glaring at their new resident.

Emilia couldn't help but be worried about it. While Rem would usually stay as far from her as she could. She also heard someone following farther behind them. She hoped it wasn't Rem but knew that there was a high likelihood that it was her. 

She decided not worry about it right now. She would confront the maid about it later. Right now, she was getting Subaru acquainted with the residence. She opened the door to the bathing room.

"This is the bathing room. You should probably stop by later tonight, seeing as you went straight to sleep last night." 

Subaru suddenly became very self-aware of the fact he hadn't showered. 

Emilia shut the door and continued down the hallway. As they walked, Subaru suddenly stopped, turned to the nearest door and opened it. 

The door opened to a magnificent library. Bookshelves towered over so high, a ladder would be needed to retrieve the texts. In the center of the room two spirits sat on a couch. 

"Hey Puck! Who's this you're playing with?"

"Hey Subaru! I really have to hand it you. You managed to help my daughter out of a tough spot. Betty, introduce yourself."

The little girl who has been sitting and playing with Puck now grumbled as she introduced herself. 

"Betty's name is Beatrice, the Great Spirit of Yin. For what reason have you intruded into my library?"

"I dunno, I just opened a door randomly and found myself here."

Emilia followed Subaru in.

"Oh, you managed to find Beatrice. It usually takes me a couple hours to find her."

"A couple of hours?" 

"Yes, the library changes to different doors randomly throughout the mansion. You usually only find her if she wants you to."

"Oh, it seems like Beako likes me."

Beatrice shot a glare at the boy. 

"Beako is not Betty's name. In fact! Leave now."

Emilia walked forward.

"Sorry for interrupting, but I need to talk with Puck for a second."

Puck flew off the couch and over to Emilia. 

"Sorry, Betty. It'll only be a second."

With that, Puck turned to Emilia and began telepathically talking to eachother.

'What is it? Is something wrong, Lia?'

'Yeah, I noticed Rem acting a bit… weird.'

Puck's face darkened.

'Like how weird?'

'She's been glaring at me and Subaru...I think she might be following us.'

'Do you have any idea why?'

'I have an inkling it's because of me. She probably suspects him because I brought him to the mansion.'

'That damned girl…'

"Hey, what's holding up bubby?" 

Puck flew over to Beatrice's ear and whispered into it. Beatrice's face shifted a little and she understood the situation. She got up and walked over to the boy.

He had been sitting there clueless as the father and daughter 'conversed.' Then even more confused as the little girl rose from her seat and walked up to him. 

She placed her hand on the boys chest before turning and announcing to rest

"The boy has the Witches scent, in fact."

"What!?"

Emilia, Subaru and Puck all yelled out simultaneously. 

"However, I sense no malice in him. He's no cultist."

Puck flew over to Subaru and floated over him for a second before relenting.

"Betty's right, there's no malice in him. I guess the scent would explain why Rem didn't like him."

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" 

Subaru had been completely in the dark about Rem. Emilia tried to explain what she had noticed.

"Rem has been glaring at us ever since we arrived in the dining hall. I didn't want to scare you, but it looks like it's too late for that."

Subaru sat there with a frustrated expression on his face.

"Why? I don't get it… Beatrice said something about witches' scent?"

Beatrice stepped up.

"Witches' scent is a part of someone's aura. It's generally associated with the seven witches of old. Most commonly with The Witch of Envy and her followers."

Subaru scratched his head.

"Well, I'm pretty sure I haven't met any witches. I don't know how or why I could have it." 

"Betty doesn't know either, but I will inform the other staff that you are no threat to them."

Subaru breathes a sigh of relief. If things weren't caught this quickly, things could have spiraled out of control and he could have ended up having to loop again. 

"I guess I'm in your debt. I'll thank you in the only way I know how." 

He smiled as he suddenly grabbed Beatrice and began spinning her around.

"Beako! Beako! Beako!"

"Put me down!"

Beatrice suddenly created a blast of air that launched both Emilia and Subaru out of the library. 

"Buenos aires!"

Both were launched straight out the library and out a second-story window. Subaru expected to feel the ground hit him at any moment but it wouldn't come. Instead, he found himself in someone's arms. He looks up to see Emilia. 

She had landed perfectly and caught him. A blush quickly crawled across his face. He scrambled out of her arms. Emilia verbally noted something.

"I need to remember to chastise Beatrice next time I see her. You could have gotten hurt."

"But I didn't, all's well that ends well."

Emilia sighed at Subaru's dismissal of the possibility of him being harmed. Subaru thought about some things Emilia had said.

"Hey, you said Rem was glaring at both of us. Not me specifically. And in the Capital, you alluded to an incident between you and Rem. What happened?"

Emilia went silent, she looked down and hid her eyes from his view. After a while she grabbed his arm and began walking.

"You deserve to know but, I think we should talk about it somewhere a bit more private."

Emilia and Subaru we're now inside Emilia's room. Subaru sat on a chair that had been brought up opposite Emilia who sat on her bed.

"Rem… well, Rem tried to kill me."

"What!"

"I know! Just let me explain… a couple of months after I arrived here…-" 

7 months ago [End of Winter]

Emilia woke up in her room and started her daily routine. She got out of bed. Let Puck do her hair. Got dressed and left for breakfast. 

She met up with three other residents. She would encounter them daily at breakfast. She was served by Ram and quickly went about eating her food. 

She talked a little with Ram. Rem didn't approach her but had seemed docile in the last month since she arrived or, so it would seem to Emilia at least. 

If today was like the previous days, then Emilia would finish breakfast, study, meet up with Puck, attempt to talk with Ram on her break, attend to the crystals on the perimeter, sometimes have some magic lessons with Roswaal and then converse with the spirits. 

That was her daily routine and she was sure that it would be the same today.

After that, she returned to her room to study. After breezing through her economics and history assignments, she talked to Puck. He had finished playing with Beatrice for the day.  

During their talk, Puck suddenly looked at her with a worried expression before asking.

"Lia, this might seem a bit random but, do you feel weird or different somehow?"

"No, why are you asking?"

"Your aura's a bit more intense than usual. You sure you don't feel any different?"

"Well, not really, Hmm… I did get this weird itch on my back. It's minor though." 

Puck stretched his head, deep in thought.

"Hmm… tell me if you start feeling sick or anything."

Emilia continued to go about her day not thinking much of her itch. She proceeded to leave her room. After walking through the hallway for a small while, she came to the one of the living rooms to find Ram drinking tea on her break.

"Hey Ram, how are you doing? I'm sorry I couldn't help you with your horn."

"I'm doing well Emilia-sama. Thank you for your concern but there is no need to worry. I'm not in any pain thanks to Roswaal-sama.*

*That's good to hear. If you ever feel too tired or in pain to do your work, remember that I can fill in if needed."

Ram shook her head.

"You're a selection candidate, it would be out of order to be having you do housework."

"Fine, but remember to keep my offer in mind."

Emilia waved bye to Ram before leaving to attend to the perimeter. After walking out into the yard, she approached the crystals by the fence and noticed something. 

She could sense mana crystals already. They all were working as intended and in place but, normally she would have to get much closer to check them. Now she was able to sense all of them on that side of the mansion. 

"hmm… that's weird."

Emilia didn't think too much of it and simply walked the perimeter. She walked around and couldn't find any discrepancies. By this time much of the day had gone. The sun was setting below the horizon and sounds of occasional distant howling could be heard. 

Emilia walked back inside and began preparing for dinner. She was sitting inside her room, reading a book. She had taken to reading in her free time. The current book was a romance novel she found herself lost in as of recently. So lost in, she almost didn't notice the knocking at her door. 

"Emilia-sama! I have something urgent you need to attend to."

A voice rang out from the other side of the door. Emilia recognized the voice as Rem. What could it be?

"Rem, what is it?"

"Some of the magic crystals on the perimeter are malfunctioning. We have to go now to make sure no mabeasts get in." 

Emilia immediately got up from her seat. She ran to the door and opened it to be greeted by Rem on the other side. 

"Emilia-sama, is Puck with you right now?"

"No, he's already gone to sleep. I can handle whatever the problem is myself."

"Good, lets go."

With that, the two ran off to fix the perimeter. 

Emilia thought about her check up on the crystals earlier. Had she really missed one? Maybe she should have gotten closer to really check them out. In any case, Emilia and Rem had reached the fence. With a single jump, they both sailed over it and landed at the tree line, where the crystals hung.

Emilia ran up to one and inspected it, she couldn't find anything wrong with it. She sensed the other crystals in the vicinity. All were functioning normally.

"Rem, I'm not sensing anything wrong with the perimeter… Rem?"

Rem had gone completely silent. Emilia turned to see Rem standing behind her. Holding a spiked ball and chain flail. 

"Stop playing dumb! What do you want with us!"

Rem shouted at the half-elf. Emilia stood there in shock.

"What are yo-"

Emilia jumped to the side based on pure instinct. A projectile landed where she had just been standing. Emilia looked to see that the projectile was Rem's spiked ball. 

Rem had just tried to kill Emilia

"Rem!? What are you doing?"

"I knew you were trouble from the second you stepped foot here."

The flail was yanked, sending the ball flying toward Emilia.

"A silver-haired half-elf that has that smell! You finally show your true colors!"

Emilia jumped over the ball and grabbed onto the chain behind it. 

"What are you talking about?"

Rem yanked on the chain flinging Emilia toward herself. 

"The witch's scent covers you. Even while you chatted with my sister! Her completely none the wiser!"

Rem shouted and slammed her fist into Emilia's face.

"uggh"

Emilia flew back and slammed into the ground.

"I couldn't smell it on you at first. But today, your wretched smell finally showed itself. You're here to finish the job aren't you?!"

She launched the spiked ball at Emilia who rolled up from her crumpled state at the last second before she would've been crushed by the ball.

"Rem! Please listen to me. I don't understand what you're talking about. I don't want to hurt either of you."

"Lying Witch!" 

She leaped at Emilia with such great speed that even Emilia couldn't keep up. Emilia was grabbed by the neck and choke slammed against a tree by the enraged oni. 

"You're here for sissy! Haven't you taken enough from us!" 

Emilia couldn't answer as she was being choked. 

"I won't let you take her from me! I'll end your pathetic life here and now so you can't!" 

Emilia kicked and kicked but Rem wouldn't let up. Emilia's face began to turn purple from asphyxiation. She was about lose consciousness when-

"Put Lia down NOW! Unless you want to be turned into a pin cushion."

A cat spirit floated behind Rem. 5 floating ice crystals surrounded the girl all aimed straight at Rem's head.

"Rem! What are you doing!?"

A pink haired oni ran up behind Puck.

"Sissy… you shouldn't have had to see this."

"Emilia is our guest! Put her down now."

"But sissy…" 

Ram's eyes were filled with worry. 

"Fine, but you have to trust me! She's a cultist or a witch! I can smell it!"

She dropped an unconscious Emilia to the ground.

Emilia now sat on a chair within the Forbidden library. Her hair is a mess. Her clothes are covered in dirt, blood and tear stains. 

She couldn't understand what had just happened. Yesterday Rem seemed perfectly reasonable but, today. She had tried to kill her. Claiming that Emilia had the smell of a witch. Emilia had woken up a little while ago and been told to wait in the library. Beatrice would explain everything to her.

"Are you ready, I suppose?" 

The yin spirit sat on a stool opposite Emilia. A faded red book in her hands

"I-... I guess so."

"Betty will start with what caused this mess. Your aura."

"my… aura?"

Beatrice nodded 

"Your aura has suddenly shifted. It's become a lot more intense and threatening. To an ignorant oni, it is easily mistaken for the scent of the Witch of Envy and her cult."

"So… that's why Rem attacked me? Why and when did my aura change? I didn't feel any different."

"That… I have an idea as to why but, I'm not sure it would be good for you to know. Once you learn, there is no going back in fact."

"But I need to! If it's going to cause problems…"

"I understand… but, do not say I didn't warn you." 

She cleared her throat and began.

"Have you ever heard of beings known as demons?"

"Demons?"

"Yes, they have always existed in the shadows. Beings of extreme power and evil. They feed on the blood and mana of mankind. Separate from all creatures and hailing from another dimension."

"I've never heard of them."

Beatrice opened her book and began reading from it while she continued to talk.

"Most people nowadays don't know of them. Their existence was forgotten by the world centuries ago. Most stories involving them have been considered myths or attributed to witchbeasts."

Emilia sat confused.

"And what does this have to do with my aura?"

"I'm getting there… I've encountered a couple before. Their aura's were eerily similar to yours."

Emilia thought for a second. Sweat began to run down her face.

"H-how could that be?"

Beatrice breathed in deeply before answering. An answer that would forever change Emilia's life.

"You are part demon."

"She is wrong. She has to be!"

Subaru knew it was wrong. The girl who had saved him was an angel. 

"She wasn't. What happened back at the loot house is proof. What normal person gets stabbed and shrugs it off?"

Subaru couldn't argue with that. She had taken a knife to the chest like it was nothing. 

"Rem sensed my power when it awakened in me. She did what she thought she had too."

"Bullcrap! No normal person would try to kill someone else just because they have a smell!"

"Why do you defend me!? I'm a demon! One that looks like an evil witch of old! Why?"

Emilia had broken down at this point, screaming at him in confusion. 

"Because you saved me and Felt and Rom. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. You saved me so many times that I know you aren't a demon." 

"That isn't enough proof to you?! Fine, is this enough!"

Something shot out of the open shoulder of Emilia's dress. It was long and wide.Silverish-white feathers coated the limb. It took Subaru a second to realize what he was looking at. 

A large gray feathered wing had extended out of Emilia's back. Emilia sat there, her eyes closed in anticipation of Subaru's outburst. However, something completely different happened.  

"...E.M.T… You're an angel!" 

Instead of her ears being assaulted by the boys' horrified screams. She heard praise. 

"You heard me right. You're an angel. Those wings match the description and everything… well actually, you're still half-elf so, that makes you a… nephilim! You're the daughter of an angel!"

Emilia sat there in dead silence.

"...what?"

That was all she could muster at the boy's remark.

Chapter Text

[Elior Forest: 7 years ago]

A lone girl sat in an ice field surrounded by fire. All her spirits had been murdered by the flaming Great spirit in front of her. Her best friend, Puck, cradled in her arms having been injured. All she could ask him was why. Why did he kill her friends? Why was he here to kill her for things she hadn't done? Why was she different from everyone around her? He gave only a short answer

"Thou art half-elf…capital crime itself. That… not all. Thou… blood… demon. Monster worse than Witch. Thou art Embodiment… sin."

Emilia couldn't hope to understand what he meant at that time. 

"But why did you kill the spirits and hurt Puck? You're here for me and me alone!" 

Melakura answered robotically.

"Co-conspirators deserve… capital punishment. Thou… threat to world…no… threat to reality itself. Thou life… crime… disaster… worse than Witch." 

It was at that point that Emilia felt something stir within her. The being in front of her had decided her existence was wrong and had to be eradicated. An idea that distressed her for obvious reasons. However, the more that the thought sat in her mind, the more wrong it felt. How can someone be guilty of a crime just by existing? It was unfair no… it was unjust . She began to feel a flame light up within her. It was small, a thousandth or less of its full potential but it was there.

She thought of how her spirits had been killed. Children who had been some of her only friends. Killed without warning for simply being contracted with her. While a part of her felt responsible for their deaths. A louder part felt righteous anger. Melakuera had murdered them, not her. The "Mediator" crushed those weaker than it when it had no real need.

"You killed them! You didn't need to but you did! How many others have you judged? How many others have you killed?!"

The horse went silent for a second before answering.

"Judged…Countless. All… guilty..."

Emilia gritted her teeth. Melakuera had killed countless people. Most like her. All for the crime of daring to exist. Power began to emanate from her. She felt rage at the fact that the Great Spirit of fire had killed countless and knew that if she fell here, he would continue his slaughter. He would kill Puck, he may even kill the elves, something she couldn't allow. She prepared to fight before Puck suddenly interrupted. 

"Emilia… Don't worry about me. Go… get out of here. I'll try to distract him." 

Emilia refused to give up on the dying spirit.

"No, I won't leave you here! I have to stand my ground. You've already fought for me enough, so I need to fight for you!" 

"Emilia…"

The cat spirit looked at the girl with wide eyes as he realized that the girl would not leave without him. Even if it meant certain doom. He thought for a second before an idea came to him. Doing so would go against his contract but he would do anything to save Emilia. 

"I have a proposal… let's form a contract." 

Melakuera had the chance to destroy them both then and there, but he held back. A dialogue between a spirit and their contractor was sacred. 

The girl and spirit discussed. She had been worried about him eventually leaving her. He assured her that he would always be there for her. Together, they formed a contract and Puck was allowed to use the girl's mana. He found a massive store of mana within her. All of it was especially potent in a way he'd never seen before.

He entered his true form bristling with even more power than thought possible. Melakuera could sense it. In a one vs one fight, he may have been equal to the Beast of The End but, with the contract. Melakuera stood no chance. He continued his hostilities and questioned why the Beast would protect someone like her.

"Because I believe that she's someone who can work hard to find happiness, no matter what state the world is in! She won't become a witch!" 

The Mediator questioned the girl

"You're right, It seems I am a half-elf. I'm not like the others in the forest. My silver hair and my eye color resemble the witch's, and immense power sleeps within me. I understand why you say that's dangerous."

She then thought of her own uselessness and how much she hated it. 

"I was weak and dependent on others, so if I was alone, what happened today would probably happen again. That scares me a lot. But… Puck's going to stay with me. So… I won't become a witch."

She strengthened her resolve and proudly proclaimed.

"I'll grow strong so others can depend on me. I want to create a world where people like me are accepted. Where everyone can live together without fear of being hated or hunted for unjust reasons."

"That is who I want to be! Emilia. The person who protects the weak and downtrodden! A half-elf born in this forest!"

Melakuera acknowledged the girl's reasoning and moved to begin the battle. 

"I am Mediator, Melakuera!"  

"My name is Puck! At least remember it before you die."

"I am Emilia, just Emilia. I was born with that name and I'll keep it till the day I die!"

"One thing is certain…"

Emilia knew for better or for worse…

"I'll never forget you!" 

Emilia yelled from the Beast of the Ends back.

The Beasts began their clash of fire and ice.

For a moment they sat deadlocked…

Until Puck accessed more of the girls' argent and explosive mana…

And Melakuera was consumed by an explosion of ice and white-hot flames.

"You're an angel. That's what I said."

The girl looked at him as if she hadn't heard correctly.

"No, what do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. You. are. an. angel."

She hides behind her wing. Peeking over the fluff of the appendage. 

"Do you… really mean that?" 

Subaru smiled as he replied 

"I do, I really mean that. Huh!? Why are you tearing up?" 

"No, I-It's nothing. Something just got in my eye."

The girl lied as a small stream leaked from her eye. She quickly wiped it away.

"... You said I was half-elf… and now you know I'm a demon. You know that and you still say I'm an angel?" 

Subaru scratched his head.

"You say that as if it has any relevance… I know others have a problem with you being a half-elf but… I can't find it in me to care about that."

As he said this. A fluffy paw tried to punch him only for it to be caught by Subaru's pointer finger. 

"Hey! What was that for?"

Puck responded. 

"I just couldn't let that go on any longer. Do you have any idea of the kind of turmoil you're causing my daughter?" 

Subaru looked over to Emilia to see her begin crying. 

"I'm sorry… it's just… I never have had someone… say that to me before. Gosh, I must look like a crybaby."

Subaru realized something he should have earlier. Emilia truly had never been interacted with in the way he had with her. He remembered his second loop in the capital when he accidentally called her the name of a Witch. He also remembered Felts reaction to Emilia being a half-elf. Subaru understood that she must have had to deal with prejudice . The only other person who saw Emillia for more than her race was Puck so, being complimented was not something she was expecting.

"Ahh… well, it's fine. I could imagine having a similar reaction in your situation." 

He grabbed a tissue from the nearby table and handed it to Emilia. She stopped hiding behind her wing and showed herself to Subaru.

"Thank you." 

She wiped down her eyes before looking at the clock. It had begun to get late.

"Subaru… it's late, dinner is in a couple of minutes. We should get ready to go down."

"Yeah, I guess we should."

He stood up and put the chair back at Emilia's desk.

"By the way, I noticed you have a lot of textbooks here. Are you like… studying for something?"

"Yes, I'm studying for the Royal Selection. While I'm ahead in my studies, I still have a lot to learn."

"Wait, you're actually a princess?!"

"No… The Royal Family died off a couple of months ago and now, they need someone to replace them and reforge the covenant with the Divine Dragon. I'm just one of five other women who the people can elect to reform the covenant."

"So… a queen candidate?"

"King, but yes."

It was then that a knock was heard at the door.

"Emilia-sama? Is Barusu still with you? Dinners ready downstairs."

Emilia's wing disappeared back into her dress in a flash. Subaru wondered how she even fit such a large limb behind her back. 

"We'll be going down in a bit Ram. See you downstairs!"

Emilia yelled through the door. After a second footsteps moving away from the door were heard.

"...So does everybody here know about your situation or… do only I and Puck know?"

Emilia shook her head.

"Ram and the lord know about my heritage but only Puck, Beatrice and now, you know about my… growths… I know to keep them hidden from view. I don't want to think of what people would do if they saw them."

She got up and moved to the door before Subaru could say anything. 

"Come on, we're keeping everyone waiting." 

She walked out of the room and Subaru quickly followed. 

Subaru struggled to start a conversation after the grim comment Emilia had made. He talks in a hushed tone.

"hey, uhh do your wings work or are they just for show?" 

"...I never tried using them. Not that they'd be all that useful in doing anything but making everyone scared of me." 

Subaru thought for a second. 

"You know, you and I could test it tomorrow."

Emilia thought about it for a second before shaking her head

"What if someone else sees? You're gonna start your first day tomorrow anyway. We wouldn't have any time during the day to go out."

Subaru thought for a second before replying. 

"Tomorrow night, how about we go out and test it? Nobody will be around to see them beside me and Puck. What do you say?"

Emilia stayed silent for a second before answering. 

"Fine, but we can't go too far from the treeline. There are mabeasts in the forest that are especially active at night."

"Okay! Tomorrow night, I got a date night with Emilia-tan!"

"Don't call it that!" 

Emilia blushed immensely while Subaru laughed at her cute reaction.

"It seems that Barusu is already making moves on Emilia-sama."

The two had reached the dining room and Ram greeted them with a smart remark. Subaru turned red and Emilia got even redder. 

"Ram, it's not like that. We were just messing around."

"Understood Emilia-sama. Though do be careful around lecherous Barusu. We do not yet know the extent of his debauchery."

"Ram, stop calling him that. It looks like he's gonna pop from embarrassment any second now."

Subaru had turned as red as a tomato.

"I haven't been here a day and I'm already being mercilessly attacked!"

Ram turned and walked into the dining room to present them their seats. Emilia and Subaru quickly sat down and watched as Ram served them their food. The two began to eat as Subaru took note of the room. Everyone who had been in the room during breakfast was also here now including a certain blue maid. 

Now she stood at the other side of the table with Roswaal. She kept a straight face for the most part but Subaru looked at her and saw her throwing a death glare his and Emilia's way for a moment before returning to her default face.

Subaru went on eating as if he hadn't seen it. He couldn't help but feel some amount of anger towards the girl for her actions. She had attacked Emilia for little to no reason and had only been allowed to stay here seemingly by Emilia's graces. And now she had the gall to glare at that same girl? 

After he was done eating, he decided to wait for Emilia to finish eating before they both left down a hallway quickly to get away from the oni maid's gaze.

"...Geez, was it just me or was she really glaring at us like she wanted to kill us?... I still don't know why you let her stay here." 

"I didn't want to see Ram and her separated. That and I now understand she really thought I was a threat."

He shook his head

"No matter how many times you say that, I don't think what she did was justified. She tried to kill you! All 'cause you had some smell."

She looked down for a second before looking back up and changing the subject. 

"I am still a threat… you should go take a bath before you go to bed. You'll have to wake up early to help me in the morning."

Subaru wanted to argue but he couldn't.

"Fine, but my opinion hasn't changed… I'll see you tomorrow in the morning. Goodnight Emilia-tan!"

"Goodnight Subaru."

They went their separate ways to their rooms. Subaru got a change of clothes and took a bath. It went by in a flash and soon, he found himself crashing onto his bed. He drifted off to sleep. 

Emilia awoke early in the morning. The sun had not yet come up yet as moonlight came in through the window as she heard a knock at the door.

"Hey, Emilia-tan! It's morning! I'm here to start my first day as your butler."

Emilia sat up and responded.

"Come in, the doors unlocked."

He opened the door and Emilia immediately noticed he was wearing a butler outfit. 

"Ram gave me my outfit. It's a little big but it'll do till she goes to the tailor in a couple days… How do I look? I don't look too bad, do I?"

"No no, you look just fine… I don't though. I went straight to bed last night. I'm gonna go take a bath. Just stay here for now."

"Got it EMT, I won't leave from this spot!"

He smiled as he sat down on her bed. She got up and entered her closet looking for clothes. She emerged quickly holding a change of clothes and exited her room.

Subaru sat there for a second before an androgynous voice called out to him. 

"Lia seems a bit more lively than usual… Is this your doing?"

Subaru jumped as the cat spirit manifested in front of him.

"Where the hell did you come from!"

"Well, when a lot of mana gathers in one place…-"

"That's not what I meant! How did you just pop up in front of me? I thought you could only be around Emilia?"

"It's true that most spirits need to stay near their contractors. Me especially but, Lia's special. She has a lot of mana, too much for her to use on her own. So I can use a portion of it. Heck, she has so much I don't even have to worry about saving when I can and can't manifest."

Subaru believed he understood how it worked.

"So, what are you doing here then?"

"I'm here because I want to talk to you about Lia. She's been a bit more hopeful than she has been after that damned oni attacked her. I'm pretty sure that's thanks to you. You told her what most are too scared to say. I gotta admit that you've had a big impact on her."

‘I have? No way. A Nobody like me actually had an impact on a goddess like her.’

"I can read emotions, you know. Good to know you at least know your place."

"Hey, don't go reading my mind. I have a lot of private things up here!"

"Well, you're interested in her so…"

His face morphed into a demonic sneer for a second.

"Gotta make sure you aren't having any indecent thoughts. Lest I end your lineage here."

Subaru pulled back away from him

"Calm down! I'm not gonna do anything indecent to her alright? I'm not that much of a bastard. Though, I guess you could say I'm… attracted to her in that kinda way."

Puck dropped the sneer and took up an exasperated expression.

"I guess I should have expected this at some point. It's normal for girls her age to start getting the attention of boys. I guess I should be happy that anyone would see past the surface level and like her in this way."

Subaru's eyes lit up a little

"Do you really mean that? Do you… really think I'm…-" 

"Don't get ahead of yourself. The jury is still out on whether you would be a good partner for my daughter. Don't get any ideas."

"Got it, got it."

The two sat silent for a second before footsteps were heard approaching and the door opened once more. Emilia entered the room. Now, she wore a pink shoulderless dress. 

"She's so cute."

"Hey, Puck. What are you doing here with Subaru?"

"Nothing, just chatting."

He flew over to the girl and disappeared into her hair. 

"Well, Ram must have woken you up so you could help me before breakfast. Recently, I've been waking up earlier so I could study a bit more."

"You sure it's a good idea to be getting up this early? It's like 5:00 am in the morning."

Emilia tilted her head in confusion

"Five eeyy-eem?"

"It's a measurement of time where I come from."

Emilia lit her lagmite lamp and sat down at her desk. 

"Oh. Well, I need to get started on my studies. Could you get me my new history textbook? Ram should have left it in that pile."

She pointed to a pile of books that had been sitting on the far side of her desk. He walked over and examined the books before realizing something. He turned to Emilia with his face red from Embarrassment. 

"Umm… Emilia. I just realized… I can't read Lugunican." 

"What?"

And so began Subaru's second day at the mansion.

"This is so embarrassing. I'm the butler who's supposed to be helping you."

"Well, you need to know how to read if you want to help me so this is more important."

Now the two sat at the desk as Subaru copied down i-glyphs. He had quickly learned them uncannily fast. 

"Though, I have made quite a lot of progress. Emilia-tan is a great teacher!"

A gray cat materialized on the desk.

"I know right? She's got a couple of divine protections that help her with that."

Subaru's interest peaked. 

"Divine protections? Tell me more!"

"Alright. Divine protections are enhancements people are born with. They can be small benefits or very useful ones."

Subaru turned to Emilia and asked.

"So what cool abilities do you have? Do you have super strength? Or can you run super fast? Tell me!" 

Subaru asked her with a childish gleam in his eyes. She meekly began listing off her abilities.

"Well, I think I have the Divine Protections of weapon mastery, magic mastery, training mastery, tutoring mastery, and I feel a few more I can't identify. I feel new abilities manifesting a couple of times a month. At least I think they're Divine Protections?"

Subaru's already beaming excitement peaked

"So does that mean I might get some as I grow?"

"Umm… Most people are born with them. Only me and Reinhard received more after our births."

All his excitement left his body in an instant.

"So I can't get any huh… well, that just means I'll have to make up for it in other places."

Subaru concentrated on reading the book in front of him. It was a children's book and he found that he could read it easily now. 

"Hey, that Divine Protection of tutoring isn't what's letting me learn this easily is it?"

"Umm. Nothing has been triggered I think… and you have been learning much quicker than normal. I'm sure you're just a quick learner."

"Well, I can read and write I-glyphs. I think we should move on to Ro and Ha-glyphs… After a little break. I wanna go see what drill loli's getting up to."

Emilia agreed to give Subaru a small break.

"Alright, but you better be back soon. You still have a lot to learn mister!"

Subaru got up and went for the door. He opened it and immediately found himself inside the forbidden library.

"What are you doing in my library in fact!"

A little girl yelled from her seat in the middle of the library. Subaru smiled and announced his intentions.

"I'm here to see what you're getting up to. Maybe even get to know you a little better."

"You're interrupting Betty's reading. Leave now."

He replied while looking around the room.

"Sorry, can't do that just yet… hey, is this like… your room?"

Beatrice responded while keeping her face buried within her book. 

"It's Betty's multipurpose room. Betty spends all of her time here in peace and quiet… except today it seems."

She closed her book and reached over to a nearby table. On it sat a small bowl filled with candy and sweets. She grabbed a handful and placed a couple in her mouth.

"Oh… so Beako likes candy and other sweets. Good to know!"

Beatrice grumbled in irritation before talking with a mouth full of candy.

"What's with that name?"

The boy spoke with mock bravado 

"It's just a nickname… A way of showing how close we are!"

"Where did you get the impression we were close?"

Subaru lowered his head as if depressed.

"Beako!... You wound me in such a way after everything we've been through…"

Then he dropped the act.

"Anyway… remember not to eat too many sweets. You'll get fat!"

Beatrice raised her hand to him and yelled

"Get out I suppose!"

Subaru was flung out of the library in a ludicrous fashion. He landed on his butt and looked around.

"Are you alright!?" 

A silver-haired girl stood… no sat next to him. He had landed back in his seat at Emilia's desk.

"... aside from the nausea… I'm fine."

He sat there for a second as his nausea dissipated.

"Well, I guess that was my break. Let's get back to it.

"Okay, I'm doing really good, now I just got one more book to read through."

He picked it up and immediately noticed how ominous the book seemed. He read the title.

"So this fairy tale is called… 'The Great Calamity'. That sounds ominous."

Emilia gulped and responded.

"That's because it isn't a folk tale. I'm sure you have seen some variation of it before."

"Actually, this is my first time hearing of it."

Emilia could tell he was being genuine when he said that. 

" There's no way... Is that why he doesn't hate me? If he's gonna stay here… he's gonna need to know this."

"Well… it'll explain why Rem thought what she did was right."

Subaru didn't understand how the book would justify her actions but opened the book anyway. 

He read the book. It was obviously intended for younger ages but contained limited usage of Ro and Ha glyphs. That, however, was the least eye-catching quality of the book. It detailed a disastrous event that occurred 4 centuries ago. It resulted in the deaths of a quarter of all life in the world. The calamity was said to have been caused by a Witch of old known only by one name. 

Saying that name aloud was thought to be a bad omen in and of itself. Satella or the Witch of Envy, A silver-haired half-elf,was said to be an invincible nightmare that took the combined efforts of four heroes to stop.

First was the Great Sage, Shaula. He was the one who orchestrated the initial defense of the populace against the Witch,

The second was the Sword Saint, Reid Astrea who fought with great speed and swordsmanship to beat the Witch's shadows back.

The third was the Divine Dragon, Volcanica. A dragon god whose purifying breath saved and repaired the damage done by the Calamity.

And finally, the grandest and most powerful of them all. A man who appeared suddenly during the world's time of need.

"The Legendary Dark Knight Sparda."

A silver-haired man that was capable of fighting on par with the Witch. A man who fought for justice and burned away evil with his just flames. The grandest of all the heroes who used much of his power to seal the evil away. 

Subaru sat there processing the information. Emilia sat next to him avoiding his gaze.

"So you understand now. She was right. I'm a silver haired half-elf and a demon. I may as well a be a wit-"

"Hey, you wanna know who in that story you remind me of? Sparda."

"What?"

She blinked for a couple of seconds before he responded.

"Sparda, the Legendary Dark Knight. You both got silver hair. You're both strong and you both fight for justice. I remember why you fought Elsa back in the capital… w-what did I say wrong?"

Emilia broke down for a second time. She had not expected him to compare her to the Legendary Knight. She had been told her entire life she was the second coming of the Witch. Not anyone remotely close to the honorable Sparda. 

It went against everything she had thought about herself since learning her true nature. He shattered everything she believed. That everyone would hate her, that she was a monster. He destroyed her worldview in a single moment. 

He told her she was an angel. Someone who fought for justice. A good person. All things nobody but Puck had ever told her.

She bawled her eyes out in front of the boy. She released much of the emotions that had built up within her. She had buried them deep within, trying to pretend she was fine when she wasn't. Trying to rationalize what Rem had done. Attempting to blame herself.

Subaru sat there unable to respond for a second before acting quickly. He leaned over and hugged her. He didn't say a word as Emilia cried into his shoulder. He simply lent her his shoulder to cry on for a minute or two. 

She calmed down and her tears dried up. 

"Sorry again. I'm pathetic aren't I?"

"No, no your not. You shouldn't have had to deal with Rem at all. If others only saw you as a monster and treated you as such… you deserve better than that. You deserve happiness."

The two sat there for a second before Emilia and Subaru finally separated and looked at the time.

"Wow, it's already nightfall. That day flew by."

He stood up. 

"Dinners soon… After what just happened, are you sure about testing your wings? If you don't feel like it…-"

"No, I'm fine. If anything, you made me a bit more sure of myself. I'll meet you later after dinner by the gazebo in the courtyard. Got it?"

"Got it EMT!"

He left the room to let her prepare for dinner. 

Dinner went by without incident. Subaru left for his room, got his new clean change of clothes, took a quick bath, and changed into his tracksuit. By this time, all the mansion's lights had been turned off. He made his way over to the courtyard quietly and sneaked outside. Sitting under the gazebo, Emilia fiddled with her hair. Her eyes seemingly gave off a low glow under the moonlight.

"Damn, you look too beautiful to be real."

Emilia turned red

"Don't say that. It's embarrassing."

Subaru offered his hand.

"So where are we going?"

Emilia took his hand and stood up.

"Over there. Only a little past the treeline so no one sees us."

She pointed to a point on the fence. Beyond it sat the forest.

The two walked over to the fence and Emilia leaped over it in a single bound as Subaru carefully climbed over using some of his skill from when he was a young delinquent. 

"You can jump over that in a single bound?"

"Actually, I can jump much higher than that. I use mana to reinforce all my muscles and bones so I can do things like that. I'm sure I could teach you how to do it sometime."

The two walked further into the treeline. They stopped after maybe thirty seconds of walking. 

"This seems far enough. So we're gonna try this out or…"

Emilia turned to Subaru.

"Okay, I'll try now. It might be a good idea for you to step back."

Two long appendages shot out the shoulders of Emilia's dress. The wings went out to their full span. Each wing was almost the length of Emilia's whole body. 

"Damn, that's cool."

Emilia then began to flap them attempting to rise from the ground. She began to float off the ground.

"Holy shit! You're actually doing it! You're flying Emilia-tan!"

"I'm actually flying… uhh, how do I move?"

She just sat there unable to find out how to navigate.

"Umm… maybe try replicating how dragons fly? I don't know."

She went a bit higher before changing to a gliding position with her body parallel to the ground. Things went wrong immediately. She began to glide and speed up uncontrollably.

"I'm speeding up! How do I stop!?"

She struggled against her own wings and began to spiral toward the ground at an alarming speed while Subaru could only watch. She crashed into the dirt by Subaru at the speed of an arrow. It resulted in an explosion of dust, dirt, and feathers that knocked the boy on his butt. 

He coughed on the ground until the dust cleared to see Emilia's lower body sticking out of the dirt. Her butt sticking up and out of the dirt in a cartoonish manner.

"Emilia! Are you okay!?"

A muffled voice came from the dirt.

"I'm fine… can you pull me out?"

Subaru got up off his ass and walked over to Emilia.

"I'm gonna pull you out by the legs alright?"

"Got it."

He walked up behind her with a massive blush realizing how scandalous a position this was. He grabbed her legs and pulled. After struggling for a couple of seconds, he gave one last big pull and freed her from the hole. 

She got to her feet quickly. Embarrassment was clear across her face. Her dress had somehow survived the violent impact. Aside from the dirt she was now covered in, she was unharmed.

"Sorry Emilia. I should have known this would have been a bad idea…-"

"Wait…"

She closed her eyes before suddenly springing into the air. She brought her wings into a gliding position and sped off before Subaru could even try to track her with his eyes. She then suddenly came back and landed gracefully next to him. All the dirt that had once covered her was mysteriously gone.

"Holy crap! How'd you do that!"

Emilia turned to him and told him flatly.

"I just learned."

"WHAT!? That quickly?!"

He was sure it was yet another Divine Protection at work based on the previously given description.

It was then that a sound was heard from the direction of the way they came. 

Rem came to the spot where the two had been standing seconds earlier to find the forest empty. She examined the hole Emilia had made. She talked to herself in a quiet voice.

"What is the Witch and her cultist up to?"

She looked up and around the forest

"I swear I smelled her here… where did that little Witch go?"

Emilia stood on a branch high above, hiding herself and Subaru under her wings. Subaru would have been freaking out from the close contact were it not for the blue maid standing below them with dubious intent.

After a couple of seconds, the maid wandered away. And Emilia whispered to Subaru.

"Hold on, I'm gonna get us back to the mansion without anyone noticing. Grab onto me."

He had only a second to process what she said before she silently took off. He quickly grabbed onto her body tightly as she quickly flew high above the ground.

She flew close to the treeline to avoid being seen until she got as close to the mansion as she could. She then made a beeline for the balcony by her room. 

They made it there quietly and without incident. When the two finally landed, Subaru was red as a tomato. He had gotten to feel up much more of Emilia's body than he ever should have given that he only knew her for a day or two. Emilia also seemed to be in a similar situation as Subaru and had also turned red.

"Uhh… don't tell Puck, I think he'll kill me."

"Tell me what?"

The spirit materialized with a sneer in front of Subaru prompting him to scream and fall on his ass once more. 

"Puck, that was mean."

"Emilia… you understand why I had to do that."

"I understand that it was improper but we had to get away from Rem without being spotted."

The cat's sneer disappeared

"I… Yeah, I guess you're right. But please don't do that again unless it's an emergency. All I need is for him to get ideas… Now what do we do about Rem? I think I'll have to have a direct talk with Roswaal about that."

"Anyway… Did you see Emilia fly? It was amazing!"

"Yeah, I saw her. She had a lil bit of trouble till she got that new divine protection. At least, I think that's what those are. I'm still unsure about why she keeps getting those."

Subaru got up from the ground. 

"Well, that was a long day... I think I have to get to bed. I'll see you two tomorrow."

Emilia responded.

"I'm going to stay up a bit longer to talk with the spirits. I'll see you tomorrow Subaru."

He gave them his send-off

"cyaa!"

"Bye Subaru!"

"Goodnight."

The father and daughter gave Subaru their send-offs for the night as Subaru walked back to his room.

He thought about the long day he'd just had. He had learned a language, made the girl he liked cry, comforted her, and then made her fly. He didn't know if he should be proud of himself or ashamed. In any case, he was exhausted. He got to his room and crashed onto his bed once more. It didn't take long for him to doze off, ending his 2nd day in the Roswaal mansion. 

A blue-haired maid walked toward her room. She had been following the duo around. She was sure they were up to something so she followed them whenever they left their rooms. She couldn't find anything however as they had spent most of their time in Emilia's room.  

Tonight, however, they finally made a move. They went out into the forest and made a hole in the ground. She couldn't tell why but they had done so. Maybe they dug something up? Maybe they were preparing to finish the job and take her and her sissy out. Rem knew she wouldn't allow that to happen but knew it was too early to act. The day after tomorrow, she'd finally rid the world of those two scum. 

As the maid darkly planned, a voice called out to her.

"Sister?"

A pink-haired maid stood in front of her by her door.

"Following the residents around again I see."

Rem tried to explain herself.

"They're planning something! I just know it."

Ram responded in a somewhat stern voice

"They are just children, Rem, they are not planning a thing."

"But they are! The Witch and her cultist were outside tonight digging in the forest!"

Ram sighed.

"And? They are not only not a threat to us. But we're supposed to be serving them."

"But sissy…-"

Ram turned away from Rem. Saying one more thing before walking away.

"Do not do anything rash… we're only still together because of the kindness of that so-called witch… Please. Roswaal-sama won't think twice about sending you away."

She walked away. Rem replied as she left.

"Alright…sissy."

She knew, however, that she would not be able to keep that promise.

Chapter Text

Emilia stood on the balcony, conversing with the spirits as she did every night. She talked with them about her day. After a couple of minutes, she realized the time and decided to finally call it quits. She said her goodnights to the spirits before turning and walking back into the mansion. As she did, she noticed a certain great spirit she was very familiar with floating in the hall in front of her. 

"Hey, Puck. What are you still doing up?"

The cat spirit floated in midair, having apparently not gone to sleep yet. 

"Hey, Lia. I knew you were still awake and just wanted to accompany you. Just to be safe."

Emilia had noticed Puck would stay up just for her after the incident with Rem. While she understood his concern, in the past few months, it had felt more like he didn't trust her to handle herself. It felt a little embarrassing honestly.

"Puck, while I do appreciate the concern… I can take care of myself. You should be resting. You know that staying up too late is bad for your health."

Emilia scolded the cat spirit and he scratched his ear. 

"I just can't help it. Look, you're my daughter. I wanna make sure you're safe."

Emilia let out a somewhat exasperated sigh. He always worried for her. She recalled how Puck interacted with Subaru earlier that night. Scaring the poor boy. It left a bad taste in her mouth, which is why she decided to confront her father about it. 

"Puck, while I admire you and all you do for me… something has been nagging at me. Can I ask you about it?"

"Yes, you can ask me anything."

Emilia breathed in deeply before asking…

"Why did you scare Subaru earlier?"

Puck took a second to come up with an answer. He hadn't expected Emilia to ask him about the earlier occurrence.

"Emilia… it's complicated. You really wouldn't understand."

Emilia replied matter of factly.

"I'm sure I can understand. Just tell me."

Puck gulped. He thought for a couple of seconds before answering.

"Look, I had to make sure he didn't get any weird ideas. Especially considering the way he feels about you."

Emilia tilted her head in confusion.

"Okay, but… what do you mean by that?"

Puck gulped once again as Emilia said this. He had not expected Emilia to need to know about this kind of thing. At least for right now. He recalled the biology lesson the pink maid had been tasked with giving her. If the lesson was thorough, he would be spared the embarrassment of teaching his daughter about romance. After a full twenty-five seconds of awkward silence, he answered.

"Umm… You remember that lesson Ram gave you… the one about boys and girls and what they do when they like each other?"

Emilia's face turned bright red as she connected the dots. She was in disbelief. 

"You're not telling me he… thinks of me like that… right?

Puck wanted to disappear into his crystal that instant. He struggled to find an answer.

"Uhhhhhhhh…"

The lack of an answer was interpreted as confirmation. Emilia was shocked to learn that Subaru was attracted to her in such a way. It was something incredibly unexpected to her. Emilia quelled her blush and recomposed herself quickly.

"Ahem… In any case, I can handle myself around Subaru. Don't bother him about it, please. I understand that you might be worried about me but I'm running for the throne of the kingdom. I'm almost a hundred and fifteen years old, I have to learn to do things for myself."

Puck knew that Emilia really had only fifteen years of experience. He tried to argue back.

"But… you're not ready for that kind of stuff."

Emilia looked at the cat spirit with frustration. Why does he always treat her like a child?

"But I am ready Puck!... Just please trust me with this for once. I need this! Alright?"

Puck floats in the air, deep in thought. He could sense the desperation in his daughter clearly. Emilia looked at him with a firm expression. While he wanted to protect her from anything that might hurt her, he also realized just how uncommon finding someone who cared about her in such a way might be and that his little girl was growing up. After a little bit of thought, he relented.

"Ahh, fine. I trust you, Lia. Just make sure he doesn't take advantage of you. Alright?" 

Emilia's firm expression shifted into an honest smile.

"Thank you for understanding. I'm heading to bed now. I'll See you tomorrow Puck!"

Puck replied once more in a cheerful voice.

"Goodnight Lia!"

He faded away back into his crystal. Leaving Emilia to walk to her room alone with just her thoughts.

——————————————————————

Emilia and Subaru now stood in the courtyard. The morning sun shone down on the two residents of the Mathers mansion. Both had recently woken up from the night prior and met at Emilia's room before Subaru urged her outside.

"You wanted to show me something-… what are you doing?

The boy can be seen doing strange movements in the grass. 

"Just my homeland's ancient practice of warm-up exercises, also known as radio calisthenics! So, you wanna join?"

Emilia looked at the boy skeptically before answering.

"Sure! So how's it done?"

Emilia replicated Subaru's movements as he explained radio calisthenics to her. They went through the exercise over the course of a couple minutes before simultaneously shouting.

"Victory!"

With that, they concluded their morning exercise.

"Wow, that felt pretty good. I should do that again sometime."

Emilia found the exercise very refreshing despite how admittedly odd it was.

"So I'm guessing Emilia-tan liked the exercise then?"

Subaru asked, excitement clear in his eyes.

"Yes, I did like it. It was very different from what I would normally do, but it was good."

Subaru pumps his fist in the air.

"Mission: 'Introduce Emilia-tan to radio calisthenics' was a success!"

Emilia smiled at the boy's silly antics as he celebrated to himself. 

"Subaru, you're such a jokester."

Subaru quipped back.

"Who says 'jokester' these days?"

Emilia pouted at Subaru, allowing a little bit more of her childish side out.

"Subaruuu, jokester is a very up-to-date word. I hear people use it all the time!"

Subaru smirked.

"Whatever you say, Emilia-tan!" 

Emilia pouted for a couple of seconds before dropping it in favor of a smile. She was happy to have a friend in Subaru. The two spent the morning messing around and joking in the yard. Emilia found herself laughing out loud at the silly boy's hijinx. 

——————————————————————

"So, that's how the last sword saint went out, huh? A giant, homicidal whale?"

Subaru and Emilia now sat at the desk in Emilia's room. Morning had since passed and the two had moved on to their studies. They both looked over a history textbook detailing recent Lugunican history. This chapter specifically recalled the failed white whale hunt from about fourteen years ago.

"Yes, she was one of the greatest swordsmen to ever live."

Subaru thought for a second and responded curiously.

"Wait, if Theresia was a sword saint. Doesn't that mean Reinhard is her son or grandson?"

Emilia nodded to Subaru's question. 

"Reinhard is her grandson… I just wish she was still around, so I could talk to her."

Subaru recalled some of the other things he'd learned about Lugunica during their study sessions.

"I'm surprised that you want to meet her. Especially since she was a veteran of the Demi-human Civil War."

Subaru thought that having participated in such a conflict might create an animosity towards demi-humans. Emilia understood what he meant. She looked down at the textbook. A determination showing in her eyes.

"Given my heritage, it probably wouldn't be the best idea but… I want to learn more about the war from those who fought in it. It might help me to prevent something like it from ever happening again."

Subaru looked up at Emilia. He sat silent for a few seconds before curiously asking.

"Why is it that you want to run for the throne anyway?"

Emilia sat still for a second before turning to Subaru.

"I want to say it's for unselfish reasons but… Primarily, it's so I can free my people. They've been trapped as ice statues in Elior forest for a century now. I want to free them and make a kingdom where they are unburdened by prejudice and live happily."

Emilia told Subaru what she thought to be a selfish truth.

"I need the dragon blood stored within the royal castle to free them. I'm only doing all this because I want to save the people I care about."

Emilia couldn't see Subaru's expression. She knew he would be disappointed. He opened his mouth. She braced herself for ridicule. 

"You said it was for a selfish reason. That doesn't sound very selfish to me."

Emilia looked at Subaru in confusion. She couldn't have heard him right.

"What are you saying?"

Subaru smiled brilliantly at the confused elven girl.

"You want to save your family. That sounds like the opposite of selfishness! At least where I come from it is."

Emilia sat there with a confused and shocked expression. Out of all the possible responses, she hadn't anticipated this one.

"You're being too hard on yourself. You are trying to make a better kingdom for your people but, you're also making a kingdom better for everyone else at the same time! Don't ever forget that." 

Emilia finally understood what he was saying. She turned to him and smiled. 

"Thank you. I always thought it was selfish but… I realize now that it might not be as I originally thought. Your view on things really helped me." 

Subaru blushed. 

"Hey, it was nothing."

Emilia chuckled at the boy's embarrassment.

She thought back on the last few days as she chatted with the boy. They were… fun. It was somewhat new to her. Interacting this casually with a peer. She hadn't been this happy for a long time.

Subaru had a pretty big impact on the girl. Even in such a short period, Subaru always managed to cheer her up. He saw the bright side of things even when Emilia couldn't. 

Emilia beamed happily. Subaru felt a warm feeling enveloping his chest as he saw her smile. To him, it was the most beautiful thing he had seen. He decided from that moment onward that he'd protect that smile.

Emilia looked back to her desk. Sitting on the corner of the workspace, a miniature time crystal glowed red.

"Oh, it's already past noon."

Emilia realized the time.

"I think we should take a break."

Subaru got up from his chair.

"Where are you going anyway?"

"Ahh. Just gonna go bother that Drill Loli again. Maybe see if there's anything more exciting I could read now that I know the language."

"Don't take too long. We still have a lot to go through."

Subaru began to walk to the door before suddenly stopping. He turned toward Emilia's closet and threw it open.

Emilia looked on in confusion.

"What are you-?"

"Right, every time."

The closet door opened into the forbidden library. Emilia looked on, impressed.

"How do you find it so easily?"

Subaru smiled.

"I dunno, call it a super special skill or something. I just know."

He looked back at Emilia.

"Well, off to mess with Beako. I'll see you soon!"

Emilia piped up in worry.

"Don't mess with her too much. Remember when she tossed you out of a window?"

Subaru shrugged it off. 

He walked through the door, closing it behind him. Emilia sighed, knowing that the boy would most likely come back flying out.

In the meantime, she thought back on their previous conversations. Then, she blushed furiously when she remembered the talk she had with Puck last night. The boy had actually been attracted to her. She'd been talking to Subaru the entire time, having forgotten how he felt toward her.

It was something Emilia thought she would never have. Something she could only vicariously experience in books and stories. Now, a strange boy had shown up that had taken an interest in her specifically. He knew nothing about the world around him, was broke, and had fallen for a silver-haired half-elf of all people. 

Emilia groaned in frustration and rested her head on her desk. Still blushing up a storm. A warm feeling in her heart.

"Oh, Subaru… What am I going to do with you?"

—–––—–––—–––—–––—–––—–––—–—–––—–

Subaru waltzed right into the forbidden library. As he did, a certain blonde-haired drill loli who had watched him from the moment he opened the door sighed as the boy entered her library. 

"Hey, Beako! How are you doing?"

The girl grumbled as she replied.

"Betty was doing just fine until you barged in yet again. What is it now I suppose?"

Subaru grinned as he faced the girl.

"Nothing. Nothing… Just seeing how you are. Making sure you're alright."

Betty yelled indignantly.

"Betty was 'alright' before you interrupted her. If you are only here to bother me, I should throw you out this instant in fact."

The girl raised her hand as if about to toss him out. 

Subaru remembered when he was thrown out a couple of days ago. He felt a cold sweat perspiring down his back.

"Hey, please don't do that… I also came here to get some books for me and Emilia. Just let me look around a bit more." 

Beatrice looked at the boy, irritation clear on her face for a moment before relenting. 

"Fine, if it means you'll stop bothering then go ahead I suppose. Just make sure not to damage the catalogs unless you want to be tossed out the window I suppose."

The girl sat back down in her seat. Subaru reckoned she really would toss him out and so, decided to leave her alone for the time being.

Subaru walked away from the spirit as she picked up a book and opened it. She ignored him as he went about his business. Subaru began to look for any books that could catch his attention. 

Technically, if he wanted to learn more about Lugunica, he should be looking for educational texts but… He wanted to find something that would be interesting for both him and Emilia to read. 

"Something for me and Emilia-tan… maybe some fiction? Ahh, I doubt they have any shonen in here… Would she even like shonen?"

Subaru spent at least fifteen minutes walking up and down the aisles looking for anything interesting whilst thinking to himself. All the books looked quite boring. All of them had brown or faded covers.

He had opened a couple and found nothing of note or interest. Cookbooks, history textbooks, gardening books? He had very little interest in any of them at the current.

It was then that he found something. In a particularly ancient-looking part of the library, he found a distinctly out-of-place text. 

Outwardly, the book seemed almost brand new. It had a dark purple cover with gold printing around the edges. The boy walked up to it and looked at the book's title. Immediately upon reading it, his interest peaked. He opened the book, ignoring the insane amount of dust that flew into the air when he opened it and began to read.

Just skimming through it, he found information that he knew could be quite interesting to a certain elf girl. He was somewhat surprised at how similar she looked too… he knew that she had issues regarding the way she looked and an idea began to take hold in his mind. 

"...I need to show this to her!"

Subaru, still holding the book, ran out of the library at impressive speed. The blonde yin spirit looked at the boy in confusion as he sprinted out the door. She sighed.

"What a strange boy, I suppose."

The girl turned back to her book, unaware and uninterested in whatever the boy had found.

A couple of seconds later, Beatrice's expression lit up as a familiar spirit entered her Library.

"Bubby!"

——————————————————————

Emilia had just seen Puck off to his visit to the library and had been in her room, waiting at her desk for the boy to return. In the meantime, she'd been reading up on spells and magic. She had been given the textbooks by the Mathers once he realized the extent of Emilia's magical capabilities. She was currently in the process of studying the Goa line of fire spells as opposed to the Huma line she normally practiced.

It was then that her pointed ears twitched. Someone was running down the hall toward her room at full speed. She looked to her door just in time to see a certain raven-haired butler burst into her room. He was covered in sweat and breathing heavily with how fast he'd run back.

"Subaru? Are you alright?"

Emilia asked in worry as she looked him over. Making sure nothing was wrong. 

"I'm fine. Look what I found!"

The boy excitedly presented a book to her.

"Eh? A book? What's so special about it?"

Subaru held an eager grin on his face.

"You've gotta read this!"

Emilia looked up with an uneasy smile.

"What's gotten him all worked up? He looks way too eager… it has to be of interest then."

Emilia looked down at the book as he placed it on the desk in front of her. The book looked like some old magic tome. Emilia could even sense a kind of preservation spell on it. The elven girl looked at the title and gasped. 

"'Book of Heroes' it says it was written… four hundred years ago!? Where'd you find this?"

Subaru chuckled at her surprise.

"Found it in the forbidden library. That's not all though, keep looking!"

Emilia watched as Subaru opened the book to a certain page. Emilia noted the incredible amount of dust that flew up from within the book which seemed to lend credence to the idea that the book was 400 years old. 

Emilia looked at the page in interest upon seeing its contents. The page contained a colored portrait of the individual in question. A young and handsome man with slicked-back silver hair.

He could be seen wearing a long purple jacket like what an aristocrat would wear with the inside painted a blood red. He wore a white cravat with his jacket and an expensive-looking red tunic with silver buttons. He wore a monocle over his left eye and had a blood-red jewel around his neck. His eyes were blue with light blue pupils and his skin was pale like that of Emilia's. 

His expression was serious and he seemed to emanate power even through the portrait. 

"...Sparda…"

The Legendary Dark Knight who saved the world… looked surprisingly familiar. At least, in a certain boy's eyes.

"See! He looks like he could be your grandad!"

Emilia looked the portrait over once more. He did have silver hair and it was the same shade as her own. Looking deeply into his eyes, she noticed that he had the same blue pupils but lacked her amethyst irises. 

Subaru looked over at Emilia. He swore they had an uncanny resemblance. They had similar facial structures, fair skin, silver hair and blue pupils. He genuinely thought they might be related. 

"I don't see it though."

Emilia scratched her chin. She couldn't see a resemblance.

Subaru looked at her a little incredulously.

"You sure? The resemblance is uncanny. No way I'm the only one seeing this right?"

Subaru was starting to think he was seeing things until a certain great spirit manifested in front of him.

"Hey Lia! I'm back from my visit to Betty… hey, what's going on here?"

Puck immediately noticed the conflicted emotions within his daughter and then noticed the book sitting in front of her. He stared at it for a second before asking the duo curiously.

"Who's this?"

Subaru spoke up

"That's a picture of Sparda. I'm sure you've heard of him."

Puck nodded in understanding.

"Yes, I never met him but I was around back then. I heard a lot about him over the years. That he saved the world, fought for justice. People admire him even to this day."

Subaru smiled as pointed at the book.

"Doesn't he look familiar to you?"

Puck looked back at the book. He took a second look at it before his eyes widened. He understood what Subaru had pointed out. Puck found it a bit unbelievable but… he had to admit. Emilia had a somewhat uncanny resemblance to the dark knight. Puck scratched his chin.

"He's… he's right. You two do actually look alike."

Emilia squinted harder but still couldn't see the resemblance. Emilia frowned

"I just can't see it."

Subaru scratches his head. How could Emilia not see the similarities? It was then that he noticed a certain sadness in her eyes. Finally, it clicked. It wasn't that Emilia and Sparda didn't look alike, Puck confirmed so. No, it was more that she didn't seem to be able to see it. He could guess as to why.

Subaru looked around Emilia's room and noticed the distinct lack of a mirror… or any reflective objects to speak of. He understood she had hang-ups about her appearance but to think she would avoid seeing herself as much as possible… 

Subaru walked up to Puck who looked at him suspiciously. 

"Hey Puck, can I talk to you for a second?"

He and Puck moved towards the door and spoke just outside the room.

"I can sense whatever it is, it's serious."

Subaru looked at Puck with a straight yet concerned face.

"I know Emilia has problems with her appearance… and I noticed she doesn't have any mirrors in her room."

Puck suppressed a gulp. The spirit thought given the previous subject matter that Subaru might have realized this. Puck was about to threaten the boy for attempting to pry into a subject like this, one that could so easily result in his Lia being saddened, but then he remembered her comment from the previous night.

About how she wanted to learn how to do things by herself. She would need to be able to run a kingdom and certainly would have to confront her demons regarding her appearance. Puck selfishly wanted to shield her from said demons but, he knew that was impossible and here Subaru was offering an out.

Puck had been floating there with a growing aura leaving the boy to become increasingly scared he crossed a line until…

"... It's part of our contract… I realize now when I added that clause to our contract, I was ignoring the truth that… she'll have to accept it eventually."

Subaru sat there in surprised silence. He had expected to be threatened by the little cat.

"And, sorry about threatening you last night. I was scared of losing my little girl to someone else… in any case…"

He looked back up at Subaru, a serious expression on his face.

"I'm willing to turn a blind eye to that part of the contract. For Lia, I can make an exception to a minor term. Subaru, I trust you to help my daughter. If only because I can feel you care deeply for her."

Subaru smiled slightly, happy to be accepted by Puck and more importantly… to be given a chance to help Emilia.

"Here's what I want you to do."

Puck began planning with the boy on how they could help the girl they cared deeply for.

——————————————————————

Emilia waited anxiously inside her room as the two conversed. They had been talking for several minutes and she was starting to get concerned. 

Subaru walked back into the room holding something circular and flat under a piece of cloth. 

Subaru placed whatever it was on the desk before taking a seat next to her. He turned to her and softly asked.

"I noticed that you don't have any mirrors in your room. How often do you see yourself?"

Emilia sat there for a moment before shaking her head.

"No? As in not in a long time or-"

Emilia cut him off. A gloomy expression fell across her face.

"Not since the incident with Rem seven months ago. I… whenever I looked at myself. I was reminded of why everyone hates me… why my dream is unattainable."

Subaru looked at her and spoke, Voice filled with compassion.

"You know… it's not as unattainable as you think. I'm here and when I look at you. I can only see an angel. Not some monster and… I think if we could get others to look past the surface. They would see the same. But, even on the surface, you really do look like him."

Subaru then pulled the cloth off the object to reveal a piece of ice shaped into a mirror. It was placed on the table in a way where Emilia could not yet see herself in it.

"Take a look. And maybe you can see yourself how we see you."

Emilia looked at Subaru in concern.

"But, my contract prohibits it. It's sacred, I can't just…"

Subaru responded.

"How would Puck know if he isn't here right now? He told me he had to go quickly. You can look."

"But. It's against my contract-..."

Suddenly an androgynous voice rang out from the doorway.

"Emilia… go on… if you want to. I won't hold you back. I realized that stipulation wasn't the best in hindsight."

Emilia looked to the door at her father then, to the ice mirror. Hesitantly, she looked at Subaru who smiled at her. She slowly reached over to the mirror and brought it closer to herself. She closed her eyes as she held the ice mirror up. She breathed in deeply… and finally opened them.

There she was, in the mirror. Amethyst's with blue centers as her eyes, long flowing silver hair, pale skin and pointed ears. She hadn't seen them in a long time.

Subaru leaned into the view of the mirror. She could see the wide smile painted on his face as he reached over. Subaru brought the open book up beside the mirror. Finally, she began to see the similarities.

They shared identical pupils, the same shade of silver hair, the same facial structure and skin tone. It surprised her quite a lot.

"You see it now? You really do look like him."

Emilia didn't know what to say. She really looked like the hero. Subaru's comparison from the other day may have been more accurate than she previously thought. Emilia's eyes widened a little in shock

"I do… I'd never have imagined that of all things."

Subaru thought about the similarities and asked curiously.

"You sure your not actually related?"

Emilia thought for a second. She delved deep into her mind making sure to avoid her more painful memories. Eventually, she found something.

"... I think… my mother was an elf and my father… was a human. He…"

It was as if something was trying to suppress the memory. After a couple seconds of struggling, she broke through some of the suppression and recalled the memory more clearly.

"He had silver hair, blue eyes and pupils… pale skin and wore a fancy navy blue coat… wait!" 

She looked down at the picture. Her father looked like he could've been the Dark Knight's son. They were almost identical. Emilia's eyes went wide in realization. 

"He can't actually be… is Sparda… My grandfather!?!!"

Emilia shouted in astonishment. Things about her that she never understood suddenly made a lot more sense. How she had an almost instinctual and deep understanding of magic and weapons. How she could heal any wound no matter how fatal. 

What it didn't explain was where the "demon" part of her came from. Last she remembered, her mother was a full elf. It also wouldn't make sense for a hero like Sparda to have a child with a demon. Then again, it also didn't make sense for a hero's bloodline to mix with an elf's.

Emilia was suddenly brought back to reality by Subaru who had been calling to her. 

"Umm, Emilia? Are you there?"

Emilia had zoned out while thinking over the recent revelation.  

"Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about things… It's so unbelievable. To think I'm actually related to a hero."

The grandchild of Sparda smiled lightly. Subaru felt proud of himself. He had helped the girl he liked to see herself in a better light.

Emilia felt genuinely happy about herself. Something that she hadn't felt for as long as she could remember. Emilia allowed herself to see the heroic side of herself. The one Subaru and Puck saw. Her smile widened into a smile capable of warming up the coldest of hearts.

Subaru knew he had to burn that image into his eyelids. Subaru beamed right back at her.

——————————————————————

Time had passed, now Subaru and Emilia walked down the hall towards the dining room. The sun had fallen under the horizon and the lights of the mansion had activated. The two conversed casually about whatever Subaru could think of.

Emilia asked curiously.

"Really? How could something that big and heavy move on its own?"

Subaru had noticed how the girl had seemed to become even happier after what he had found earlier. He replied with a grin.

"You see, they had these things called engines which burn oil to make the wheels move. Others could run on these things called batteries without the need to burn fuel."

Emilia's eyes lit up as she thought about it.

"That sounds wonderful. I'm a bit surprised I hadn't heard of them yet."

Subaru chuckled. 

"I think I know why but… that's a story for another day."

It was then that the two finally came to the dining room doors. They entered to find all the other residents there with the exception of Rem. The two quickly sat down in their seats and prepared for dinner.

After a little while, Rem came out with the food. After serving everyone, she stood next to Roswaal. Subaru ate quietly but made sure to keep an eye on the girl. This time, she wasn't glaring at them. Subaru hoped this might mean she was finally changing her mind about them. Dinner was finished quickly and the two rose from their seats.

They exited the dining hall briskly and departed for their rooms. Subaru said his good night to Emilia and Puck as they walked the hall. They reciprocate the gesture before splitting off. After a refreshing bath, Subaru laid in his bed. He was recalling the day's events fondly. 

He'd managed to alleviate some of Emilia's pain regarding her appearance. Allowing herself to see more of a hero in herself rather than a monster. He'd also gotten to know her better. He'd learned of her motivation for the throne and learned she was the grandchild of Sparda. He knew she was an angel! Almost as good, he had evidence that Rem might be starting to accept the pair if the lack of any glares said anything.

In any case, today was a good day. He couldn't wait for what tomorrow had in store for him as wandered off to dreamland.

——————————————————————

"Hate, Hate. Hate, Hate, Hate-"

The maid walked to her room, her mind filled with rage. Those scum had the gall to stay in the same residence as her beloved sister. The others might not see it but she… she saw straight through them. They're plotting to hurt sissy. The nerve after all the sisters had been through. It wasn't enough that they took her horn. They wanted to take her life, to take her happiness. They wanted to take Rem's sister away from her!

She could tell because of the stench. Ahh, how rotten it was! The boy smelled like a walking graveyard and… and the girl. Oh, she smelled even worse. She silently threatened each and every one of them. Letting that… Devilish odor waft everywhere she went. It took all the restraint within the maid to avoid making her hatred too obvious. No doubt Roswaal would stop the maid if he caught a hint as to what she planned. 

She could not wait much longer. By tomorrow night, she would not have to worry about them anymore. She would take them both out under the cover of darkness. She would kill the witch cultists quickly and put an end to their plans. The witch's great spirit might try to stop her but… not even he would be able to heal a crushed skull? Right? It didn't matter if he killed the blue-haired maid in retribution. Her sister would be safe and that was all that mattered.

The blue-haired maid's thoughts were interrupted by a disembodied voice she had grown to hate. It talked directly into her mind.

"For the last time, even think of hurting her and Subaru and I will end you."

The threat went unanswered. The voice continued.

"I should have killed you, you know, but I knew Lia wouldn't like it if I had. Now, I have a question. Was sparing you a mistake?!"

Silence. Finally, the voice began to shout.

"Why can't you accept her? Why? Even after she lets you stay here! After what YOU did!! All the pain you caused her! And you can't give it up?!"

The great spirit's reasoning almost reached her… for a fleeting moment, she wondered if she really had hurt an innocent girl… but she knew better. All her oni instincts told her that the witch was dangerous. They screamed inside her so loudly she knew she had to follow them. The spirit spoke once again, a low and cold tone in his voice.

"I'll tell you now, if you try anything, you won't get far. I'm only leaving you alive as an extension of Lia's mercy. Don't make me regret it."

The voice disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. Leaving the blue-haired maid alone in her room with her dark thoughts.

Chapter Text

The great spirit was deep in thought as it manifested within a certain room.

Puck had hoped after the incident with the maid those months ago that Lia would be able to forget about the whole thing and move on. Especially after his daughter had begged him and the lord to allow the maid to stay but, it seemed that would be too simple. Now, with the arrival of a new resident, Rem was causing problems once more.

He knew that he could no longer keep this a secret from his little girl. As much as he wished to, the oni's intentions were becoming murderous and he needed her to know the danger.

Puck looked around the room. The room was slightly larger than most of the other rooms in the mansion and lacked any form of mirror. In the bed lay a sleeping girl. To Puck, she was his life, his pride and joy, his daughter. 

Puck went over to the side of the bed. He knew he needed to warn her before the oni tried something. As he floated there, he looked at her face and gulped. Lia slept with a smile on her face. After a couple of seconds, the girl stirred and awoke. She yawned and looked around the dark room.

"Huh? Who is it?"

She asked groggily. Puck simply floated there in indecision. Emilia noticed her father, Puck by her side and sensed his distress.

"Puck? What are you doing up so late? Did something happen?"

The fire spirit eventually found his voice and spoke.

"I-it was nothing… You should head back to sleep. You have a whole day ahead of you tomorrow. Sorry for waking you."

Puck lied and masked his feelings of distress. Not wanting to worry his daughter. Especially after seeing her sleeping so peacefully. He decided it could wait for another day. Puck suppressed his distress so as to not worry her. 

"Oh, alright then. Goodnight Puck."

Emilia seemed to accept what her father said at face value. The girl closed her eyes and rested back in bed. 

"Goodnight, Lia."

He watched as his daughter drifted off to sleep. As soon as he felt her consciousness fade, he let out a sigh. It seemed she hadn't noticed his distress. He laid down on the end of her bed, deep in thought. He decided, if he could, he would deal with this on his own. His daughter had been through enough because of that oni. 

Puck knew he had gotten lucky. Normally, Emilia would immediately notice something was on his mind. Once that happened, she would usually dig into it and ask him about it. Puck was happy to see his daughter had become more observant but it did bite him in the butt occasionally. 

He looked at his daughter's peaceful expression and promised himself to protect it as he de-manifested. Puck went back into his crystal and began to slumber. Tomorrow was another day and he would need his sleep.

——————————————————————

A dark and old room. Subaru stares down the grim reaper disguised as a beautiful lady in a black dress.

The corpse of an old man and a blonde-haired girl lay nearby in puddles of their own blood. The killer approaches licking her lips, twiddling her blade gleefully.

*Knock-Knock*

The boy attempts to fight. It's useless. He finds his belly cut open and falls to the ground in agony as his innards spill from the wound. Death chuckles as she watches him bleed out, savoring Every moment of the boy's death. Warmth leaves him.

"Barusu?"

It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.

"Get up Barusu."

Subaru jumped as he was awoken from his nightmare. He quickly puts his hands on his stomach. To his relief, there were no wounds. With a quick look around the room, Subaru notices that his room was empty despite the voice calling to him. A voice that the boy recognized. The deadpan and irritated shout came from outside his room. Subaru groaned as he got up. Not wanting to linger on the nightmare.

"Ahh, what is it?"

"While you are Emilia-sama's personal butler, you are also still a member of the staff and must help around the mansion. Especially since you've done little in your time here."

Subaru remembered the last 3 days he had spent within the mansion. He had been with Emilia for most of that time. The most butler work he'd done was bringing refreshments to Emilia's room for him and for the girl to enjoy.

"Alright, what do you want help with this early in the morning?"

"Seeing as Emilia-sama has already gone out of her way to teach you how to read and write, I won't have to. So instead, I'll show you how you can help Ram."

Subaru sighed.

"I'll be out in a second."

Subaru walked towards the bathroom. He reached the sink and quickly brushed his teeth. As he did, Subaru thought back on the time he spent with Emilia. How much fun it had been but, also, how little he'd gotten to know Ram. This could be the perfect opportunity to do so. The boy walked out of his room to greet the pink maid after putting on his butler uniform. The maid stared at him with a deadpan expression.

"Ram assumes you do not know how to cook or use the kitchen. You will need to know how to work in the kitchen should Ram or her sister need a day off."

"And also because it makes my life easier." went unsaid by the maid. 

Subaru had felt like he hadn't done much. While he did help Emilia, he hadn't really pulled his weight around the mansion and was beginning to feel like a burden on the mansion's staff. Subaru had actually grown a little anxious over said developments. He was definitely happy to be able to relieve his anxiety in this way.

"Got it. About time I did my part."

Subaru prepared for this new day within the Roswaal manor. 

——————————————————————

"Wow, that's not as heavy as I initially thought."

Subaru was easily lifting a decently sized crate. 

"That's because it's a crate of fire crystals. Don't drop it unless you want to lose a leg."

Subaru looked down at the crate. On it's side, printed in red I-glyphs, the words " DANGER, FIRE, EXPLOSIVE". 

"Scary!!!"

Subaru had been helping Ram load cooking supplies into the kitchen from the supplies closet. They had already found out that Subaru was useless at food preparation, evidenced by the new cuts on his hands, so Ram showed him the other way he could help out.

"So, you load these into the oven as a fuel source?"

Subaru began walking to the kitchen carefully carrying the crate. Ram walked next to him carrying another crate.

"Yes, and you will need to know how to load them into the oven. It's simple enough but, I'd be a fool to underestimate Barusu's capacity to mess things up."

"I haven't even tried it yet!!" 

Subaru whined back… despite knowing she was probably right. Subaru and Ram continued walking and soon found themselves at the back of the kitchen. Subaru carefully placed his crate on the ground next to Ram's. He then watched as Ram loaded some crystals into a tray that was underneath the oven.

After pushing it back under the oven and locking the tray closed, she turned to Subaru.

"You may be needed later to load them in for me while I prepare the vegetables for supper. Ram may also need you to do other things seeing as Rem isn't available today."

"Eh? Not available?"

Subaru could only guess why. Ram quickly moved on.

"Ram will probably handle most of the work today simply because you'd be of more use attending to Emilia-sama than cleaning."

Subaru whined once again.

"I can clean! What do you take me for??"

"A hobo Emilia-sama dragged in off the street."

Ram replied without a moment of hesitation. Subaru complained.

"I'm not a hobo!"

Ram shrugged. Replying smugly 

"Barusu said he's not a hobo and yet, when Emilia-sama met him, He said he didn't have a place to stay."

Subaru grumbled. She was right.

"Even if you are technically correct… I won't accept being labeled!!"

Ram let out an almost haughty "Hah!". Subaru cried out indignantly.

"What did I do to warrant such abuse?!?"

Ram replied simply.

"You are Barusu. That is reason enough."

Subaru placed his hand on his chest and went wide-eyed in mock pain.

"Oh! How you wound me!"

Suddenly, a fit of chuckles erupted from the kitchen doorway.

"Hahaha! You guys get along well it seems."

Emilia walks in through the open door with a smile on her face. Subaru smiled in return as he greeted her. 

"Oh hey, Emilia-tan."

Emilia blushes a little and looks away.

"So cute!"

Subaru teases her a little further.

"So, what brings you down here? Don't tell me E.M.T misses me?"

Emilia only blushed even harder. Subaru did a double take.

" Wait… does she actually?...-"

"No-no, I just… eh, wanted to… uhhh…"

Emilia went silent. Subaru scratched his head and chuckled.

"Hehe- well… What's the real reason you came to find me?"

Emilia stopped blushing and instead looked toward Subaru with a somewhat worried expression.

"It's just… I haven't seen Puck at all today… and something else too… I'll tell you in private. Excuse us, Ram."

Emilia motioned with her head to follow as she started to walk out of the kitchen. Ram spoke.

"It is fine Emilia-sama. Ram can take things from here."

Ram watched as Emilia walked out of the kitchen, Subaru right behind her. He could tell she was tense. The two began to walk down the hallway toward her room. They both walked quietly for a couple seconds with just the sound of their footsteps to accompany them. Suddenly, Emilia began to speak.

"...Last night, Puck woke me up. He seemed to be… distressed, maybe even a little scared. Then, he just… played it off like he wasn't."

Subaru looked at her, confused as to what could scare Puck.

"Scared? Why would he be scared?"

Emilia fiddled and fidgeted with her fingers nervously before her fidgeting shifted and became irrafted.

"I have a guess… I just… how did I not see it before? I only realized something was wrong when I woke up this morning and he wasn't there." 

Subaru noticed how her expression shifted from worry too… anger. Frustration? 

The truth was, Emilia felt both. Frustration at Puck for not telling her his worries and anger at herself for not realizing sooner.

"What's your guess anyway?"

Emilia's face contorted up in frustration.

"Rem. Who else could it be? She was causing problems only a few days ago."

Emilia looked away as she balled up her fist.

"Emilia-..."

Emilia suddenly turned to Subaru. A downturned look on her face.

"Sorry for dragging you into this…"

Subaru placed a hand on her shoulder to reassure the girl.

"Don't be. I wouldn't rather be anywhere else than by your side."

Those were Subaru's true feelings. He wanted to be with her no matter what. Even if it meant he could be in danger. 

Emilia smiled at Subaru's words. She could see he was being genuine and she was grateful for him.

"Thank you."

Subaru removed his arm from Emilia's shoulder as they approached her room. He opened the door and stepped inside. Emilia followed behind and shut the door. She sat on her bed and Subaru sat down next to her.

She thought about what Subaru had said. It didn't make sense. How could he appreciate someone he had only recently met? Emilia's face grew noticeably more confused the more thought about it.

"But why exactly?" 

Emilia meant much more with that question than Subaru even knew. The boy thought back to when they first met. The kindness and care she showed to him, someone she didn't even know the name of. A complete stranger.

When he was alone, in a world alien to him and without his family or friends, she was there. A guiding light through the fog of this unknown world.

"...You probably don't remember this but…"

Emilia looked at Subaru. His face blushed and his eyes filled with warmth.

"You saved me… before the loot house."

Emilia only looked back in confusion.

"But… I only remember meeting you in the loot house. So how could I have saved you?"

Subaru gulped. He hadn't told her about Return By Death. A cold sweat formed for some reason as he realized this. Thinking about his dark power, he thought back to his deaths at the hands of the bowel hunter. His expression contorted slightly

Emilia noticed Subaru's distress and asked.

"Subaru, Are you alright?"

She looked at him with a worried expression. Subaru looked back at her. Emilia's eyes looked at him with true concern attempting to diagnose the cause of his sudden stress.

Somewhere in the deep recesses of Subaru's mind, a voice called out. It started small but quickly gained volume. It urged him to tell her. Subaru, despite how much he wanted to ignore it, knew he couldn't. Not with the nightmares that enveloped him when he slept. Those horrible memories resurfacing and Subaru being the only one to remember.

His voice almost caught in his throat.

"...Emilia, I… I know you won't believe this but…"

He struggled for some reason to speak.

"Several times in the last week… I've d-..."

Suddenly, he could no longer speak. He tried to look around but found he couldn't even move his eyes around the room. He could see Emilia had also frozen in his peripheral vision. The entire world around him had stopped. He couldn't hear a thing. He began to panic as he tried to figure out what was happening.

And then…

Shadows grew around the edges of his vision. They coalesced into the shapes of hands and snaked around the boy. He wanted to scream but no sound left his mouth as one reached for his chest. It phased straight through and wormed its way towards his heart.

Subaru's existence drowned in fear of what was about to happen. Something almost unintelligible was whispered into his ear.

"Don't."

He felt the hand grab onto his heart and begin almost sadistically rubbing and squeezing it. Subaru's mind reeled in agony for his body could not. He wanted to throw up but couldn't as his muscles and organs were locked in place. He wondered if this was it. If he would die again but… it never came. Right as he thought the violation would last forever, the hand let go and dissolved into the shadowy sludge from whence it came. The shadows retreated. The world around Subaru began to move once more.

Subaru gasped barely holding back a scream. Emilia rushed over and put her hands on his shoulders.

"Subaru!!? Are you hurt?"

She looked up and down his body for any signs of injury before using her healing magic to make sure he didn't have any internal injuries.

"I can move. I can speak. And my heart doesn't hurt but…"

Subaru could feel a fear permeating throughout his entire being. He had felt before he had even told her. 

It was burned into him . 

"Emilia… I'm fine. It was nothing."

Subaru sighed before putting on a mask. Something vaguely resembling a smile spread across his face. Emilia looked at him with even more concern than before.

"Subaru? What's going on? You can tell me."

Subaru clenched his teeth.

"I-I… I can't."

Emilia raised her voice in frustration.

"Why can't you tell me?"

Subaru looked up at her with a pleading and desperate look.

"Please trust me! I wish I could but…"

Subaru places his hand on his chest.

"I can't. As much as I want to… I'm sure."

Emilia looked at him with a serious expression before finally relenting with a sigh. 

"Fine, but… If anything comes up. Please talk to me. You can trust me, please." 

Her eyes were filled with annoyance. Subaru felt incredibly guilty for lying to her but… he knew he couldn't tell her. The shadows had made that clear. Before he could dwell on that thought, someone knocked at the door. 

"Now that you two have talked, Ram needs to tell you both something."

Emilia looked toward the door.

"Come in, Ram."

Ram opened the door and walked into the room. A deadpan expression across her face as usual… or so it seemed. Under the calm demeanor, distress slipped through for just a moment. She quickly caught herself.

"As Barusu already knows, Rem will be out for the day. What Ram has not told you was the true reason for her absence."

Emilia looked to Ram with a concerned expression. Subaru felt similarly. He had known Ram just long enough to understand that she wasn't the type to plainly show emotion. What could have gotten her so worked up? A bell-like voice spoke to the maid.

"Go ahead Ram. I'm listening."

Ram leaned back against the door frame and crossed her arms as she spoke.

"Rem is… being reprimanded by the Margrave. He believes sister has hostile intentions toward you, Emilia-sama…"

Emilia grimaced. It seemed that she had been correct.

"They also believe she wanted to harm Barusu as well…"

Subaru responded suddenly, startling Ram.

"You're conflicted. About Rem I mean."

Ram sighed.

"I tried talking to her. She just won't listen."

Emilia looked up at Ram who was now squeezing her hand into a fist in frustration. 

"It's like an irrational fear has come over her. She seemed convinced you both were out to get her…"

Ram looked away and sneered in frustration.

"And I don't know why."

Emilia looked on at the Oni with worry. She could empathize with her conflictedness. 

"Ram, Is there anything I could do to help?"

Ram shook her head.

"Unfortunately, no. Though, I thank you for the concern, Emilia-sama."

Ram continued.

"Now, Master Roswaal is considering sending her away. I believe the Great Spirit is with him now. They have urged me to inform the two of you of the situation."

"Hmm."

Emilia nodded in understanding. Puck had disappeared in order to handle Rem, something Emilia would have to talk to him about surely. Ram once again put up the mask of professionalism.

"That was all Ram has to say concerning that situation."

She stood up straight and reached for the door. Ram stopped and spoke in her usual tone.

"And Barusu. You're going with me to get the groceries in a few minutes."

Subaru rose from his seat on the bed and turned to Emilia. 

"I gotta help Ram. I'll see you later Emilia."

She nodded and reminded the two as they prepared to leave.

"Alright but, remember if either of you ever need to talk to someone, I'm here."

She roughly smiled at him. Subaru gave an equally rough smile back as he walked out of the room with Ram. 

While walking, Subaru thought about the situation with Rem. The maid had not only hurt Emilia, she had also been causing issues for him as well. He wouldn't have had a problem with her being sent away if it weren't for Ram. It was obvious to him that Ram cared for her sister deeply. The boy could only feel conflicted over the whole situation.

——————————————————————

Ram and Subaru were walking down the path through the forest to the village, Slowly the village buildings came into view. As he got closer. He could see the forest part for open fields of crops and see small houses dotted about.

"So this is the place. It looks pretty quiet when compared to the capital."

"Only a hundred or so people live in this village. It's where Roswaal-sama has us buy all our groceries."

Subaru and Ram kept walking down the path and finally walked into the village proper. Ram guided them over toward the market district. Once they reached the first stall, she turned to the boy.

"Ram will buy the groceries. In the meantime, Barusu must avoid causing a scene. As difficult as that might be for him."

Subaru grumbled.

"What am I now? Some kid who needs to have his hand held?"

Ram snorted.

"Hah! Barusu wishes. No self-respecting maiden would sully themselves by touching such a lecherous man."

"Brutal!"

It was then that a small hand pulled on his leg.

"Hmm?"

He turns to look behind when he suddenly feels another small hand reach into his pocket. Having finally turned around, Subaru can now see a group of children smiling mischievously.

"He-he-he-he-he!"

One little boy starts running away before Subaru can say a word.

"What the-?"

Subaru reaches into his pocket.

"AAHHH!!"

Subaru removes his hand quickly and finds something on his hand. He panics and flings whatever it was onto the ground. He looks down to see a spider moving it's mandibles in a threatening gesture at Subaru before scuttling off. 

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!"

The children all begin to laugh. The one that put the spider in his pocket and had been the one to start running looks back at him from the other side of the village. Wearing a shit-eating grin.

"Oh, you little-!! Ram, I'll be back!"

Subaru ran after the kid who giggled and continued running away from him. Ram deadpanned as she watched him run off.

"It looks like Ram spoke too soon…"

——————————————————————

Time had passed. Maybe a few hours or so. Ram had finished shopping and just paid for their groceries and visited the tailor for Subaru's butler uniform. A couple minutes had passed and the boy hadn't yet returned. She was about to begin looking for him when…

"Ahahaha!" 

Subaru came back. This time, the group of kids behind him. Some crawled on and attempted to climb him all while Subaru laughed and played along. He finally greeted Ram as he approached.

"Oh, hey Ram."

Ram sighed.

"Barusu, are you done fooling around? We have to get this back to the mansion in time for dinner." 

She motioned to the barrel and crate sitting on the ground next to her. 

"Oh, you're done shopping?"

He looked toward the village children.

"Hey guys, I gotta go bring these back. I'll see everyone later."

"Aww…"

The kids all wined as their playtime with the raven-haired boy came to an end. Some continued to cling to him. Subaru chuckled as he pulled them off. He walks over to Ram.

"I see you've made some friends."

Ram comments as Subaru waves to the children.

"You'd never think I was any good with kids."

Subaru turns and picks up the barrel. It's incredibly heavy but he manages to lift it. 

"Let's get this stuff back to the mansion before it gets dark. Can't have Emilia-tan worrying"

"That's the smartest thing Barusu has said."

She grabbed the crate and began walking back up the trail and toward the mansion. The two walked in silence as Subaru thought about something. 

"...I should ask her."

"Hmm? What was that Barusu?"

Subaru's face reddened in embarrassment. He hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"Ahh, I was just thinking… There was this flower field by the village. Kinda wanted to ask her out on a date."

Ram suddenly looked at him in confusion.

"Date?"

"It's when a guy goes out with a girl to hang out."

Ram suddenly snorts.

"Ahh, so that's what you wanna do."

Subaru groaned.

"Not like that! It's going to be completely chaste!"

"Hah! Whatever you say, Barusu."

Ram smiled genuinely for a second… and then let out a snort.

"As if! Barusu doesn't have the charm to pull something off like that!*

"Maybe, I would have a better chance if you had some faith in me."

Ram snorted again. 

"Have faith in Barusu? You really don’t know Barusu then."

"Haaaaaaaa"

Subaru exhaled. He couldn't tell if her ridicule was genuine as she kept that smile on her face.

——————————————————————

"There we go."

With a plump, Subaru placed the barrel of supplies down in the closet. His arms were killing him and his legs ached. 

"Now, I just wanna see Emilia. Hah…"

Ram sighed.

"You are of no use right now. You are dismissed."

"Hah, Thanks Ram. I'll be going."

He waved Ram goodbye as he walked down the hall and turned a corner out of sight. He began walking toward Emilia's room. The setting sunlight trickled in from the windows as he approached Emilia's room.

He knocked on her door.

"Hey, Emilia-tan! I'm back!"

She answered through the door.

"Come in."

Subaru opened the door and found his favorite half-elf sitting at her desk. 

"How are your studies going?"

Emilia looked down at the book.

"I'm not studying right now. I was just reading this for fun I guess."

"Hmm, what's it about?"

Emilia blushes.

"Well, it's about this princess who is in love with this knight."

"Ooo- didn't take Emilia for a romantic!"

She became as red as a tomato.

"Subaru!"

He chuckled.

"What else?"

"The princess ends up having to save the knight from a demon after he's kidnapped."

Subaru paused. Waiting for Emilia to carry on and not knowing what to say. He remembered what Emilia had told him a couple days ago. Subaru didn't know if he could believe it.

"It's pretty interesting how the roles are reversed and… I rea~ally like the princess. How she fights to protect the people she cares about."

Emilia looked down at the book with a kind of light in her eyes. Subaru couldn't help but liken this princess to a certain girl he'd fallen for. 

"Wow…she's kinda like you in a way."

Emilia smiled.

"I guess you're right… Well, that's what I've been doing. How was your visit to the village?"

She looked back towards him. Subaru thought back.

"Let's see… It was nice. I made friends with the village kids."

Emilia nodded.

"That's good."

Subaru finally remembered the most important detail.

"Oh right, I wanted to tell you."

He sat down at the desk with Emilia. He faced  Emilia in his seat. Now the two were much closer to each other. 

"Y-you see, there was a field of flowers… It was really pretty! You need to see it! So, I wanted to ask you…"

Subaru offered his hand.

"How about we go see it together! Make a date out of it!" 

Emilia tilts her head in confusion.

"Daayyt?"

Subaru explained.

"When a guy takes a girl out to have fun."

Emilia covered her mouth with her hand and blushed. Her eyes looked away before looking back at him. She took her other hand and accepted his offer.

"...Yeah, that sounds fine…"

"Yes!"

Subaru wanted to cheer on the spot. He happily shook her hand.

"I promise, It'll be the most beautiful date you've ever had."

"I mean…I guess so since it would be the first day-te I have ever been on."

Subaru grasped his stomach as if he'd been punched.

"Critical hit!!"

Emilia chuckles at his attics. They let go of each other's hands. Subaru smiles in giddy, too excited to notice Emilia's concern.

"Hey, Subaru??"

"Hmm? What is it, Emilia?"

She looks down at her palm in worry. Subaru sees her looking at her palm and takes a peak as well. On her palm, a small drop of crimson stains her fair skin. Subaru looks down at his own hand as he realizes.

"Oh, I must've accidentally gotten it on you when I shook your hand."

He scratched his head, face red in embarrassment.

Emilia suddenly grabbed his hands and started searching for more injuries. She takes a deeper look at the wound on his hand.

"Are you okay? How did you get this bite?"

Subaru thought back.

"Hmm, I got it from this pup at the village. The kids were playing with it and it bit me for some reason."

Emilia suddenly grabbed his hand and closed her eyes.

"Huh? What's going on?"

Emilia suddenly scowled before opening her eyes.

"You've been cursed. I just removed it."

"Cursed!?!"

Subaru felt a twinge of horror on realization.

"Subaru… What did that pup look like?"

Subaru quickly remembered its appearance.

"It looked like a normal pup but it had a massive bald spot on the top of its head."

Emilia gulped. 

"Subaru… I've read that there's a kind of mabeast that can transform… they say it can make itself look like a puppy…"

Subaru looked at Emilia with dread. 

"You aren't saying…"

"We need to get down to the village now!"

Chapter Text

Emilia and Subaru sprinted down the hallway. The boy panicked after realizing what was happening down in the village.

"Why today? Was it because me and Ram went down to the village?"

Emilia grimaced as she ran.

"Possibly, I have a hunch but, we'll have to see."

They ran towards Rosswal's office. Soon, the office door came into view at the end of the hall. They ran toward it and barged in, expecting to find the margrave sitting at his desk. Instead, they found the room empty.

"What? Where the heck is he?"

A voice called out from behind the duo.

"Emilia-sama? Barusu?"

They turned around to see Ram rushing down the hallway toward them.

"What's the matter, Emilia-sama?"

"We need to see Roswaal immediately. Something is happening down in the village."

"I'm sorry Emilia-sama. Master Rosswal just left to deal with an emergency in another one of his territories."

Emilia yelled in frustration.

"Dammit!"

Emilia once again used their bond to call for her father… no answer.

"Puck isn't answering… Subaru, we are going to have to go by ourselves."

Subaru gulped. Without Puck, things could get hairy real quick. 

"So it looks like it's up to us then."

Ram looked to Emilia, still not understanding the situation.

"What's happening in the village?"

Emilia turned to her and explained quickly.

"Subaru was cursed by a mabeast that somehow got past the village barrier."

Ram stood there with a somewhat dumbfounded expression as Emilia continued.

"I believe that there is about to be an attack on the village. I have to stop it…!"

Ram nodded.

"I see… In that case, I will follow your orders in Master Roswaal's absence. Emilia-sama, You have my full support."

Emilia quickly came up with a plan of action.

"Ram, stay here and guard the mansion in case someone tries to attack while we are gone. See if you can find Puck while you're here too. I can still feel him somewhere close by."

She turned to Subaru.

"Subaru…"

She stopped for a second to think.

"I'm not sure what I'll find down there. Are you sure you want to come with me?"

Subaru looked at her with a determined expression. 

"I'm sure Emilia-tan. I'd follow you to hell and back!"

Emilia looked at him with gratitude in her eyes.

"Thanks Subaru…Now."

She turned and looked down the hall with a stern expression.

"Let's go. Time is something we cannot waste."

Subaru nodded and the two began running down the hall as Ram started her search. 

————————————————————

Emilia ran out onto the mansion's front lawn. Subaru ran out behind her. The sky had darkened and night had fallen. Emilia could already see small pillars of smoke rising on the horizon.

"Subaru, we need to get there quickly. Climb on!"

Subaru looked at Emilia in confusion before truly understanding what she was saying. He understood clearly why… but couldn't help but feel more of his manly pride leave him.

Moments later, Subaru yelled in surprise.

"HOLY…!"

Subaru clings tightly to the girl's shoulders as she leaps dozens of meters into the air and down the path at astounding speed. He can feel his stomach moving upwards in his body as Emilia leaps through the air. She approaches the ground and lands on her feet before jumping again immediately. Subaru couldn't tell the exact speed but could at the very least tell it was definitely at the same, or greater, pace as a dragon carriage. 

Within minutes the two could see the village more clearly. They could see that the smoke had been emanating from lit bonfires. Figures ran around in a panic. Emilia quickly stopped right outside the village and let Subaru down. He was glad to be let down. He had felt like he was about to throw up and barely managed to hold it down.

The two entered the village proper and approached one of the panicking figures, an orange-haired woman desperately calling out.

"Petra! Petra!?! Where are you?!"

The woman looked around desperately. 

"What's going on?"

The woman turned to see a woman with silver hair in an expensive-looking noble dress. Behind her, a mean-eyed man stood with black hair and wearing a butler uniform.

"We're from the mansion. Everyone's on high alert. What happened?"

The woman looked at the girl and hesitated upon seeing her appearance. 

"We're here to help."

Subaru chimed in. The woman relented.

"My daughter's gone missing…! The other children are missing too…"

The woman broke down crying. Suddenly, a hand fell on her shoulder. She looked over to see the silver-haired girl looking her in the eyes. Emilia looked at the woman with determination.

"I will get your daughter back. I promise."

The woman didn't know what to say. Emilia didn't wait for an answer as she immediately sprinted off toward the forest barrier. Subaru followed behind while the woman watched on with a mix of complicated emotions raging within her. All she could do was mutter as she cried.

"Please, bring my Petra back safe…"

————————————————————

Emilia and Subaru arrived at the barrier. Emilia scowled as she noticed a major problem.

"The barrier. There's a hole in it."

She walked forward towards one of the trees and found the crystal that had been hung on up and was part of the barrier cracked and shattered.

"I'm betting a mabeast can't do something like that."

Subaru walked up next to her. Suddenly, a sword made of ice appeared in the air in front of Emilia. Subaru looked on with surprise. 

"When did you learn to do that?"

Emilia snatched it out of the air as she spoke.

"After the loot house, I realized I needed to be able to have access to a weapon. I figured I could use ice magic to make my own on the fly. Looks like it works too."

Emilia looked back at Subaru.

"I'm going in. Last chance to turn back."

Subaru smiled as he proudly declared.

"Not in a million years Emilia-tan!"

She smiled as she tossed the sword to him. He caught it as Emilia turned to the forest.

"They do say ladies first."

Emilia began to run into the forest. Subaru followed. 

"I know I should have asked this earlier but, what do you think we should expect?"

Emilia turned her head toward him. 

"Mabeasts like the ones that attacked us back at the loot house. Stay on your toes, it wouldn't be too crazy to think this could be another attempt on our lives by whoever hired the bowel hunter."

Subaru suddenly turned to her.

"You think we're walking into a trap?"

Emilia grimaced.

"Probably but, if we don't go, those children… I'm not letting that happen."

Subaru looked forward.

"I'm not sure who was taken but, I promised to play with those kids again. It's a promise I plan on keeping."

He ran forward with even greater speed and outpaced Emilia. She was a little shocked to see him run ahead of her but she quickly replaced her shocked expression with s smile as she realized just how much Subaru cared about them.

The two ran for another minute or so straight before Emilia finally caught a whiff of something.

"Stop."

Subaru stopped and turned to see Emilia sniffing the air. She suddenly turned and pointed diagonally. 

"Over there, I can smell someone."

Subaru thanked the fact that this girl was so capable. They both rushed in the direction Emilia indicated and came to a meadow. Sitting in the middle on top of a hill, five small figures could be seen lying in the grass.

"Crap, are we too late!?"

Emilia ran up to one of the children and put her hand on the kid's wrist.

"There's a pulse but it's fading. Wait a moment."

The kid began shifting in discomfort for a few seconds before suddenly going completely still. Subaru runs over as a kind of dread envelopes him.

"Are they…?"

Emilia shook her head.

"I removed the curse and put them to sleep. They're still weak though."

She suddenly moved over to the children and began repeating the process on the rest.

"Subaru, once I'm done here, I'm gonna have to take them back in two trips. I'll make sure to be quick but, you'll have to stay with them as I go."

Subaru nodded. As he did, Emilia finished treating the children and lifted two of them into her arms. With a little help from Subaru, she managed to secure a third to her back.

"I'll be back before you know it."

She leaped into the air in the direction of the village. Subaru watched as she left before turning to the border of the meadow. A small rustling could be heard somewhere in the forest. He tightened the grip on the ice sword. Suddenly, the rustling moved away and out of earshot. 

"Su…Su-baru?"

A small voice called out from behind him. He turned to find one of the children had woken up. The orange-haired girl, Petra, leaned up in a dazed state.

"Where am I?"

Subaru ran to the girl's side.

"Your safe now. Don't worry. Emilia-tan will be right back to carry you to safety."

The girl suddenly gasped as she realized what had happened.

"The-there was a puppy that ran off into the forest. All the children went in to rescue it and then…"

"A scary-looking dog attacked us. An-and it dragged a girl off."

She pointed in a panic at the forest.

"Over there! She is still in there!"

Subaru grimaced.

"Crap…"

He sat there in indecision for a second. He wanted to rush in and save that girl but he didn't want to leave the children by themselves. It was then that a large thud sounded beside him. He looked over and saw Emilia land. She had really been quick!

"Ahh!"

Petra yelped as the half-elf landed right next to her.

"Ah, sorry for startling you."

She smiled and spoke softly.

"I'm here to get you home. Don't try to walk. I'll carry you home. Just rest."

Emilia lifted the little girl over her shoulder. Petra tried to speak but her voice died in her throat. 

"Emilia! Petra says that someone else is still in the forest. I'm gonna go after them alright?"

Emilia scowled at the information that one more had still been missing.

"Subaru, wait until I get back. We'll go and search together."

Subaru tried to argue.

"But they could be in danger!"

Emilia turned back to him.

"And that's exactly why. I don't wanna see you get hurt… I'll only be a minute tops alright?"

Subaru put his head down reluctantly agreeing. Emilia looked at him one last time before picking up the other child and leaping toward the village. Subaru understood why she wanted him to wait. He was basically useless in combat as his first loops told him. Even still…

"Any moment I spend contemplating my actions could mean a kid dying!"

Subaru heard howling in the distance. It was then that he made his choice.

"Fuck this…"

He ran off into the forest in the direction Petra had pointed to. He ran and ran for maybe ten minutes until he came to another, much smaller, clearing. He searched around in the dark as his mind raced and adrenaline pumped through him.

"Smells like animals… I gotta find you quickly and get outta here."

Eventually, he spots a small figure lying next to a log. Subaru knew the navy blue-haired girl from his time playing with the village children. He rushed forward.

"Meili? Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

As the boy approaches, he can see she also seems mostly unharmed. Before he could sigh in relief, rustling could be heard from just past the tree line. Subaru looked up to see two red eyes looking back at him. A wolgarm emerged from the forest and growled. 

"Shit!"

Subaru raised the ice sword Emilia gave him. Fear ran through his body alongside a stubborn determination.

"If this "game master" or whoever's behind this wants to keep throwing curveballs my way. Fine, I'll ruin all your finely tuned schemes too!"

The dog bared its fangs.

"Come at me you oversized mutt!!!"

The dog rushed toward Subaru quickly. It opened its mouth intending to clamp down on the boy. Unfortunately for it, Subaru had slashed upward in a panic and sliced its neck. The mabeast fell onto the ground and yelped in pain as it bled out.

"Ahh, swinging it was harder than I thought…! At least I won."

The boy said somewhat in relief… until

"Grrrr"

From the tree line, rustling was heard from all around. Subaru looked into the forest and saw something that made him go silent in terror.

Dozens of pairs of red eyes stared back at him.

"You gotta be kidding me…"

The creatures retreated just enough to be out of Subaru's line of sight. The boy looked around waiting for them to pounce.

Suddenly, Everything went silent. Subaru stood completely still attempting to hear the dogs.

"Crunch"

A twig snapped behind him, he turned and stabbed just in time to impale the rushing monster.

Another set of rustles came from another direction. The boy turned and saw a dozen dogs sprinting towards him. Too many, he knew but, he leveled his sword anyway.

"This girl's counting on me! I won't let you get to her while I can still fight!"

The dogs got closer. Subaru braced for the inevitable… but it never came. A winged figure appeared overhead and came flying toward the ground at incredible speed. 

"BOOM"

A cloud of dirt was kicked up. The sound of yelping and whimpering could be heard. Subaru coughed as he breathed in the dust, unable to see what had happened. The dust started to clear revealing a woman with large, feathered wings on her back in a noble dress and with long silver-hair that glowed in the moonlight. She had created an icey crater where she landed and crushed the approaching mabeasts.

Subaru's guardian angel had arrived. 

"Emilia-tan!"

She turned to Subaru and grabbed him harshly.

"Subaru! You could have gotten killed!"

Subaru scratched his head.

"Sorry. I just… I was worried about that kid and couldn't wait."

He motioned to the unconscious little girl. Emilia sighed.

"Subaru, you really can be a dunderhead sometimes."

Subaru was tempted to make a joke but Emilia seemed genuinely annoyed… also, there was another elephant in the room.

"Uhh, I think we should get out of here."

More dogs began lining up at the treeline. Emilia suppressed her feelings of annoyance and concern as she saw the dogs gathering. She summoned a sword made of ice and brandished it.

"Subaru, take the girl and get back to the village. I'll cover you!!"

Subaru nodded his head. He'd seen how well she could fight and trusted her. The boy ran over to the unconscious little girl and picked her up in a princess carry. He turned to face the village and saw demon beasts blocking the path.

"Shit! They've cut us of-..."

Dozens of icles appeared over the demon dogs and rained down on them and skewered them. Subaru stood dumbfounded for a moment before shaking it off and taking advantage of the now clear path.

"Emilia really is a lifesaver huh?!"

He sprinted forward and past the mangled dogs. Emilia leaped down the path behind them, slashing at the approaching demon dogs and covering the rear. Subaru was about to look back when Emilia shouted.

"Keep running! Whatever you do, don't look back!"

Subaru trusted Emilia but couldn't help but be concerned about her advice. Much to his near future self's regret, he took a peek behind him and saw quite a chilling sight. Dozens upon dozens of dogs gave chase. More than double what he had seen in total in the clearing. 

That was not all, however, among the ranks of the dogs, he saw the pup from earlier catching a ride on one of the wolgarms. As he looked back, the dog made eye contact and growled. Suddenly, the ground shifted and Subaru could see the path behind them liquefying into a mudslide. Right as Subaru was about to start panicking, Emilia turned, dropped the sword, and put her hands forward creating a massive ice wall to contain the mud. 

She struggled against it pouring her mana into the wall and braced her arms against the ice, attempting to stop the earth from continuing to tumble. Suddenly, Emilia let out a yell and threw the entire landslide and wall back up the path, burying the dogs in a mound of dirt. 

"Holy shit! E.M.T for the win!"

Emilia let out a deep breath.

"That should stop them for a while… We should get back while their- BEHIND YOU!"

Emilia screamed as she watched a spiked ball fly toward the boy. Subaru turned just in time to see the ball be hit by an icicle and barely miss his face. Subaru's eyes narrowed as he faced the perpetrator. Blocking the path back to the village, a blue-haired woman stood in a tattered and bloody maid uniform holding the handle of a Morningstar flail. 

"R-rem?!"

Subaru called out in confusion.

"So you two are behind the missing villagers and the mabeasts."

The maid said with a cold voice. She walked forward into the moonlight. Emilia almost growled in anger at the girl.

"You're wrong! We came out here to rescue those children."

Rem simply looked at the two with her cold, rage-filled eyes.

"Why should I trust a witch like you?… Surrender and maybe I'll give you a less painful end."

Subaru felt his chest clench up as he realized Rem really had been planning to betray them even when the boy had hoped she was warming up to them.

"You hate us that much?! What did Emilia ever do to you?"

The maid yelled in a rage.

"Your cult destroyed my home! They hurt my sister! Now, you will die for it!"

She launched the morning star at him again. At that moment, Emilia leaped forward and created a handheld ice shield. She intercepted the morning star mid-air and slammed it to the side. The ball lodged into a tree as Emilia landed.

"Subaru! Get the girl out of here! I'll stop Rem!'

Subaru saw his opening and took it.

"Be careful Emilia!"

He ran down the path. Rem tried to launch icy bullets at him as he passed but all were deflected by Emilia's shield.

Subaru sprinted as he never had before… This girl was counting on him and he could only pray for Emilia's safety. 

Rem watched in anger as the boy escaped. Now, Only Emilia and Rem stood on the path. 

"Rem! Listen to me! We're not witch cultists!"

Rem sneered.

"How can I believe you when such an abominable smell emanates from you! You stink of a witch!"

Rem dislodged her Morningstar and swung it at Emilia. She simply leaped over the projectile and quickly closed the distance between herself and Rem. 

"There's a reasonable explanation for that! Just calm down!"

Rem sneered and screamed in rage.

"No!! You must die! You and your wretched cultist don't deserve to exist in the same world as sister!"

At that moment, Emilia knew this couldn't be ended with words. The irrational rage in Rem's eyes told her so. She dove towards Rem.

"Fine, you leave me no choice…"

Emilia created an ice gauntlet and punched Rem in the face with it. The maid hissed in pain as she was blown off her feet and landed a couple of feet away.

"I won't let you hurt him!"

Rem growled as she stood back up.

"Why! What's some random cultist to a witch like you!'

Emilia moved into a fighting stance and screamed back.

"He's not a cultist! He showed me hope when I couldn't see it!"

Rem launched herself toward Emilia with a balled fist. Her punch was blocked by Emilia's raised arms. The silver-haired girl spoke.

"Hope that I could be accepted. That people like me had a place in this world!"

Emilia kicked at the maid who promptly blocked it with her arm. Rem then grabbed Emilia by the leg, swung her around, and tossed her back up the path into the dirt pile. 

"Gahh!"

Emilia grunted as she landed roughly in the mud. Rem landed next to her, having jumped after the half-elf. Emilia summoned and raised an ice sword. Rem held her Morningstar at the ready. 

The two rushed at each other preparing to continue the battle once more when…

"AH!"

A dog lunged at Rem and bit into her arm. She quickly slammed it into the ground, killing it. Opposite her Emilia spun around and slashed two more that had pounced from behind. Emilia sidestepped out of the way of Rem's Morningstar and watched as it crushed another demon beast behind her. 

Emilia and Rem continued their battle as mabeasts gathered around and encircled them. The silver-haired girl dodged Rem's Morningstar and grabbed onto the chain. Quickly, Emilia yanked on it pulling Rem off her feet and sending her flying towards Emilia. 

Emilia created a set of ice greaves and stomped down on Rem's stomach. 

"*Cough*, *Cough*"

Rem spat a small amount of blood before roaring and throwing Emilia off of her. 

"Rem! Give up! You can't win! Just listen to reason!"

The oni only felt more anger at Emilia's appeals. Something inside her snapped. She stopped moving for a moment, her eyes closed and she tilted her head up to the sky. Emilia grew anxious over the second or so of silence. 

"Umm… Rem? Are you… there?"

Emilia couldn't help but feel a little creeped out watching the maid suddenly stand completely still in the middle of their intense battle.

Suddenly, a pink light shone from her forehead, and a long, pointed horn grew from that light. Pink lightning danced around it as Rem's eyes opened. She began laughing maniacally as a mad smile spread across her face.

Emilia rolled underneath the Morningstar as it ripped through the crowd of assembling beasts. Emilia jumped away from the raging oni and looked on in horror at the carnage Rem unleashed on the dogs. She tore through them with insane speed and even more brutality. 

"Mabeast! Mabeast! Mabeast! Mabeast!...-"

Suddenly, Rem turned straight towards Emilia with a gleeful smile and a murderous look in her eyes.

"...Witch!!!"

"Oh crap."

Emilia summons her sword and swipes at the incoming Morningstar to deflect it as Rem rushes her. Emilia summons an array of icicles and sends them at Rem only for the oni to duck and drive through the volley before landing a punch on Emilia's face. The half-elf groaned in pain as the feral oni stood over her. 

Before Emilia can recover, Rem stomps her foot down on Emilia's face. There's a sickening crunch and a pained scream. Emilia suddenly manifests dozens of icicles around Rem who quickly jumps away to avoid being skewered. 

Emilia stands up, blood pouring down her face and pain throbbing through her still cracked skull.

Rem launched her trusty Morningstar yet again only for Emilia to dodge it again. This time, however, Emilia summoned a sword and sliced the chain, destroying the Morningstar. Rem growled and bawled her fists in an animalistic rage. Emilia leveled her sword. The two stared at one another, ready to end this fight. At this point, all the surrounding mabeasts had perished in the skirmish..

The two women rushed towards one another, ready to finally end this fight when…

"Huh!?"

Emilia felt the ground shudder underneath her feet. Rem jumped away as Emilia looked for the source of the rumbling. It was then that Emilia realized where she was. It was too late. The ground beneath her exploded as a massive dog pushed it up. Emilia tumbled backward, helpless as the beast dove straight toward her.

Rem's horn receded, burned out from using her oni mode as intensely as she had. Rem heard the sound of a high-pitched scream. She looked over to see Emilia within the jaws of a massive wolgarm, being crushed and mauled. 

Emilia tried to summon ice swords or crystals to defend herself but could not concentrate hard enough as mind-numbing pain filled her. She could feel its teeth ripping through her muscles and organs. Crushing her bones and threatening to tear her body in two. Excessive amounts of blood spilled out of Emilia's destroyed body alongside her strength. Soon, she could no longer even attempt to defend herself.

Rem looked on in shock and confusion.

"The witch beasts are attacking her? That's surprising. Well, I guess that's one cultist gone."

"A witch felled by her own beasts… how ironic."

Rem was about to turn towards the village, hoping to pursue the other who had run, when she happened to look back at the grizzly sight. She looked at the dying girl and spoke.

"You said you wanted to be accepted but… Think about it.  Who would accept a despicable witch like you?"

Rem left those words to the dying girl. As Rem spoke, Emilia looked over at her, the girl's eyes watering and face contorting. When Rem saw that, she turned away and ran down the now-empty road. 

As she ran, she thought about the expression that had sat on the witch's face. She couldn't quite put a finger on what it was but it upset her for some reason. A reason that Rem did not know or understand… or that's what she began to assure herself of. She did so because when she looked down at Emilia, she'd only seen the face of a dying, scared girl. Like those of her fellow Oni from back then. The words Emilia had spoken about the boy played in her head. A small voice dared to ask the question…

"Could I have been… wrong?"

…

She quickly suppressed that thought as silly. They were witch cultists! They had to be! No one just happens to smell like the witch, right? Right! She was right! That is the conclusion Rem reached as she searched for the boy.

————————————————————

Subaru ran and ran ignoring the sounds of combat behind him. Soon, those sounds faded. He could only hope Emilia could handle Rem and any demon beasts that appeared. He had been running for maybe five or six minutes. Now, the lights from the bonfires began to come into view through the trees. 

"I'm almost out! Just a little bit-..."

Subaru's voice died in his throat as the figure of a maid landed in front of him. The blue-haired oni was covered in blood. Dread filled him. 

"Let go of that child… witch cultist!"

Subaru scowled.

"Again I'm not a witch cultist! I'm trying to take this kid back to her parents."

Rem growled.

"As if I'd believe that! You're trying to kidnap that child!"

Rem bawled up her fist. It was at that moment that Subaru understood that Rem was not in the mood to talk. Then, it suddenly hit him…If Rem was here…

"Where is Emilia… What did you do!?!"

Rem responded, her eyes obscured from his vision. 

"That witch has been dealt with by her own beasts at that… Now, will you surrender now that she has fallen?"

Subaru wanted to scream. Emilia… Emilia was dead and he had allowed it to happen.

Rem watched as the boy placed the girl on the ground… and yelled. 

"Y-you killed her! An angel like her!"

He screamed out in rage and sorrow. The woman who was there when he had no one was gone. What was he going to tell Puck? It was then that he was interrupted from his thoughts brutally. He felt a fist smash into his face. Pain racked through his skull as he landed a couple feet from where he had been standing.

He looked up to see a blue-haired maid standing over him. The truth of the situation became clear to the boy. Subaru would soon follow Emilia. Rem was much stronger than him and he knew it. He could only hope he would loop again. Maybe this time, he could save the girl he loved. 

Rem raised her foot, preparing to crush the boy's skull and end this. Subaru braces for the inescapable end…

But it never comes.

Suddenly…

"RAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

Rem is sent flying back by a bloody figure. Subaru looks up in surprise. Rem gets up from the ground and looks on. She blinks a couple of times in confusion before her eyes open wide and her pupils shrink. Her mouth hangs open in… amazement? Fear? Maybe a bit of both.

Standing above Subaru, a girl stood. Two white-purple-tinted, glowing horns stuck out of the back of her scalp, curving around the sides of her head and ending in forward-pointing, sharp, tips. Her silver hair was painted red in blood and when her eyes opened, madness gleamed from them. She began to laugh maniacally. 

Her shadow lengthened and took a 3-dimensional shape. It formed and coalesced into a glowing translucent purple figure standing behind the girl. It shared her features like her pointed ears and now, horns but had reptilian skin with hard-looking bony plates covering its form like armor and patches of feathers covering her arms. They were large and somewhat bulky given the feminine shape. The shadow's hands were tipped with long, sharp claws.

Subaru knew who he was looking at and almost couldn't believe it. He'd heard of demons before. The boy had always seen them as myths. Even after high-profile incidents like the Redgrave City incident, he still thought of them simply as fantasy and attributed such incidents to hyperbole and embellishment. When Emilia had claimed to be one of them. He hadn't truly understood the full implications of that. 

Now, he was staring up at said implications.

Emilia had engaged her horns and transformed into a demon. 

Chapter Text

“T-this can't be!” 

Rem looked on in shock at the half-elf that stood in front of her. Two oni-like horns sticking out of her head. Rem found herself paralyzed at such a sight. 

Rem had believed that she and Ram were the only two onis left but, despite that… here, in front of Rem, another oni seemed to stand.

Despite the fact that the shadow behind the girl had dissipated, tension continued to float in the air. Rem stood there, her mind in complete turmoil as the entire way she had thought of Emilia was flipped on its head.

Even if she had only ever deeply cared about Ram, Rem had to admit to herself that there were lonely nights. Nights when she was reminded that her and Ram were the only two onis left but now, that was no longer the case.

Rem begins to feel a lump grow in her chest as she realizes what she has done. A voice spoke out to the maid and pulled from her thoughts. 

“You…”

The girl turned toward Rem. At that moment, adrenaline flooded the maid’s limbs. Chills ran down her spine as the oni looked over at the girl.

“You hurt Subaru.”

Emilia growled. A murderous look in her eyes as she stared down Rem. The maid felt intense fear as if instinctually understanding the danger she was in. She had forced Emilia to use her horns. She knew what would happen next.

Rem suddenly jumped back, barely avoiding being sliced by an ice disc that was aimed at her neck. Emilia leaped forward and grabbed Rem as she dodged the projectile. Rem struggled as she was lifted up, swung around, and tossed through a tree. Rem groaned as she tried to get up. Emilia didn't let her and pounced on her. Emilia raised a fist and drove it into Rem’s face. Rem yelped before another fist hit her and another. Suddenly, the holographic purple arms of the figure from before manifested and joined in on the beating.

“Gahh!”

Rem was grabbed and thrown, rolling across the forest floor. Rem looked up at the girl only to see her face contorted in rage. The half-elf's attention was grabbed by a flurry of movement near the stunned Subaru.  

Emilia’s purple limb suddenly grabbed a lunging wolgarm by the throat. It kicked and struggled as the girl slammed it into the ground with glee on her face. Two more mabeast run in only to be brutally ended by Emilia as she grabs them both and crushes their skulls against one another. All while feral and rageful growls can be heard from her.

Rem looks at Emilia, her legs shaking in fear as more mabeast run in only to be slaughtered like nothing. Ice discs manifesting in the air and slicing the dogs to bloody ribbons in a defensive sphere of death.

She had seen Oni rage during her time in her old village. This was beyond that. Even beyond the image of the raging chief as he chewed through cultists with his oversized blade. This was something different yet, terrifyingly familiar. As Emilia ripped a mabeast's head off, she looked back up at a trembling Rem and growled. She placed herself between Rem and Subaru as if to defend the boy from the maid.

Rem was certain she couldn't continue this fight. This was a force beyond anything she could handle. Her own stamina was already shot from her first battle with the girl. Her horn depleted and body beaten. But, there was also another reason. One that was much more important than the others.

“She’s an oni. I was condemning someone like me-... Like my sister. She might be the only other oni left and…and she might’ve been hunted too.”

She considered the idea of Emilia not being an enemy but another victim seriously. A half-elf born with oni blood in her veins. Both bloodlines being treated with fear and hatred. She put herself in Emilia’s shoes for a moment. Being hated as a half-elf and hunted by the cult for being an oni…

Looking at Emilia, her expression and posture matched those of the oni fighting to defend their loved ones from the cultists back then. The way she paced. The way she growled defensively. The fervor in her eyes. She saw the same look in her sister that night. There was no doubt in Rem’s mind.

Rem knew she had been wrong. Even if the specifics of Emilia’s appearance still couldn't be explained, it was not nearly as important as the mistake Rem was making. As soon as she thought with her head and not her horn, it all became clear.

On the other side from Emilia, Subaru stood. He had been watching this entire situation unfold in shocked silence. Finally, the boy stood up with an expression of disbelief and concern.

“E-Emilia-tan???”

Emilia suddenly turned toward Subaru. He took a step back as he saw the look in her eyes. He had never seen anything like it from her. Bloodlust was clear in her wide eyes. Rage like nothing he’d ever seen before. Her expression wavering between rage and edging into a mad smile.

It was so out of character he almost couldn't believe that this was the same girl from just a few minutes ago. Suddenly, Emilia took a step toward him. He flinched and Emilia stopped. 

Her horns receded, and the rage in her eyes was replaced with sadness. Lucidity returned.

“Fear? Why is he scared?”

Emilia looks around at the carnage that surrounded her and remembers what happened. 

Hearing the punch, she realized what was happening to the boy in her final moments. A voice rang out in her own head. And then… feeling revitalized, as if revived, she had killed all the surrounding demon beasts in a single movement and rushed over to Subaru in the span of a second. Next thing she knew, she was fighting Rem and more mabeasts. All while a barely controllable bloodlust overcame her entire being.

“I-I did all this!?”

She looks down at her hands. They were painted red in blood. Visera smeared her white clothes. The annihilated remains of demon dogs were splayed out in front of her. A thought reverberated through her head.

"You are part demon."

The words that had terrified her beyond anything. Past the fear of pain or death. Both of which still frightened her somewhat. No, one thing trumped them both. 

“W-what the hell am I?!”

Would she hurt Subaru next? Would she become the devil that terrified her to no end?

Rustling could be heard close by but Emilia didn’t notice. She was too busy realizing the kind of darkness that existed within her. Realizing that she really might be the devil people believed her to be. The outside world faded away and she began to hyperventilate as her eyes widened.

A growl was heard.

“Emilia-tan! WATCH OUT!”

A voice yelled out. Emilia couldn't hear it. Something hit her pushing Emilia off her feet. Emilia looked over just in time to see Subaru, standing where she had been a moment before. Her eyes widened as multiple maws clamped down on the boy.

“AAAHH!”

Subaru fell to the ground as the dogs pulled at him. He quickly lost consciousness from the pain.

“Subaru!”

Emilia shot ice swords at the dogs scaring them off. She took a look at his wounds. They were dire. She could tell he needed immediate treatment as several of his arteries had been nicked.

“This is really bad. I need to get him out of here!”

She turned around to survey the area. A group of mabeast sat feet away. All preparing to pounce. Emilia summons and readies her ice sword with doubt still clear in her mind.

“I need to protect Subaru but I don't want to become that again… That darkness… I couldn't live with myself if I ended up hurting him or… worse.”

A dog howled and the rest charged. Emilia scowled, preparing to fight them when…

*Woosh*

Spears of ice sailed through the air. Emilia panicked realizing that she hadn't seen Rem when she looked around. Emilia prepared her mind to be assaulted by excruciating pain. The projectiles flew fast and true… into the line of charging dogs, impaling them. Emilia’s eyes widened in surprise as a certain maid landed in between her and the dead wolgarms.

“Rem??? What-...”

Rem looked back at her. 

“I was wrong. You're an oni… No, more than that, you're just like sister… Go, I'll cover your escape!’

The boy had tried to defend his friend. Rem doubted a witch cultist had anything like that in them. This boy could not be one even if the scent followed him. The yin spirit had confirmed it herself. Subaru truly had simply been attempting to protect the children. 

Emilia didn't understand what had changed but looking in Rem’s eyes, she could see she was being genuine. Emilia nodded before scooping up the boy and the village girl and running to the tree line. Rem watched as she ran out of sight. A small weight lifted off her shoulders.

She went against her instinct and let them go. Finally, she understood that they both fought for the same reason. A reason no cultist or witch ever could. It had been staring her in the face the whole time but, she had been ignoring it in favor of following the bloodlust her oni instincts had incited. 

Rem turned around to find more dogs lining up, growling as they stared her down. Rem raised her arm and chanted.

“El huma!” 

A dozen ice spears flew toward the dogs. They quickly moved to dodge and many were successful while others were skewered. Rem noticed more and more wolgarm moving in and turned to follow the half-elf.

As she ran through the forest, she could hear dozens of paws following behind her. She jumped and turned around while chanting once more. Ice spears slammed into the pouncing mutts in mid-air. Their bodies fell to the ground as Rem got up and continued running. More demon beasts follow behind. Rem weaved through the remaining trees and crossed the village barrier. 

As she did, the sound of pursuing mabeasts stopped. A howl pierced through the night and then, dozens of retreating paws could be heard. Rem exhaled in relief as the assault halted. It seemed that the barrier had been repaired. In front of her, she could see Emilia sitting on the ground hanging over Subaru’s unconscious body. The little girl was lying on the ground nearby. A few villagers looked over the scene with concern.

A few gasped in shock upon seeing the state Emilia, Rem, and Subaru were in. Some of them eyed the half-elf with suspicion. She either didn't notice or didn't care at the moment as she tried to treat the bleeding out Subaru. 

“...” 

Rem walked over uncomfortably. Emilia didn't turn to her. She was too busy dealing with Subaru’s wounds. Suddenly she spoke. 

“Rem, help me move them. The village chief already permitted me to use one of the spare rooms in their home.”

Rem wordlessly picked up the girl and began following Emilia who had been princess carrying Subaru. Some villagers followed behind with the chief, others stood guard by the barrier in the case of another breach. After a brisk run, they found themselves at the chief's house. They headed inside while the others stood outside and talked with the chief. 

They quickly moved inside and located the empty rooms. The two cots that had been promised sat alone in the room. Emilia quickly set Subaru down on one of the beds. Rem followed suit with the girl and the other bed.

“How bad is it?”

Rem inquired. Emilia looked down at the boy. She placed her hand on one of his.

“His physical wounds have been healed but…”

She gritted her teeth.

“Almost a half-dozen curses have been placed on him.”

Rem looked at the boy's face. 

“You can remove them right?”

Emilia shook her head, balling her other fist.

“There's too many. I would need someone much more skilled here helping me. It's a tangled mess.”

Rem gulped. She looked down at the floor.

“The only way to save him I can think of is killing the mabeasts that put the curses on him.”

Rem looked up. If there was something she could do… She walked to the door.

“What do you think you're doing?”

A hand grabbed onto Rems. Emilia held her from leaving.

“You said that the only way to save him is to kill the wolgarms. Rem will do exactly that.”

Emilia looked at the girl incredulously.

“There's too many of them. You can't handle all of them by yourself! You'll get yourself killed!”

Rem turned back to Emilia and yelled.

“Does that matter!? Rem is the reason he got hurt. So, Rem has to fix this!”

Rem needed to atone for what she had done. She had let her prejudice cloud her judgment and now, an innocent boy and girl had gotten hurt. She had failed yet again. Even now, she couldn't even be a good replacement for her sister. Her thoughts began to spiral.

“I really am the worst. I got someone hurt. I tried to kill him and Emilia! All because my forsaken horn told me too…”

She wished she had lost her own horn instead of Ram. Maybe then, none of this would’ve ever happened. Ram wouldn't be in chronic pain. This boy wouldn't be hurt. Rem wouldn't have been able to smell them. Sister wouldn't make any rash decisions. Sister wouldn't attack people on a whim. Sister wouldn't try to murder someone like them. 

“Rem… I'm coming with you. I'm not letting you go in alone.”

Rem looked over at Emilia.

“Rem needs to do this alone!”

Emilia yelled back.

“I know you feel bad about what you did but, I still can't let you get yourself killed!”

Rem’s mouth opened in surprise.

“I want to hate you for trying to kill Subaru… for trying to kill me but, I can see you want to redeem yourself.”

Emilia looked directly at Rem in her eyes.

“So… you're gonna help me save Subaru. Both of us…”

Rem smiled a little.

“Thank you.”

Then, Emilia walked up next to Rem. A determined expression on her face. 

“I'm not gonna sit around while Subaru is in danger.”

Emilia walked out of the room and toward the home's entrance. She moved to open the door. On the other side, she was greeted by a familiar face.

“Emilia-sama! Have you seen Rem? She was supposed to be in the mansion but I haven't been able to find her anywhere!”

A somewhat panicked Ram rushed over as she saw Emilia walking out.

“Yes. She's here.”

Emilia gestured into the house. Ram quickly walked into the threshold and let out a sigh of relief as she spotted her sister.

“Rem!! Are you okay? What happened?”

Rem teared up. Ram tried to comfort her upon seeing her tearing up. 

“Rem. Sister is here, everything will be okay.”

Rem only cried harder.

“No, it won't! I messed up. I should have listened to you. Now, Subaru and a little girl have gotten hurt because of me!”

Ram held her close and let her cry into her shoulder. Unsure of how to console the crying Rem. She ultimately decided to simply put her hand on Rem’s head and rub it softly.

A few moments passed before Rem calmed down. She separated from her sister but continued to look downward with a guilt and shame-ridden face. Ram turned to Emilia who spoke up.

“...I’ll start from when we got to the village…”

And she did. Emilia explained everything leading up to the fight with Rem.

“We had evacuated all of the children besides one. That's when…well…-”

At that point, Rem interrupted her in another outburst of sobs.

“Then…then I attacked them! What the hell is wrong with me!”

Ram tried to console her sister to little avail. 

“That's why I have to go back in. The boy has been cursed. What kind of person would Rem be if she let someone innocent die because of her mistake?!”

Rem shook her head.

“No! I have to save him!”

Ram looked into her sister's eyes. A determination shined in them even past the shame and guilt. Rem pleaded.

“Sister, I have to save that boy!” 

Ram sighed. She wanted to tell Rem to stay here but it was obvious that was not happening. Especially if Rem really had done what she had claimed.

She looked at her sister with a serious expression.

“Promise Ram that you will come back in one piece. I will stay with the wounded while you and Emilia-sama defeat the mabeasts.”

Rem nodded. Ram then looked to Emilia.

“Emilia-sama, Ram entrusts her sister's safety to you. I hope my trust is not misplaced.”

Emilia stepped forward. 

“It's not. Even though he might be a little mad at her, I'm sure Subaru wouldn't want Rem to get hurt saving him. I'll protect her, you have my promise.”

Ram nodded as the two walked to the door. Opening it once more, they both stepped outside. Emilia turned once more to Ram.

“If Puck turns up, tell him to stay here with you and watch over Subaru and the village. Make sure he stays here. I won't have any more people getting hurt.”

“Understood Emilia-sama.”

With that, Rem and Emilia departed. Their wills united to save the boy.

———–——————————–——————

Darkness. Only Darkness

A bare soul floated In it. No body to hold it as a figure stood somewhere in front of him. Her face could not be made out beneath the black veil she wore. 

She was saying something. He couldn't understand… not at first at least. Eventually, he can begin to make out what she is saying. 

“-ove you.” 

He listened a bit closer. 

“I love you.” 

The voice spoke genuinely. Her confession was filled with affection. 

“I love you. I love you.” the voice got a bit colder and flatter.

The darkness seemed to shift around the soul.

“I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.”

Hands extended out of the darkness and smothered the soul as the voice proclaimed obsessively. 

“I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you-”

Her voice was now flat and cold. Fear crept into the soul. The hands all began to squeeze down on him. 

“I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you love you-love you-love you-.”

The woman spoke like it was the only words she knew. The soul wanted to scream but had no mouth. Right as it believed it would shatter…-

“Wake up.”

Subaru awoke with a jump. He was in a bed in something closer to a hospital gown than his original clothes. 

“I don't recognize that ceiling.”

He hadn't died. That was some kind of relief.  

“Hey.”

An androgynous voice spoke.

Subaru looked over to see a cat spirit, Puck, floating by his bedside. He spoke coldly with a disconcerted expression.

“We’re back in the village. Lia healed all your wounds.”

He was looking off into a corner of the room. His mind is obviously distracted by something. Subaru quickly asked.

“Where’s Emilia?”

Puck seethed audibly unable to contain his emotions.

“She ran back off into the forest.”

“What!?”

“And she wants me to stay here and look after you.”

Puck turned to Subaru. His face marred with frustration. 

“All while she's out there. With her backup being that damned maid. She doesn't even know about those things.*

“...You mean the mabeasts right? She knows. That's actually why we were out there in the first place.”

Puck shook his head.

“No. There are demons out there. Not just mabeasts.”

Subaru sat up. He racked his brain trying to understand. It's then that he remembered what happened before he passed out.

“That… that couldn't have been real.”

Emilia had changed for a moment into something else. He had seen it in her eyes. She became animalistic and violent. It frightened him a little. 

When she had called herself a demon, Subaru didn't think she was being truthful. He thought she meant something else. Maybe some kind of fantasy race that inhabited this new world.

He didn't think she was referring to the devils of his old world.

Even though he hadn't believed that they had existed up until a month ago, he had seen the devastation in Red Grave. It was all over the news. The tree and the monsters that spawned from it couldn't be written off as anything else than devils. Not anymore at least. Not after seeing the bloodlust in her eyes.

The only reassuring part of the current situation seemed to be that Emilia was attempting to protect him during the fight with Rem. Puck only looked back at the boy with a question as he did not fully understand what was going on in the village or even what happened in the forest.

“Lia’s heart stopped for a second. What exactly happened out there?”

Subaru didn't know how to explain everything but…

“I-I’ll try.”

And so he did. Subaru explained the best he could. He talked about Emilia finding the curse on him. Heading down to the village and into the forest. He even explained when Rem attacked and then… And then Emilia’s episode.

“She… she grew horns.”

Subaru had never seen anything like it before. Puck only looked at him somewhat perplexed.

“Horns… horns like an oni?”

“Oni from my homeland were said to have them too…”

Puck sat deep in thought. It didn't really make sense. Subaru spoke out loud.

“Emilia said she was a demon… where I'm from, that word is used interchangeably for oni.”

Puck still sat there confused.

“Betty confirmed it though. Emilia isn't an oni. Besides, she has a particular scent, and the oni maids don't have that.”

Subaru shouted in surprise. Having not been told about the maids.

“Rem and Ram are oni?! But demons and oni are like the same thing!”

Puck replied.

“We don't know that but… it seems likely there is a connection. If true, it only makes that maid that much stupider.”

Emilia’s true heritage and her connection to the oni tribe and demons seemed to only get more confusing. Puck continued.

“All that I do know is what Betty told me. Lia is going to get stronger. She might gain new abilities that are hard for us to understand…”

Puck stopped for a second. He examined Subaru.

“Even through all of this, I can tell you still care about her… I think I can share this with you. You should know.”

Subaru blushes a little. Puck was right, even after what he’d seen. He still cared for Emilia.

“I thought you would be mad about how useless I was.”

Puck sighed.

“I wanna be mad… but Lia wouldn't like that. Besides, you seem to already be mad at yourself anyway.”

He leans in and whispers before Subaru can say a word.

“Beatrice said Lia might be able ‘access’ the demon part of her blood… I don't think I have to tell you to keep that all a secret right?”

Subaru nodded. Puck seemed a little relieved. At least for a moment.

“Well, I'm telling you because it also means she's gonna have to deal with them .”

Subaru made a guess.

“You talked about demons. Other demons… they're after her aren't they?”

Puck growled.

“I don't know too much about them. All I know is that they showed up and surrounded one of the kingdom’s garrisons… it was a slaughter and… a-and a damned distraction. My best guess is that those damned things are here for her strength.”

“Myths from my hometown always said devils were power hungry. That they fought and stole each other's souls for power when they weren't murdering humans for their blood."

Puck looked down at the ground.

“Now, there approaching Arlam. Roswaal is trying to slow them down but I'm stuck here.”

He looked back at Subaru.

“I should've left you here…I really should have but Lia directed me to stay here with you and protect Arlam.”

Subaru sat there for a moment in silence. He then proceeded to stand up. Puck looked at him in confusion as he walked over to his folded-up set of butler clothes. He picked them up as he spoke.

“Well, I'm gonna go help her. I know she doesn't want me to follow her but I can't stay here while she’s out there fighting.”

Subaru wouldn't be able to live with himself if she died fighting while he was back here being useless. Puck flew over.

“She said I had to protect you and I won't be able to do that if you run off into the woods. She also wanted me to keep the villagers safe. I can't do both at once.”

It was then that another voice spoke.

“If the Great Spirit of Fire is bound here, Ram could go in his place.”

Ram stood in the doorway.

“Ram’s role here is complete and if it's as dire as the spirits say, they will certainly need help.”

From behind Ram, the mansion’s resident yin spirit came forward. 

“How long have you guys been there?”

“The maid was here before Betty. You should be grateful of Betty’s presence here, in fact.”

The maid herself spoke.

“Ram knew she detected something more than just mabeast in the forest. The spirits confirmed that it seems. Ram’s not leaving her sister in there with those things.”

Puck was happy to see Beatrice helping but, couldn't stop himself from eyeing Ram suspiciously.

“Why should I trust this maid? Her sister tried to kill Lia and she let both of them leave back into that forest.”

Ram shook her head.

“Ram did not know about the other threat. Besides, she knows her sister well enough to say that Rem is genuine in her attempts to atone.”

Puck seemed to think for a moment. He closed his eyes as he sighed deeply.

“Go. I at least know you won't do anything stupid like your sister… but if anything happens to Lia-”

Subaru spoke up.

“We won't let it. Ram, we should go. Maybe we can catch up to them.”

Subaru made his way to the doorway only to be blocked by the yin spirit.

“Betty will be joining you as well.”

Subaru was dumb founded. He went to ask only to be cut off.

“She’s not doing this for you, human. She has her own reasons, in fact.”

Subaru looked to Puck.

“Betty can defend herself. Besides, I can't blame her for wanting to go with you.”

Puck looked away. A grime expression painted across his face as unpleasant memories passed across his mind. After a few moments, Puck seemed to recover or at least hide his reminiscing. 

Beatrice turned and began walking out the doorway meaningfully. Ram joined her. Subaru walked with them knowing now was the time. It's then that Subaru yelled out.

“The party formation is complete! Now, onto Mission two!”

He smiled stupidly as the others looked at him dumbfounded. Ram facepalmed.

———–——————————–—————

The women walked through the forest. Daybreak had arrived a few hours earlier. Neither had spoken, both not wanting to bring up the fact that they’d tried to kill each other only a few hours earlier. Specifically, Rem who couldn't find her voice over her own guilt and awkwardness. Instead, the two seemed to focus on the more urgent matter. Speaking of which-

“There were dozens of them swarming us earlier.”

Emilia was stumped. They hadn't run into a single beast in hours. The sounds of the forest had also been absent for some time. She’d expected to find at least a couple by now. Instead, they were greeted by an eerie silence. Eventually, a voice cut through that silence.

“Emilia-sama! I found something.”

Rem called out. Emilia walked over to find the maid crouched over a set of paw prints. The marks cast into the dirt were fresh. They trailed off deeper into the forest.

“It went this way.”

Rem began following the tracks. Emilia followed cautiously. She summoned an ice sword. The tracks continued on for a while. During the walk, Emilia couldn't help but notice how weird the tracks looked. Something was wrong about them.

Soon, they noticed something up ahead.

“Wait, get down.”

Emilia ordered as she crouched down. Rem followed suit. Ahead, a lone demon beast dog stood in a clearing. It was still and facing away from them. 

“What's it doing? It should have smelled us by now.”

Emilia could see that the wolgarm was covered in blood. The wrongness of the paw prints came to mind.

“Rem, Somethings amiss. I'm not taking any chances.”

Emilia created a single ice spear and focused on the beast. Rem watched as the spear flew at the dog.

It lodged itself into the dog's side. The animal didn't move an inch. 

“... What in the world??”

Emilia stood up and walked into the clearing attempting to get a better look at the animal.

“Emilia-sama!”

Rem loud whispered in worry. Emilia continued forward anyway. Whatever happened, Emilia was sure they would be able to deal with it.

As she walked out into the open, the creature suddenly got onto its hind legs. Finally, Emilia realizes what was wrong with the tracks. 

“It was walking on two legs…”

Emilia brandished her sword seeing it finally move. The thing slowly turned around. Deep wounds on its body are revealed to her. It's smashed head hanging limply. Organs and gore show through its shredded skin.

“What… what is this?”

A shattered front paw twisted. The exposed bone sharpened into a blade. The creature walked forward toward Emilia clumsily yet, ominously. She backpedaled in horror and shock at what she saw. It took her a second to realize that she still had her sword in her hand. She stopped moving back.

She jumped to the side as the being swung its bladed leg at her suddenly.

“They’re dangerous!”

Emilia, having confirmed that the entity was hostile, slashed the creature. It stumbled as its makeshift sword was cut off. It still didn't fall, no. Instead, its other front paw broke and contorted into a blade. Emilia had to jump into the air to avoid another slash. 

“What about this!?”

Emilia brought her sword down on the beast as she fell. The ice blade bisected the mutated dog's body. It's blood spilling out and crystalizing in real-time. It finally fell still.

“That did the trick I think.”

Rem walked out of the bushes to inspect the thing. 

“What am I even looking at?”

Emilia shook her head.

“I don't know... It moved unnaturally. Like a doll almost.”

The way it shuffled along. Like it was a puppet on a string. It unsettled her to no end to be completely honest.

There was a rustling in the bushes and Emilia readied her sword again. From amongst the trees, a figure walked out. The figure was one of a human. It even had a sword in its hand and armor that seemed to bear a Lugunican insignia. One thing was off though.

“...”

The armor was shredded and stained with blood. It clenched the sword unnaturally… no, it was more like the figure's hand had fused with the weapon. Its face and skin were pale and its eyes glowed blood red with hatred. It's jaw hanging limply.

More figures stumbled out behind them. Some of them are human silhouettes. Others contorted mabeasts.

“Emilia-sama, I need a weapon.”

Emilia quickly recreated Rem’s destroyed Morningstar using her ice magic. She quickly handed it off to Rem. The maid spoke quickly. 

“There are many of them and few of us… you may be forced to rely on your oni blood. Do not hesitate.”

Rem had seen the half-elf’s distress after exiting her oni rage. She knew the girl was scared of becoming like that again. Emilia understood what Rem was trying to say. She couldn't meet the girl's eyes.

“That won't happen. I won't let that happen.”

The two prepared as the hoard approached. They easily numbered thirty to forty. Their broken bodies shambling forward with hostile intent.

Rem grabbed her chain and began spinning the spiked ball. Emilia gripped her sword and summoned a volley of ice swords.

She ran in, Rem flung the ball into the crowd. It smashed into one of the armored figures. Emilia sliced into the torso of a twisted dog before ducking under a sword slash. She fired the volley of swords. The swords flew forward and sliced its body. One even managed to slice its head off. That didn't stop it from swinging its sword wildly.

Emilia swings once again, cutting the damned thing in half from the waist. Its blood crystallized as it flowed out and the being’s movement finally gave out.

“They don't go down easily. We've got to cut them to pieces.”

Rem watched as the corpse she had hit got up off the ground. Its head and upper torso smashed but its body was still mobile. It clenched its sword with clear intent. Rem threw the Morningstar again. This time, it smashed through the creature's sword arm. The Morningstar landed behind its target and Rem yanked the chain. It flew toward her and the figure.

The spiked ball caught one of its legs on the way back and obliterated it. The creature finally fell still.

“Annihilating them seems to work too!’

Rem yelled as swung the ball in a wide arc. It smashed into several figures and sent their bloodied bodies flying. Emilia dashed out of the way of a reanimated dog that had leapt at her, jaws mashing. Emilia sliced its head in two. The split head continued trying to bite at her until she fully cut its body in two. The figures Rem had hit got up only to be obliterated again by Rem’s morning star. They did not get up this time.

Soon enough, the two women had managed to defeat many of the creatures. Emilia spoke as she cut down another dog.

“I think we'll be done here in no time. As long as no more sh-”

Emilia heard a tremendously loud roar from the other side of the clearing. She turned to see a massive dog like a boss ulgarm surrounded by an even larger group of undead. The dog's body shudders strangely. Despite this, it still seemed to be in perfect health. It bore no obvious wounds.

“I spoke too soon I think.”

Emilia thought it might be a normal mabeast until she noticed something else about it.

“Three heads?! What the-!”

Two more heads could be seen sprouting from two more necks on either side of the normal one. Emilia gritted her teeth as she watched the creature suddenly shudder again and then expel flames from its skin which began to glow orange with heat.

Definitely not a normal mabeast.

“Right when I thought it would be something familiar...”

Emilia hoped that there weren't any more surprises waiting for her before charging in. She summoned a volley of ice swords. The beast opened its left maw and bellowed fire. The two met in a spectacle of ice and fire.

Chapter Text

There was the sound of someone out of breath.

“Hah… why do they have to be so far out in the forest???”

The pink maid ahead of the boy sighed.

“For all the excitement he'd shown earlier, Barusu still managed to disappoint.”

Subaru complained.

“Cut me some slack… I'm still low on blood and my body feels like it just ran a three-day marathon.”

As the boy panted fatigue, another voice critiqued him.

“Get yourself together, in fact. Betty did not come out here to hear your incessant crying!”

Beatrice walked farther ahead of the boy. The oni maid walked between them. Subaru responded to the spirit's annoyed remark with a question.

“But you came out here… Now, I'm kinda curious. What's the ‘real’ reason you came out here?”

Beatrice spoke with a deadpan expression.

“That is not for you to know, boy.”

She turned back to him.

“You should be happy Betty has decided to follow along. Especially if that is all you have as a means of defense.”

She pointed at his back.

Things had moved along quickly after they mobilized, the boy had bought some… particularly volatile materials and now carried the product of such things being mixed together. That combination of materials now rattled together on his back inside a crate. The rattling only increased as the boy ran over the uneven terrain of the forest. Subaru, Ram, and Beatrice ran deeper and deeper through the woods trying to find Rem and Emilia and defeat the invading creatures. 

“Hey! I have to pull my weight somehow.”

He tapped the crate strapped to his back filled with many bottles. Bottles of booze with their caps replaced with cloth and many small pebbles of orange crystal floating within the alcohol.

“I'm sure this will work. Besides…”

Subaru fiddled with the sheathed sword at his side. 

“I can always fall back on this if I need to.”

As he said this, Ram remarked.

“Ram is suddenly regretting showing Barusu those fire crystals.”

She eyed the improvised explosives cautiously. Beatrice looked forward once more. 

“Betty hopes you won't be too much of a burden. She did not come along to protect you.”

As she says this, Ram suddenly speaks.

“Wait…”

Everyone stops. Ram closes her eyes and concentrates before opening them.

“Over there.”

She pointed off deeper into the forest.

“There's a commotion that all the animals are avoiding. That must be them.”

She took off in the direction she had pointed to and the other two followed. Beatrice yelled out to Subaru.

“I hope you know what you are getting yourself into, human. Demons are not matters to be treated lightly in fact.”

Subaru smiled nervously.

“I think I know what to expect.”

Subaru recalled images of the creatures that had invaded Red Grave; twisted, bloodthirsty, and tough as nails. Beings that reportedly had to be mag-dumped to even go down if those online forums from his original world were reliable sources (very questionable.)

“I hope explosives can do the trick. If not, I'll have to just rely on you guys to do the fighting. Let's do this!” 

He pulled one of his makeshift weapons out; an improvised explosive made using alcohol and fire crystals, and used his other hand to fetch his lighter from his pocket. Even as he said it, he cringed knowing he didn't actually want to become deadweight. Such was why he'd created such haphazard devices. 

“Ram hopes you take a long, hard look at what you just said after this is over!”

She leaped forward, and into a clearing, her wand readied in her hand. 

“Betty agrees with the maid! Murak!”

Beatrice jumped off the ground and floated weightlessly into the clearing ahead as she continued to float above it. Subaru pumped himself up as he sprinted forward and through the brush. 

As he stepped into the clearing, he had to shield his eyes as the afternoon sun blinded him momentarily. Upon his eyes finally adjusting, he spotted them.

Dozens upon dozens of figures converged in the clearing. Their bodies, that of mabeasts and men, were twisted almost beyond anything recognizable as their original forms, their limbs bent in the wrong ways and flesh mangled. They all surrounded one blue oni maid.

“Rem!”

Ram yelled as she saw her sister being encircled. She screamed out-

“Fura!”

The wind blade shot out and cut through a row of corpses. 

“Sister!”

Rem swept the horde with her Morningstar, pushing them back before making a break towards Ram. The two met and put their backs to one another, continuing to hold back the living corpses as they caught up.

“Rem, are you injured? Fura!”

Ram pointed her wand forward and a wind blade slashed a dog in two vertically. 

“Rem is fine.”

Rem smashed her fist into the torso of one of the corpse puppets and launched it with so much force that it got impaled on a tree branch. She suddenly heard a crack as the area next to her suddenly exploded in flames.

The corpse of a guard who was sneaking up on Rem had been engulfed in that explosion. The figure let out a groan as its body was shredded by glass shards and then its flesh was melted into an incinerated slop.

“Where's Emilia?”

Subaru, the one who'd set off that explosion, spoke as he ran up to the sisters with a serious expression on his face. Rem couldn't bring herself to look him in the eyes as she remembered what she had done earlier. Her crime is still fresh, along with the guilt. She tried to respond.

“She's-”

At that moment, a wave of heat washed over the whole area as flame consumed the far end of the clearing. Looking over, Subaru spotted her.

“Emilia!”

He ran across the field weaving between and around the monsters. Purple crystals rained down upon the creatures and engulfed their bodies. Subaru looked over to see Beatrice had landed and was firing magic amethyst arrows with every raise of her hand and chanting of-

“Minya!”

A crowd of puppets ahead of Subaru had been engulfed in purple crystal with that chant. 

“Thanks Beako!”

He could hear her shouting.

“Don't call me by that name I suppose!!!”

He ran past the great spirit as she continued,  corpses continued to crystallize. 

Looking forward again, he could see there, on the far end of the clearing, by the bottom of a cliff, dashing around the epicenter of the hellfire, a girl with silver hair and blue pupils. 

“Emilia!!!”

She glanced toward him as she continued sprinting.

“Subaru??!”

She yelled out in surprise and worry seeing the boy who had only hours earlier been on death's door out here. The moment she turned to look at him, a large-bodied, three-headed flaming dog burst from the firestorm and tried to crush Emilia with its paw. She jumped over the paw and slashed it aCerberusw under her. 

The monster let out an angry howl as Emilia landed and jumped back outside of its reach. She yelled out to Subaru.

“What are you doing out here? It's not safe!”

Especially to her watching as the wound she had left on the beast disappeared.

“I'm not gonna leave you out here to fight my battles.”

He readied another fire crystal accelerated Molotov.

“I can't leave the girls to do all the work!”

Subaru wasn't content with having Emilia fight for him. His pride and conscience wouldn’t allow it. He flung the lit explosive at the beast.

There was an explosion of flame that consumed the beast. A wall of fire that blocked their view.

“Ha.”

Laughter. There was laughter. 

“HAHAHAHAHAA!”

The inferno rose in intensity with the volume of the laughter, drowning out the smaller flame the Molotov had created, burning away the grass, trees, and very earth itself.

“Ha-”

The flames calmed, leaving behind a field of scorched dirt.

“Pathetic human.”

A deep, distorted voice came from the Cerberus. The voice of the tri-headed beast that had stepped forward. The heads stared down the duo who now stood in front of it. 

“Shit!”

Subaru tried to speak, to move at all but found his body frozen. Having been suddenly locked up by a supernatural and intense fear. He could feel the beast's power as it spoke and struck fear into his heart.

“That attack was but a cool breeze in the face of MY flames!”

The prideful voice of the left head growled. 

That boast was followed by the middle head growling.

“Coming to the defense of the unforgivable's legacy while managing to be even more pathetic.”

It had spoken with hatred. Finally, the right head seemed to consider-

“That human may be special… especially insufficient in his faculties.”

“Hahaha!”

All the heads had let out a chorus of laughter. The Cerberus found entertainment from the frightened boy, who had come face to face with a demon, whilst the girl shouted out.

“Why are you here? What do you want with this place?!”

The beast stopped laughing and looked down at the half-elf. The ground shook as the beast swung at her enraged. She had to jump back to avoid being splattered.

“You… wretched abomination!”

The demon growled as its three heads eyed Emilia. Her own eyes narrowed in realization.

“Relative of the excrement, Sparda…”

The beast's entire body glowed red hot. All the heads are seething.  The middle one seemed to let off an aura of pure hatred and power. 

“We, The Princes of The Cerberus clan and the new rulers of Fire Hell ARE HERE TO KILL YOU!!”

Flames exploded outward from the beast's skin as the monster's rage blazed.

“Your soul and blood, along with that of those puny humans, will make perfect sacrifices to restore the power of the Cerberus clan! All will bow down before our might!”

As it said this, Emilia grimaced. She stared down the beast as she spoke to Subaru in a monotone voice.

“Run back to the village. I won't let them hurt anyone..”

Subaru couldn't see her face but could hear the frost in her voice and her anger. Subaru shook himself from his paralyzed state. 

“No. I won't take back what I said back in the mansion. We do this together.”

He pulled out his sword. Even if he couldn't do much, he wouldn't back down. Emilia seemed to finally capitulate. She spoke with a voice filled with worry.

“Fine… I won't stop you, but please stay safe.”

“I can’t let any more people die. Not because of me.”

Emilia charged in, jumping around to avoid the rain of fireballs being spit out of the right head's mouth. She dashed under the creature's left head as it opened its mouth wide and belched flames.  She thrust her sword into the beast's neck. It growled before attempting to flatten her with its paw. The half-elf dodged quickly to the side.

Suddenly, the beast let out another low growl as it found a sword stuck in its side by its rear leg. Subaru had managed to reach its blind spot.

“Eat that!”

Subaru yelled. He ripped the sword out and rolled to the side as a kick was sent his way. He got up only to barely manage to block a fireball flying at him with the sword, the creature having turned its right head toward him and fired. He was blown off his feet as the head that shot at him looked down upon his defenseless body.

“Imbecile.”

It began charging another fireball inside its maw. Subaru looked up with terror on his face.

“Subaru!!”

Emilia tried to rush over but the left head intervened.

“Perish in our flames!”

It breathed out flames so hot that they charred the land itself as it evaporated away the grass and melted the dirt on contact. Emilia could feel her skin steaming as she jumped back and barely avoided being scorched. Then, she suddenly heard something behind her.

She turned to see a figure a couple of feet away and closing in quickly. Covered inCerberus cloak and wielding a massive scythe, it was dragging the blade along behind it; the figure charged quickly with a demonic growl. Emilia tried to move to dodge but she had seen the danger too late. She was blowwas n off her feetand  from the force thate strike which sliced her midsection. Emilia, her body bleeding and limp as it was rag-dolled, was powerless to stop the Cerberus. She could only watch in horror as it prepared to vaporize her friend.

“Minya!”

An arrow of amethyst flew into the maw of the right head and struck the charging fireball. The devil let out a pained yelp from its middle, left, and right heads as the right head was consumed by an explosion of purple, time-stagnant flames. At the same time, four smaller shards flew into the body of a cloaked figure, which locked up as its body crystallized.

“These creatures… they're the devils behind this mess I suppose.”

Beatrice spoke as she walked to the boy's side, watching as the oversized dog temporarily fell into a stupor.

“Holy crap! That would have been it if Beako didn't help me. Thanks for the save!”

Subaru got to his feet once more as he spoke. Emilia also began to stand up as her body mended itself.

“Hgk!”

Emilia let out a groan as the wound on her midsection closed.

“Shit. Are you okay Emilia?!?”

Subaru finally noticed what had happened on the other side of the cerberus. She called out intorn-upse.

“I'm fine. Be careful Subaru. I don't think it's over yet.”

As she said this, the crystallized figure broke free. Much of its body steamed as its flesh rapidllifebloodIts cloak now shredded, reptilian claws which adorned its hands and feet could now be seen. These stood in stark contrast to the human head atop which a crown of black thorns could be seen. Both its head and torso had dry skin clinging closely to its bones. Its whole body emaciated yet, animated with a demonic vigor in its eyes that differentiated them from the carcasses.

It was not just another corpse. That much was obvious. 

It let out a guttural and scratchy bellow as it dug its scythe into the ground behind it and sprinted forward toward Emilia once more.

“I won't let you get me a second time.”

Emilia summoned and raised her sword in her right hand to parry the scythe. They meet in a shower of sparks as the ice sword holds up to the Underworld-steel scythe. The force of the swing being met and parried hit the Hell Caina suddenly, causing their posture to falter for a brief moment. 

A moment was all she needed. Emilia slashed diagonally into the demon's flesh before bringing it back around, swapping hands to slash it again and again before stabbing It rapidly. 

“Heeyaa!”

She suddenly pulled her sword back before thrusting it forward sharply. The beast's torn up body was flung and crashed to the ground violently. The creature tried to get up but failed. Its torso had been sliced to ribbons, and it screeched in rage as its life blood flowed out and its vitality evaporated. The demon's blood crystallized as it vacated the devil signifying its end.  The body calcified and crystallized. Emilia's swordsmanship and relentless attacks having bested it. 

“E.M.T is seriously cool!”

Subaru foolishly blurted out watching as Emilia cut down the monster in the matter of a second after getting to her feet. His admiration of Emilia’s capabilities was cut short with a yell as she looked back at him.

“Subaru, look out!!!”

He felt the temperature rise behind him. Rolling away quickly before he could get caught by the middle-heads blast of heat, Subaru's vision finally returned to the tri-headed dog. 

“Oh, you've gotta be kidding me-”

Subaru watched as the right head that had just been blown away by Beatrice finished repairing itself. The beast had finally gotten back to its feet as well.

“BURN!!!”

The middle head howled as its flaming rage burned away more of the field forcing Subaru to run to escape the exploding flames. Beatrice shouted “Murak!” and jumped away weightlessly before continuing to aim more arrows at the dog. The amethyst projectiles seemed to shatter before even hitting the beast due to the flaming shockwave it had created. Subaru yelled out.

“Oh shit!!”

The fire conjured up by the middle head was growing rapidly. Subaru fell to the ground as he tripped. The flames approached quickly. Subaru looked up in horror as death approached quickly.

“I'm not letting you hurt Subaru!”

Subaru's attention turned to Emilia as she leapt overhead. She summoned a small foothold of ice that she immediately spring boarded off of. The half-elf summoned a shield of ice as they flew straight towards the middle head. A heat wave capable of cooking someone alive would have smashed into her if it weren't for her shield blocking the scorching atmosphere. Emilia penetrated through with a grunt and reached the middle head. She brought the wildfire to an end with a stab.

The fire that was threatening to cook Subaru suddenly vanished as its casters brain was impaled. Subaru heard Emilia call out to him as she yanked her sword out of the dogs head and jumped back to avoid the left heads fire-breathing. 

“I know you said you want to help me but this enemy is too dangerous.”

Subaru grimaced as he stood up.

“No! I'm tired of being useless! I can't just stand around while your in danger!”

It was then that he was suddenly yanked back as a fireball almost hit him.

“Wake up Barusu!”

Ram yelled at him.

“That dog is a threat you can't handle.”

Subaru yelled.

“NO! I have to fight!”

Another fireball flew towards them only to be deflected by Rem with her morningstar which she immediately then slammed into a group of monsters that had been closing in. Rem yelled and charged in as Ram replied to the boy sharply.

“If you fight that beast, you will die. Emilia-sama and Rem's presence out here will be all for nought.”

Subaru bit his lip as Ram spoke the truth. Subaru knew it. This was a fight he couldn't take. He wasn't some action hero. This wasn't some kind of wish fulfillment fantasy where he would be given unreal powers.

He would die if he pretended it was.

“Emilia-sama will fight it. Go back to the village or find another way to contribute.”

Subaru breathed in and out. Clearing his mind. Ram was right. There had to be something he could do.

“...Even if I can't fight that beast. I can still help.“

He watched as Emilia danced around the cerberus whilst also trying to deal with incoming demons. She couldn't get close to the dog without a cloaked figure trying to sneak up on her and charge. 

He might not be able to fight the cerberus but there was someone who could. A heroine who was strong and brave. A heroine who just needed some space. 

He raised his head. Determination gleaming in Subaru's eyes. 

Just ahead, Emilia continued to do battle with the cerberus. She jumped and dashed between fireballs, walls of fire and shockwaves of smoldering air. The half-elf closed in, sword in hand and prepared to strike the demon. It was in that moment she heard something else behind her. 

She heard a group of three devils begin charging toward her with their scythes digging into the ground. She turned just in time to see something smack into one of their faces and explode. They screeched in agony as the burning fluid melted away layers of flesh. Emilia's face shifted in surprise and then again in a fraction of a second in understanding.

“Rem! Ram! We need to cover Emilia and give her space to deal with the boss! Once he's gone, the rest of this should be a piece of cake.”

Subaru shouted as he charged the smoldering figures and impaled one through the chest. He pushed it to the ground with the flat of his sword just in time for a well placed wind blade to cut its head off its shoulders.

“A good idea coming from Barusu. Ram hopes he can keep up.”

Subaru smiled before announcing.

“It's alright. All I gotta do is keep them aggro'ed on me!”

Subaru turned to the other monsters and shouted.

“Come and get me you bags of exp!!”

Whether or not the demons could understand what he said was irrelevant as his taunt got their attention. The figures let out screeches before charging in.

Subaru jumped to the side to avoid the cleaving edge of a scythe before slashing the knee of the cloaked devil that had swung at him. The creature resisted falling over as it healed quickly but that didn't mean Subaru’s efforts were in vain. The blue maid put her hand forward and shouted.

“El Huma!”

Ice spears impaled into the creature's body. It’s focus on the boy had left it open to attack.

“I won't let anyone get hurt.”

Another Hell Caina charged in, this time toward Rem.

“Not so fast!”

Subaru came in from the side and impaled it with as much force as he could before ripping the sword out and tossing another explosive. He managed to back away just enough to avoid being caught by the flames as the demon burned to ashes. Another demon behind Subaru was smashed across the face with Rem's morningstar and flung to the ground. 

Before the skeletal figure could even try to get up, Rem leaped forward and stomped on the demon's chest. A sickening crack could be heard as the monster screeched in pain before the oni brought it to an end with a stomp to the head. Suddenly, she heard a sound behind her and turned to see Ram unleash a flury of punches onto another cloaked monster before kicking it hard. The creature flew into a tree before a blade of wind bisected it vertically down the middle.

Together, the three of them held back the horde leaving Emilia open to fight the cerberus.

“Everyone's working so hard to give me this chance. I can't let them down.”

Emilia dashed around the beast trying to find an opening. 

“This is tough.”

She sidestepped a ball of fire and launched a barrage of ice swords. None hit their target as the Cerberus’ middle head shouted.

“DIE!”

The swords melted as the dog unleashed another firestorm. Emilia was forced to dash away from the shockwave. The middle heads ability to create firestorms made it risky to engage in close quarters combat. At the same time…

Emilia watched as the firestorm died down after a second. The blast itself was brief and seemed to create an opening. She fired another volley of swords. 

“It will not be so easy.”

The right head launched its own volley right as Emilia had managed to. All six ice swords were shot down by a volley of ten fireballs. Emilia had to jump back to avoid being hit by the four remaining fireballs.

“Burn in our mighty flames!”

Emilia gritted her teeth as a hastily constructed huma shield melted under the fiery breath of the left head. Her skin blistered under the heat that managed to make it through. 

There were openings but none of them were large enough for her to take advantage of. She couldn't get in fast enough before another head launched its attack. Emilia would need to speed up and find a way to close in faster while ensuring she couldn't be caught by its successive attacks.

“I really didn't want the others to know…It doesn't matter now.”

The beast let out another barrage of fireballs. Emilia leaped over many of them but another barrage was launched. 

Rem had turned away from the battle with the lesser devils for a moment only to see Emilia about to be scorched, her eyes widened.

Then something unexpected happened.

Emilia suddenly changed course in mid-air, dodging the flurry of attacks. A set of two silver-feathered wings sprouted from the shoulders of her dress. She soared toward the burning dog as its heads laughed.

“Finally starting to embrace your blood. We will relish this!”

“I will stop you. No matter what!”

The three heads roared as Emilia closed in.

Rem's jaw dropped. That was apparently a thing she could do. She had a lot more questions now. Questions that would have to wait due to the screaming demon's charging toward her. She swung her morningstar at them knocking them all to the ground. The Hell Cainas were soon finished off by Subaru as he detonated another molotov on top of them. 

“She's an oni but also something else…”

Rem pondered aloud as she swung her weapon at another group of corpses that seemed to be advancing alongside the devils now.

“Emilia-tan's an angel. Isn't she?”

Rem considered what he had said. She had seen what Emilia could do. What Emilia did do. After the hell Rem had put her through, Emilia still considered her sister's feelings. She had allowed Rem to try and make up for the crimes she had committed.

“An angel…”

Even now, that girl was valiantly fighting an otherworldly enemy to protect the village.

“Rem, Barusu!”

Ram shouted looking at the edge of the clearing. Rem and Subaru looked over to see a large, eight foot tall figure emerging. The only thing visible being its eyes which glowed like two dots until it left the darkness of the forest.

The creature walked into the clearing. It's pale gray scales covering thick and powerful muscles that made up its form. It's bloodshot, pupil-less eyes stared at the three of them. From a split-jawed maw, a long blue tongue flicked the air.

“Another new one? Mabeasts, zombies and reapers weren't enough?”

As he spoke in exasperation, the riot locked its head toward him as it got on all fours.

“Uh…”

The beast screeched as it leapt into the air. The riot darted toward Subaru faster than he could react. The distinct sound of claws extending out its hands could be heard as it prepared to slice the boy to ribbons where he stood.

There was a crunch as the beast was interrupted mid air by a morningstar smashing its hand and claw. 

“I'll protect you Subaru-kun!”

The creature was launched backward crying out in pain. Subaru felt relieved that Rem had saved him but also a little unnerved.

“Thankfully she's on our side now. That strength is insane.”

Across the clearing, the riot tumbled. Subaru had hoped it would stay down but, clearly, that would not be the case as the beast dug its other, unbroken clawed hand into the ground skidding to a halt.

It sat there on the ground for a small moment before its mangled hand began to steam. There was the sound of bones cracking back into place as its damaged limb steamed. Within seconds, the being had fully healed itself leaving behind not even a scar.

“Damn, these things are way too durable. It's like fighting that black widow all over again.”

The creature licked the air as two more creatures exactly like the first emerged from the forest. Their eyes locked on each of the three and their mouths salivating. 

“Barusu, Rem!”

The creatures darted forward.

“I see them!”

Subaru had to roll to the side to avoid the razor claws of the beast that had charged him. On either side, he could hear the sounds of conflict as the oni sisters engaged the two other creatures.

He would not get their help.

“Shit. My plan to act as bait won't work if Rem and Ram are busy fighting.”

“I have to move to plan B. Try not to die.”

He didn't know how many times he could Return By Death or if he would be sent back to when he first arrived in this world. Before he met Emilia. Unfortunately, Subaru was still fairly weak when compared to the maids and these creatures were easily keeping up with them. He just had to hope the maids would deal with them quickly.

He tried raising his sword and stabbing into the creature's side.

CLINK

Subaru’s bones rattled as the sword bounced off the lizards tough exterior. It turned and looked at him curiously. 

“Oh shit.”

He backed away as It flicked its tongue before snarling and raising its claw. It dashed forward with a brutal instinct.

“Ugh, Betty will have to babysit you I suppose.”

“Eh?”

A small hand was placed in his.

“Murak. Jump, in fact.”

With the riot closing in rapidly, Subaru followed Beatrice's order whilst holding her hand.

Subaru’s vision suddenly turned blue. He looked around and realized he was in the sky. He was flying… well, actually more like falling very slowly. His body also felt light as a feather.

“Beako really is a life saver. They can't reach us up here.”

He could hear the great spirit groan beside him in the air.

“Look down I suppose.”

She pointed down. He traced where she was pointing to and gulped. Below, the monster that had been pursuing him eyed him and Beatrice. Suddenly, it turned to a nearby tree before bounding up its branches. Subaru realized what it was doing.

“These things are way too persistent!!!”

Subaru clenched his teeth. He reached behind him trying to get out another explosive. 

“I will handle this I suppose.”

Beatrice raised her hand and prepared to cast. 

The beast reached the top branch at that same moment and jumped up. Despite still being fifteen or so feet below them, the creature managed to bound up higher than even them. The riot looked down at them and snarled before rolling up into a ball as it fell towards them.

“Minya!”

The riot opened up and extended its claws as amethyst arrows manifested and flew forward. 

The lizard quickly managed to slash down some of the arrows but failed to stop all of them as two made it through and impaled the demon's side.

The beast growled in pain and anger as its trajectory was thrown off and it was sent plummeting to the ground roughly. This stood in contrast to Subaru and Beatrice who landed gently beside the fallen creature.

“So it's a low gravity spell? And what was that other one? Those arrows absolutely destroyed it!”

Subaru looked over at the rapidly crystallizing body of the devil. It writhed and struggled as its abdomen was consumed by amethyst.

“Look closer I suppose. Demons do not die easily.”

Subaru raised his eyebrow before looking closer. He gulped as he noticed it.

The crystallized flesh shattered as the tissue underneath steamed and replaced it. 

He looked over at Beatrice. Their eyes met in understanding. Subaru pulled out another molotov as he and the great spirit faced the recovering demon.

“How do you like this!?!”

“Minya, I suppose.”

The demon screeched as amethyst crystal consumed its body alongside red-hot flames. It's organs melting and crystal muscles cracking, the devil finally went still. 

“...That one was even harder to kill than the others.”

Subaru looked at the incinerated corpse for a moment as Beatrice commented.

“Demons come in all shapes and sizes, in fact. Some are much harder to kill than others. Betty will help clean up the rest I suppose.”

Subaru turned to Beatrice and smiled. 

“Thanks Beako! I'm not sure what I'd do without you.”

The little girl grimaced as she turned toward the riot attacking Ram.

“That's still not Betty's name, in fact! MINYA!”

Amethyst arrows pierced the demon's back and neck. 

“Fura!”

Ram pointed her wand and unleashed a wind blade on the beast. It twisted its body around and managed to avoid losing its head. Instead receiving another massive gash on its back. There was a distinctive sound like ceramic shattering as the scale armor on its back and neck cracked and broke.

It cried out in pain as it landed on the ground, it's exposed back facing up.” 

“Maybe this will work now that it's armor is softened up.”

Subaru ran over to it and raised his sword. He plunged it into the beast's back eliciting another screech as it began to writhe. 

Subaru grunted as he exerted himself even more. Putting more force into impaling the riot as it kicked and clawed wildly. 

“Come on! How much is it gonna take?”

Ram sighed watching him struggle to finally kill the demon. He really was just that weak. 

“Ram will help.”

She pointed her wand at the back of the struggling beasts neck. She chanted “Fura" and beheaded the beast with a wind blade. 

“Hah, these things are way too tough.”

He was going to end up sounding like a broken record but he really had been exasperated. The mabeasts were so much easier than demons. He was almost starting to miss them.

“At least with mabeasts, they actually die when you kill them. These things just keep getting back up.”

He thought specifically about the demonbeasts that Emilia and Rem had initially come out here to exterminate. He'd managed to kill a couple of them with just his sword and two hands but, the same could not be said about these things despite being called similar things.

Stab them in the chest? They just get right back up. Blow their limbs off? They'll grow back in a couple seconds. Anything short of repeatedly destroying the body or beheading the creatures would not work.

He wasn't too sure how their regeneration worked but, there was one thing he was sure about.

“Emilia definitely has the same kind of regeneration.”

She was a “demon” or part “demon.” The regeneration was more evidence of that. He still wasn't sure how she could be related to a demon either or even how that would even work.

Those questions could wait. Right now, he needed to help Rem kill the last enemy. He turned to where Rem and the lizard were fighting, preparing to rush in. 

Instead, he witnessed Rem climbing on top of the beast, its legs having been obliterated, before bashing its skull in with her morningstar like it was a rock. There was a crack as the flailing beast went still.

“...I was going to help but, I think you've got it covered.”

Rem looked up, her face covered in blood. He could see her horn was activated but, she managed to retain her sanity despite it this time.

“I- Rem has it under control. She's very sorry about all of this.”

Subaru almost had to do a double take as he finally processed what was playing out. Only a few hours ago, Rem had been trying to kill him and Emilia. To think so much could change so quickly…

“Rem came out here to help but it seems like she's only managed to make more problems for you…”

She looked away in shame as her voice trailed off.

Subaru sighed. If Emilia was willing to trust her…

“No, I’m fine. Look, while I'm still frustrated about what happened, I understand that you really do want to make up for it.”

Rem looked up in shock. Subaru smiled. 

“I think those lizard things we just killed have more friends on the way. We really need to get back to it.”

Subaru offered his hand. Rem's face blushed slightly as she took it and stood up. She finally returned a small smile to him. 

Ram looked on silently. The edges of her mouth creeped up at the dialogue.

“Barusu is a fool.”

Rem was being forgiven and while she didn't outwardly show it too much, Ram was genuinely happy to see it. 

“Betty is getting tired of saving you. Have more situational awareness I suppose! Minya!!!

Beatrice screamed out as she fired more arrows. Subaru and Rem turned to see more demons and zombies charging forward. A wave shattering after being struck by Beatrice’s magic. 

The four of them readied their weapons. Ready to fight. 

Mangled dogs ran in, Ram, Rem and Beatrice chanted.

“Fura!”

“El Huma!”

“Minya!”

Subaru tossed his molotovs at the frontline of the charging monsters. The burning supercharged alcohol created a wall of fire. The dogs ran through and had their melting bodies sliced to bits by projectiles. Some were simply cut down while others were impaled by ice and others consumed by burning purple crystals.

Subaru yelled as he impaled a flaming straggler. The puppet finally giving out as he ripped the blade from its body. He heard footsteps approaching rapidly and turned to see a zombie soldier charging at him ready to strike him down.

Subaru raised his sword and managed to clash against it with his own. Despite being undead, these things were pretty damn strong. Something Subaru learned via first hand experience as he struggled to stop its sword. 

The zombie gnashed its teeth in rage. Desperate to rip him apart and feast. Subaru was determined to make sure that didn't happen. He jumped back to break the blade lock. The corpse screeched as it charged forward and slashed wildly. Subaru managed to get around its slashes and slice into its sword arm. With a grunt of excursion, he sliced it clean off.

Before the puppet could mutate its form, he aimed for its head and sliced it off too. The creature fell to the ground and Subaru took the chance to make sure it wouldn't get up by stabbing it's chest.

“Finally, I managed to stop it with my own two hands.”

He ripped the sword out and wiped sweat from his forehead. He looked on as the others fought.

“Can't afford to slack off now.”

He moved in to assist. 

“Ram, on your left!”

She jumped back barely avoiding the maw of an undead dog. She immediately slashed it in half with a fura as Subaru tossed another molotov at the approaching demons. He turned to Beatrice, who was preoccupied with shooting down more encroaching devils, and yelled again.

“Up in the tree, he's gonna lunge!”

“I see him, I suppose.”

The figure leaped out, rocketing down toward the little girl below with murderous intent.

“Murak.”

The girl jumped lightly and ascended just above the lizards trajectory.

“Minya.”

Arrows of amethyst rained down on the beast from all sides. All arrows hit the target straight in the head. The creature went limp in mid air as its life was consumed by the crystals. Beatrice landed on the beasts back as it fell to the ground and shattered it's body.

The monsters came forward and continued to be cut down. Subaru calling out to the others about demons that managed to slip past the groups defenses and get into their blindspots. Each time, the maids or the spirit would put it down assuming he couldn't do it himself.

Subaru was sure that this situation was going to resolve soon now. The horde was finally beginning to thin out.

Right as he thought this, he heard the sound of hissing and cracking. Turning around, he felt relief as saw the area where Emilia and the cerberus had been fighting was consumed by a massive ice crystal.

———————————————————

Moments Earlier.

“I will stop you. No matter what!”

Emilia yelled as she charged in. Dozens of ice spears forming around her and taking aim at the beast. They flew forward at an unbelievable speed. The dog tried to counter with his fireballs but couldn't conjure a high enough quantity fast enough to block them all. 

With the demon being struck by some of the spears, Emilia took the chance to gather mana into her hand. 

The demon looked up at her and growled as it understood what she was doing just a second too late.

The air hissed as water vapor gathered and solidified. A long, thin pole tipped with a sharp point forming in her hand. She brought the shimmering spear of ice up, winding up her throw, before tossing it with the force of a ballista.

The cerberus howled in pain as it was pinned to the ground by the ice. The spear having run all the way through its nape and into the soil below. 

It tried to break the spear and dislodge itself only to find a shivering cold spreading through its form. Ice from the spear was spreading across its body. The middle head roared, rage and disbelief clear in its voice.

“No! We cannot be defeated!”

Emilia ran forward as the demon opened its left maw and belched flames frantically. Emilia dashed to the side as she created an ice disk in her hand and threw it at the left head.

The left head's neck was carved and shredded by the disk.. The magic flames ceased as the head weakened. The cerberus tried to fire more fireballs out of its right head only for another well placed discus to find its way into the beast's forehead.

The devil struggled as more spears were driven into its limbs, coming down as the shattered dust of other spears condensed above. Soon, all of the demon dogs limbs become pinned. The cerberus tried to fire off its explosive magic but found it impossible with so much pain clouding its minds. The left head shouted despite its grave injurys.

“We will rule the underworld!”

Emilia landed just in front of the struggling beast. The right head, having somehow avoided getting its brain mangled, growled in defiance.

“Our superior abilities will dominate all!”

She created another ice sword and began approaching the fallen demon. She spoke with a serious and genuine tone.

“It's not too late to stand down-”

The demon's ears twitched as it heard her soft voice. Emilia had come to understand that this beast was the only one that seemed to actually understand language. He was also ordering around the other monsters that Subaru and the rest were fighting.

“If things continue at this rate, you'll die. Whatever this ‘Underworld’ thing is, it can't be worth losing your life over it. Nobody else needs to die.”

Surely, she could at least try talking it down.

“...After everything, that's all you have to say.”

The cerberus growled with disdain, all heads speaking at once.

“After he killed our father…”

The beast's rage surged.

“We will destroy you…”

Emilia jumped back as the beast managed to shoot some fireballs.

“Everything you stand for, all your pitiful followers and servants. They will all burn!”

Emilia dodged the fireballs with a quick flap of her wings. She charged forward and buried her sword deep into the demon's middle neck. Focusing her fire magic, a shimmering crystal grew.

“I can't let you do that. I'll have to end this here.”

The crystal expanded rapidly, quickly encasing and consuming the cerberus’s body. The beast struggled desperately, attempting to summon its flames and melt the ice. No matter how much it tried however, the ice front continued to spread over its body. Consuming everything. 

Emilia spoke coldly as she froze more and more of the beast.

“This is over.”

It let out one more howl of pure rage from its heads before they were subsumed.

Emilia felt the beast stop moving under the ice. She stepped back, somewhat exhausted.

“He almost managed to overwhelm me.”

It was over. The demon was defeated and everyone was alive. Emilia sighed in relief.

She heard a familiar voice calling after her.

“Emilia!!! You did it.”

Turning around, Emilia yelped in surprise as a certain boy enthusiastically hugged her.

They had managed to beat the demons without him having to loop. He had been so scared that everything might end up being reset. He didn't know if he could handle having to catch up with everyone yet again. Thankfully, that wouldn't happen.

“I was a little worried but I knew you could do it!”

The other combatants walked over as well, having cleaned up the remaining demons. 

“Lecherous Barusu is already trying to exploit Emilia-sama it seems.”

Ram got right back into her normal banter. She shook her head in disapproval. Another voice also called out.

“They’re so kind, forgiving Rem and after everything.”

Rem spoke from beside her sister.

“Yes, Yes, Rem. They are very kind.”

The sisters smiled watching their liege blush deeply at the sudden contact from her favorite butler.

“Subaru?! What are you doing!”

Her flustering only egged him to continue as he began cheering while holding her close. 

“EMT! EMT! EMT!!!”

Emilia was so embarrassed but she couldn't really bring herself to pull away. Beatrice walked over, sighing at their antics.

“This is no place or time for tomfoolery I sup-”

Suddenly, the little spirit was pulled into the hug as well.

“Beako! EMT! I knew I could count on you guys.”

“Let me go!”

“You know, Beatrice did help a lot. I think she deserves a lot of ‘thank you’s.”

Emilia, who had come to accept the hug, leaned in further. Much to the spirit's horror.

“Beatrice has been very, ve~ery good. I’ll make sure Puck knows how well she did!”

“Not you too! You better make sure Betty gets lots of time with Bubby for this!”

Rem heard the sound of a contained, yet self assured laugh from beside her, turning to find her dearest sister calling to her with a confident smile.

“Rem?”

She replied simply.

“Yes?”

“They are very stupid.”

Rem closed her eyes as she smiled and nodded her head.

“Yes, sister, very stupid.’

The day was saved. The village was safe. Everyone was alive and happy. Subaru smiled believing it was truly over.

*CRACK*

Subaru’s eyes widened as he understood what that sound was. He quickly grabbed Beatrice as he shouted. 

“Emilia! Look out!”

That was all she needed to hear to catch on. She created a wall of ice as the massive crystal exploded. Waves of scorching heat lighting up the surroundings. The group all were forced to huddle behind the wall to avoid being blown away.

Emilia looked up to see the cerberus, still very alive with all three pairs of eyes bearing down on her and glowing red with murderous intent. The flames it emitted ravenously consumed the surroundings in a burning pillar that towered into the air.

“You're a blood relative of the Legendary Devil Hunter-”

Emilia's eyes widened at its words as a dark aura began emitting from the being like black flames of miasma. The beast’s hatred accumulating in its throat.

“Dante…Son of the betrayer, Sparda! He is why we are here. ”

EmilIa was left speechless for a moment trying to process what the monster had said.

“...Dante, that's the name of someone I'm related to… He's why you're here now.”

“Yes.”

The beast grimly announced.

“He killed our father, brought shame on our tribe...”

He paused for a moment. Looking at the girl before him and the others who gathered up behind her, all ready to fight.

“He is the reason you will be destroyed. Everything you are will die in his stead.”

Listening to what he had to say, she could feel a lump forming in her throat.

“Just like that spirit from back in the forest. He wants to hurt me for something someone else did.”

She was reminded of what the old great spirit of fire had said to her.

"Thou art half-elf…capital crime itself. That… not all. Thou… blood… demon. Monster worse than Witch. Thou art Embodiment… sin.”

At that time, she hadn't known that she was part demon. When she had learned the truth, She became terrified that everything the spirit had said was true. Emilia found herself questioning her goals. Then that moment in the library stung greater than any physical wound ever could.

She grew to wish that dark part of her had never come to be. She came to believe that she was some blight on the world. 

But right now…

"I'll grow strong so others can depend on me. I want to create a world where people like me are accepted. Where everyone can live together without fear of being hated or hunted for unjust reasons.”

She had come to aspire for that dream once again. That dream she'd half-heartedly tried to live up to until just a week ago. Until she met that boy. 

The boy who had shown her a brighter path. 

She looked over at him now, there was a determination set in his eyes as they met hers. He smiled.

“You know, I don't care about what this mutt says. There's nothing he can do to keep me away from you.”

The oni sisters brought out their weapons.

“Say the word and we will make this mutt regret ever showing its sorry faces in Roswaal-sama's domain.”

Ram leveled her wand and Rem spun up her morningstar.

“Rem won't let anyone get hurt anymore. She won't hold back and neither should Emilia-sama.”

The yin spirit looked up at the beast and put her hand forward, ready to unleash her magic. 

“Betty would demand more Bubby time but, taking out this wretched creature should be rewarding enough I suppose.”

Emilia smiled, happy to know that they were all choosing to stand with her. 

“Thank you- all of you for fighting beside me.”

She looked over at the cerberus, it's eyes glowing with even more vigor than before. the miasma around its body is growing thicker and thicker. Its magic flaring and ready to blow.

“It's like he's back to tip-top shape even though I've exhausted myself.”

It was then that Subaru spoke up, noticing the same thing Emilia had.

“I think he's pulled out all the stops. I think it's time we did too… Well, more like…”

He looked over at Emilia. Emilia looked back over at him, worry painted on her face. Understanding what he meant.

“I see… After what happened last time, are you sure that I should-?”

He cut her off again.

“Emilia, I know you got kinda scary but, I also trust you.”

Emilia’s eyes widened a little.

“Out of anyone, I trust you with that power the most. With it, you can do the most amazing things. You saved me so many times.”

Images of his first loop played in his mind. When he'd been saved from the thieves and then again, when she had saved him in the loot house. Even twice in the forest too.

“I'll always remember that.”

He looked down for a moment.

“I'm sure you can do a lot more than I ever could… but that's besides the point.”

He looked up at her square in her eyes.

“I know you've got this. So go ahead.”

He pointed his hand up in the air and posed.

“Go Super Saiyan and show that mutt who's boss! I'll even make sure to cheer you on from the sidelines!”

He smiled stupidly. Emilia held in a gasp as she heard what he said next.

“I believe in you.”

Subaru had accepted that she was the hero. Emilia found herself holding back tears as she smiled at him. 

“Thank you, Subaru.”

She turned to the demon preparing to fight with everything she had. An icy flame lighting inside her. 

“I can't hold anything back then.” 

She began to walk forward, the other combatants following behind her. Rem walked up directly behind her and spoke.

“Emilia-sama, you plan on using the oni rage. Correct?”

Emilia nodded and Rem continued.

“The oni rage is powerful but it takes a toll on the body and mind.”

She looked up at the growling beast.

“The longer we spend fighting, the greater the chance to lose control.”

Emilia remembered what happened earlier, when her powers awakened and she ripped apart the demon beasts and beat down Rem.

“I really don't want that to happen again.”

“Focus on your wishes. On what you want to do and everything you will save. Make it your strength.”

Emilia closed her eyes and concentrated. She envisioned the faces of the elves back in the forest, the villagers, the maids, even Puck. 

She saw Subaru in her mind's eye. Smiling like he always did when he was fooling around. 

Emilia felt a voice speaking from somewhere. Ringing out in her mind from within her.

“ And if I become a demon, so be it. I will endure the exile… Anything to protect her !"

She didn't know the identity of this voice but…

“Whoever he is, I understand…”

Among the feelings burning in her chest and the feelings the voice held, they shared one in particular that blazed brighter than the others even though she had trouble putting a name to it.

She put her hand to her chest and opened her eyes. Looking forward with a determined expression, she spoke.

“A long time ago, I made a promise to myself. That I wouldn’t falter.”

She thought back to that distant day.

“I wanted to be strong for everyone else. To make the world a more fair place.”

The demon's eyes narrowed at her next words.

“I want to save those who can't save themselves. To help others in need.”

Emilia remembered all her conversations with Subaru. How he always saw her actions as benevolent and kind. 

“He saw that in me… I don't want to lie to myself anymore and pretend that's not true. Especially not to rationalize what happened to me…”

“I will use the power I have. I have to, especially when people are in danger…”

She closed her fist as she made her declaration and a blue flame of mana began to engulf her body. 

“So I'll use this power if it means saving everyone… because I know that there are people who believe in me!”

She would not become a witch… no. Instead, she would be a demon.

*BOOM*

Subaru had to squint for a moment as white-blinding light engulfed Emilia. 

When he could see her again, the blue flames had subsided. On the back of her head, two small points jutted out of her hair and quickly grew. They curved forward around her head until they pointed past her bangs. They glowed with burning and chilled power ready to explode out at her behest. 

Her eyes seemed unfocused for a moment before they stiffened back on the demon dog in front of her. Her expression locked into a frown as she spoke.

“That feels better but… I'll still need everyone's help.”

She summoned an ice sword. It glimmered brilliantly as Emilia's powerful magic was imbued into it. Rem's horn emerged from her forehead and Ram prepared another spell. 

“Let's end this.”

She dashed forward. Rem followed with her own dash as Ram shouted “Fura!”

“Fight and die with all your power at your disposal, Blood of Sparda!!!”

The cerebus lunged. It bounded over Ram's wind blade and dashed toward the three with a surprising speed. 

Emilia and the beast collided first. Her sword finding itself buried in the demon dogs paw. Rems morningstar slammed into the beast's side, carving into its ribcage as Rem closed in.

The combat that followed was so far outside Subaru's capabilities that he could barely keep track.

Fireballs flew forward aiming for Rem. They were blown away by another “Fura!” as Emilia slid under a blast of flames aimed at her. Rem leaped forward with her fist raised.

The middle head growled as Rem's fist slammed into it brutally. Through its pain, the demon spotted the glowing horn protruding from her head and growled.

“Another pathetic hybrid!!”

It opened its maw and snapped it forward trying to bite her only for a amethyst spear to impale itself right into the back of its mouth as it did.

“This creature is the only truly pathetic thing here I suppose.”

Beatrice spoke from beside Subaru as she sniped at the dog from afar. The boy spoke.

“Everyone's doing their best it looks like.”

He watched as Rem pummeled the middle head and Emilia closed in. The demon swinging its paw and Emilia meeting its claws with her blade.

It was then that something else caught his eye. He quickly grabbed up Beatrice. She didn't protest having seen the same thing.

“I thought I would end up having to sit this one out!”

He jumped to the side as she said “Murak.” A massive fireball sailed past at that moment. The place they had just been standing in was incinerated. Beatrice scowled as she said “Minya” and sent more arrows of amethyst flying. Emilia broke from her clash with the paw and rolled under it. She charged swinging her ice sword in an arc to cleave the beasts middle head. Rem pulled in her morningstar and sent it flying toward the beast's left head as Beatrice's minya aimed for the right head. If nothing was done, surely the assault could prove fatal.

“WE WON'T BE STOPPED HERE. THE REALMS WILL BE OURS!”

Suddenly, the demon dog desperately roared with all its might. The crystals consuming the main head shattered to reveal its middle head fully restored. Emilia and Rem's eyes both widened as the beast suddenly charged into and toward each of them respectively at full speed. Emilia's swing missed as she found herself being slammed aside by the massive dog. The minya crystals impacted Its chest instead to little effect. Rem’s morningstar was batted aside. Blindsided by its sudden movement, Rem found herself about to be trampled.

“Rem!” 

Ram ran forward and dove, pushing them both out of the beast's path. 

“Shit!”

“Run faster I suppose!”

Subaru sprinted out of the cerberus path as it charged past the treeline. Trees crashed to the ground as it barreled into them in a blind rage. 

Emilia landed on her feet, disoriented from the crash. She looked up and panicked as she realized where the demon had charged.

“Subaru! Are you alright!!?”

He turned to see Emilia land beside them with a worried expression. She looked all over him and Beatrice quickly.

“I'm okay! He didn't hit either of us.”

They both watched as the forest began to explode with flames spreading quickly.

“We’ll have to defeat it before it burns down everything.”

Emilia nodded at Subaru's comment before adding her own.

“Stay with Beatrice.”

She turned to the spirit in his arms.

“Please keep Subaru safe too!”

The spirit grumbled “Betty was already doing that!” under her breath as Emilia turned and rushed toward the cerberus.

From within the writhing flames, the sneering demon spotted the great enemy closing in and bounded out to greet it in combat once again.

“DIE!”

The demon dog roared as it swung its right paw toward Emilia to crush her. As it closed in, Emilia raised her fist to meet it.

“That's enough!”

She remembered what she'd managed to conjure earlier during her fight with Rem. She focused in as the dogs paw came closer and closer.

*Crack*

The demon dog claws stopped moving as something caught it.

“Go EMT!!!”

Subaru shouted as he witnessed a massive hand made of ice catch the demon dogs claw with its fist. Her brow furrowed with exertion.

Emilia quickly slid under the stopped paw. There, she saw the wound she made earlier still hadn't fully healed. Emilia picked up on it and she intuitively knew what it meant. Emilia swung her empowered ice sword with blazing speed and strength as the ice hand dissolved behind her.

The beast howled in pain as its paw was sliced clean off. Unlike it's heads before, the beast did not regrow it's limb immediately. Emilia shouted.

“Rem! His healing is getting weaker!”

Rem heard her liege’s shout and understood. Rem's fatigue was beginning to set in but that didn't stop her from running back into battle and flinging her ice morningstar forward. 

“NO! YOU LESSER BEINGS WILL NOT DEFEAT US!!!”

It swung its right paw out and managed to deflect the incoming ice ball and force Emilia back but failed to intercept another attack. 

Ram, just like Rem, had re-entered the fight. Unlike Rem, her mana had all but run out. Grabbing a hold of some of the last slivers of mana in her gate, she chanted ignoring the pain and red painting her vision.

“Fura. Please finish this Emilia-sama.”

Blades of wind slashed at its right neck. The head did not have to realize what had happened before it found itself looking back at its own body.

“Good work, Ram!”

Subaru shouted as he watched the head hit the ground. Shortly there-after, Ram passed out leaning against a tree.

“Subaru, take Ram. Me and Rem will finish this.”

Emilia shouted as she charged. Subaru quickly grabbed up the red oni and the beast roared.

“NO! WE WILL HAVE OUR REVENGE!!!”

Emilia was forced back from attacking the left head by the middle head's blazing shockwave. She dodged and weaved around the left head's fire breath as the middle head tried to keep the shockwave going.

“Ul huma!”

Rem suddenly shouted as a massive pillar of ice formed above her and shot straight into the left head. The pillar exploded into a blue mist of ice crystals that Beatrice and Emilia took advantage of as the spirit spoke. 

“Die, in fact.”

Purple arrows of stagnant time formed above the girl and darted toward the Cerberus. 

“You're going down!”

Emilia flapped her wings and rocketed into the air. She then dove straight toward the demon dog and prepared to swing her sword down upon it.

As the danger approached, a weak shockwave blasted the mist away to reveal the half-destroyed left head. Its muzzle completely gone and face leaking blood and fire in a horrific display.  Despite its terrible state, the left head gargled up waves of fire more intense than anything before in a desperate attempt.

Emilia weaved throughout the barrage. She dived, rolled and slashed through wave after wave of fire which struck and picked off more and more arrows. As she closed in, the middle head tried to blast her away when the final arrow of Beatrice's barrage struck it. It roared in pain as the crystals consumed the side of its face. 

“Beatrice is a really good girl!”

Emilia reached the left head and brought her sword down on its neck. With a quick slash, Emilia removed another of the beast's heads before forming icey boots and kicking into the beast's body hard. 

The dog growled as it was pushed back into the clearing. The last head glared back at the half-elf through its single remaining eye as she landed just in front of the beast.

“THIS IS NOT OVER!!!”

The demon charged forward with blazing speed as the flames emitting from it coalesced on its skin. The Cerberus lunged, opening its maw attempting to bite down on her.

“I'm not getting bitten again.”

She dashed sideways just as its jaws would've closed. Emilia quickly kicked the demon's snout with her ice boots before focusing her mana into her fist. She jumped forward and slammed it into the demon's chest. As she did, a large fist of ice manifested and barreled Into the beast as well. 

The demon growled in pain as the hit put it on its back. Emilia called out.

“I know that you've helped a lot already but I still need your help Rem, Beatrice!”

———————————————————

The cerberus snarled. It had lost two of its heads and found itself on its back. The demon's vitality worn down and weak as its wounds bleed crimson blood.

“All because of that damned hybrid and its allies! Had she been alone, I would've crushed her before we reached this point!”

The group that had assembled to fight against the incursion was much stronger than he'd anticipated. 

“Especially that malformed thing of magic and the twin hybrids…”

His blood boiled over the idea of the three apostates to demonkind continuing to exist alongside waste of power that was the spawn of Sparda.

“I will burn it… I WILL BURN THEM ALL!”

The beast twisted on its back trying to climb to its feet to little avail. It was then in that moment the beast felt something grab its tail.

The next moment, the beast felt its body being dragged.

‘What-!”

The demon slammed into a tree which broke on its body. Splinters of wood impaled into it brutally.

The dog roared in pain as its flesh was torn into. It thrashed violently attempting to escape.

“One!”

The demon slammed into more trees as the spawn of Sparda began to spin it around.

“Two!” 

The demon roared as its bones cracked and creaked from each impact. It was spinning faster and faster. The demon was no longer touching the ground as it was rotating.

“Three!! Heeyaa!”

The girl wipped the demon around quickly as she let go. The Cerberus flew through the air. There was a moment of weightlessness experienced by the beast as its body traveled before…

“Now!!!”

“RAAAAGGHH”

The devil felt something strike it in midair. Blue and amethyst crystals consumed its chest and back as it was spiked from above. The demon fell through the air. It roared in anger and pain.

“Damn you… DAMN YOU ALL!!”

Looking down, it could do nothing as the sharp rocks closed in.

———————————————————

*Crunch*

Subaru watched as the demon splattered against the rocky cliff. There was a sickening sound as it impacted before more arrows of ice and aymthest rained down upon it mercilessly. The demon had already gone still long before the crystals enveloped it entirely.

All that was left was a crystal statue of a dog beast. There was the sound of ice cracking as it fell apart. 

“I got him…”

That was all Emilia managed to stammer out before she began to pass out. Subaru quickly but gently put Ram on the ground and ran over.

“Emilia!” “Emilia-sama!”

Two voices called out as they quickly grabbed her limp body and stopped it from falling head first into the dirt.

Emilia's horns receded into hair. She looked up at Subaru through half-lidded eyes.

“I'm fine. I just feel really sleepy…”

“Emilia-sama used almost all her mana.”

Rem said as she looked over the barely conscious girl.

“We should get to a bed and let her rest.”

Subaru picked up Emilia in a princess carry. He smiled as he spoke.

“Emilia-tan, I'm gonna carry you back. You OK with that?”

Emilia mumbled out a response in her drowsy state.

“Hmm? Oh, thank you, Subaru.”

She buried her face in his chest suddenly. Subaru felt his cheeks heat up. Emilia began to snore softly. 

He'd made it. For real this time. Subaru stood there for a second just basking in the moment.

———————————————————

Rem took a minute to sweep the area. She'd insisted on doing so quickly to ensure the others safety. Beatrice had already departed with a quick teleport after seeing everything was cleared up. 

“There's no more mabeasts or creatures around for miles. Rem thinks we stopped them all!”

She shouted over to Subaru. He looked up at the setting sun and then at dozens upon dozens of corpses of mabeast dogs. Now, they lay still. 

“I think we definitely killed all the dogs in the end. Still don't wanna be out here once night falls.”

“Well then I guess we should get moving. Emilia-tan and Ram need their beauty sleep.”

He began to walk back the way they came. Rem was about to pick up her sister when she suddenly shouted.

“Wait… I can hear something.”

She turned. He stopped.

“What is it?”

“It's strange but… it sounds like a beast!”

She readied her morningstar, she faced the cliff where the Cerberus had died.

“That dog isn't getting up again is it?!”

“No. It sounds different. It's coming straight for us!”

She looked and pointed to the top of the cliff.

“It's coming from up there.”

It was then that he heard the ‘beast.’ Rem started spinning her morningstar, preparing for battle despite her exhausted state. With the possibility of perishing, she was ready to go down fighting if it meant allowing the others a slightly better chance of success. She looked over at Subaru expecting to see him readying himself as well only to find him looking up at the cliff in confusion…

“...What the hell?”

The sound he was hearing wasn't any monster. It was something he'd grown accustomed to back on earth. One Subaru heard almost every single time he went to the old convenience store.

Rem watched as a metal beast jumped off the cliff. Its body-rectangular and eyes glowing sinisterly like lamps. It landed violently and continued forward before coming to a stop ahead of them.

“Subaru-kun, Take nee-sama and Emilia-sama! I will hold it off!”

Subaru watched as Rem prepared to attack. He suddenly yelled out.

“Wait a sec Rem! That's not a monster.”

“Not a-...”

Her voice cut off as she watched the side of its head open. A man emerged from it.

He wore a dark blue hooded jacket. Beneath it he wore an old, dark red shirt and white undershirt visible underneath. He sported black pants and black combat boots and, most strikingly of all, had a metal right arm and glossy silver hair.

"Who are you?”

Subaru stole the words right out of Rem’s mouth.

The man looked up at Rem. His blue eyes scanned her then, her sister, Subaru and finally…

His eyes shone in recognition as he saw her curled up in Subaru's arms.There was a soft exhale. The girl stirred quietly in her nap. He looked back up to Subaru and spoke with a calm, yet firm voice.

“You can call me Nero. What's your name?”

Subaru smiled as he spoke.

“It's Subaru Natsuki! The one and only personal butler of the prettiest girl in the world!”

Nero chuckled before peering over to Rem.

“I'm Rem. A maid employed by Roswaal-sama.”

Nero watched as she hesitantly bowed. He didn't blame her for the shaky-ness.

“I knew driving the van around like this wasn't such a good idea! This girl looked like she was about to try and attack only a couple of seconds ago.” 

Nero knew he was gonna need to have a long argument with Nico about her stunts.

He turned back toward Subaru before looking at the face of the girl in his arms. From just that, Nero knew he'd found who he had been searching for. 

It was then that the girl's eyes fluttered open. Her limbs were still weak but she had regained enough strength to stay conscious. She looked up to see someone new. 

“Eh? Who is this?”

Subaru smiled as Nero huddled down just a bit and replied.

“I'm Nero. I don't have a family name or anything like that so it's just Nero.”

Looking into her amethyst eyes, Nero saw the girl's blue pupils looking back at him scanning over his features. She smiled as she spoke.

“I'm Emilia, just Emilia… I couldn't help but notice something.”

The silver hair, the blue pupils, the structure of his face…

“You look… a little like me.”

Nero crouched down. He smiled warmly as he did so.

“Yeah… I guess we should talk about this now.’

He sat still in thought for just a moment.

“I'm… your brother. I've been looking all over the place for you.”

Emilia's eyes widened as what he said finally hit her. 

“I have a brother?”

She had spent most her life believing she was all that was left of her biological family. Then, she heard about someone named Dante and now Emilia was learning she had a brother…

“I know it's a lot to take in. You must have a lot of questions.”

She was pulled away from her own thoughts by his voice. Seeing his smile, she couldn't help but smile wider as well. Subaru and Rem looked over the unexpected reunion, the siblings' smiles had become infectious. 

The mabeasts, demon's and cerberus all lay defeated. Return By Death had not triggered since his time in the capital. Everyone was alive and smiling. The village children had been saved and Subaru was happy.

Chapter Text

“This is… a new experience.”

Rem sat in a cushioned seat with a small table next to her. On the opposite side, her sister, Ram was sitting unconscious in a similar chair. Rem would have been worried about her falling out with all the jostling but, fortunately, both seats had seat belts installed into them. One was currently keeping her dearest sister from falling.

“Yeah, I know it's probably a little weird for you.”

The silver haired man spoke from the opposite corner. He was seated on a red couch and next to him, a royal candidate sat. 

“This carriage… it's arranged re~ally weirdly.”

Emilia had woken up a little more since the unexpected reunion. She looked around noticing the slightly limited seating arrangement and the odd rear section of the vehicle. She had already folded her wings up into her dress which had been cleaned up by Nero with a little bit of magic, but it was clear the wings wouldn't fit inside the cramped space of the carriage. 

“This is my van. I run my business out of it… though, it may as well be Nico's with how much she drives it.”

“'Van’… Is this some kind of…’car?’”

Nero eyes widened somewhat until she elaborated further.

“Subaru told me about them.”

She smiled at Subaru, who was sitting next to her, as he only seemed to get more nervous. He'd been silent the entire car ride. While he was initially happy to meet Nero, that excitement had disappeared when the conversation shifted toward the vehicle from another world.

“Well, um. I-...”

Nero spoke suddenly, interrupting the boy.

“You're from another world right? Sorry, but you kinda stick out like a sore thumb.”

Cutting straight to the point, Nero asked casually.

Subaru sat silently before speaking.

“Yes.”

Emilia and Rem suddenly looked over at him, shocked.

“Really? Another world?”

Subaru looked up at her.

“Yeah… I didn't tell you because I thought you wouldn't believe me.”

Her eyes held no disbelief whatsoever.

“So, if your from another world then that means Nero-”

The man smiled as the van suddenly rocked.

“Yup. We both come from Earth. So does Ms. student driver up there.”

A new voice called from the front of the vehicle. It was feminine but carried a heavy accent. It sounded Karagian but also different at the same time.

“It was your Idea to drive everyone back through a forest this dense. Don't blame me.”

Nero clicked his tongue in annoyance. He turned back to the others rolling his eyes as she continued.

“My name's Nico. If you ever need a weapon tuned, serviced, or spruced-up I'm the gal for the job… so long as you got the funds for it.”

Emilia smiled as she replied.

“I'm not sure if I will ever need help with that, but it's nice to meet you, Nico!”

Unseen by the others, Nico raised an eyebrow listening to the girl speak. 

“My name is Emilia; Just Emilia.”

Had it not been for her silver hair and face, Nico would've never guessed she was related to Sparda. e chuckled.

“Nice to meet ya too, Emilia.”

She then announced.

“That town is up just ahead.”

“Pull up just past the trees. Gently Nico.”

“Ya are acting like I've never parked before. Calm your butt down. I got this!”

The van was suddenly rocked by another impact as it came to a stop. The three on the couch had to hold on to avoid being sent to the floor.

“Didn't see that tree… eh, everything's fine.”

Nero facepalmed.

“I'm driving next time.”

Emilia and Rem had wanted to ask more questions but now was not the time for that. The two women silently decided to shelve the conversation for now.

———————————————————

Disembarking from the van, Emilia was shocked to find the village had assembled outside. They had been looking at the alien vehicle with caution, some even feared it until she and the rest emerged.

She was prepared to ignore the looks of hatred and the slurs, yet that wouldn't come to be. 

Instead, in the eyes of those who used to only show her contempt and fear, she saw gratitude.

“Why is everyone outside?”

An old woman stepped forward. The village chief.

“We are here to express our gratitude, Emilia-sama.”

Emilia found herself blindsided once again.

“You rescued those children from the mabeasts and even made sure to deal with them so they don't cause any more trouble.”

A multitude of people stepped forward. Among them was a woman with orange hair.

“You saved Petra. I-I don't know what I would've done if something happened to her.”

Another voice spoke up.

“My son would still be out there.”

And another.

“My little girl…”

They all bowed and spoke simultaneously.

“We are forever grateful!”

Emilia stood shocked. She had to take a moment to recollect herself. 

“Y-your welcome!”

Emilia stammered out. Subaru smiled as he looked at Nero who also couldn't contain his own grin. Subaru remarked without thinking.

“That's E.M.T for you! She saved all those kids from mabeasts.”

Nero was about to smile even harder until he realized something. 

“EMT…”

His eyes narrowed as he understood. 

“This guy is flirting with my sister.”

He looked the boy up and down suddenly. Subaru couldn't help but tense up.

“Hmm… Well, you seem like an okay kid.”

Subaru relaxed a little. Nero smiled once more as he noticed a presence behind Subaru.

“Besides, It's not my place to give you ‘the shovel talk.’ That seems like it's his.”

He looked over Subaru's shoulder. Tracing his sight, Subaru turned and yelled.

“Where did you come from!?!”

Puck floated behind him. His expression shaded for just a moment.

“Subaru…”

He moved closer. Despite the tension, Subaru could make out a smile.

“Lia's back safe.”

He looked over at Emilia as she conversed with the village chief.

“The villagers seem pretty thankful.”

He watched as the conversation with the chief ended and Emilia was immediately dragged away by the village children who'd all made full recoveries. 

“You don't need to thank me. All I did was distract some small fry. Emilia is the one who got rid of the leader.”

Puck nodded as he genuinely smiled.

“Sure. Not too much credit. Just that you distracted a bunch of literal demons. Everyday stuff.”

Subaru scratched his head as Nero chimed in.

“Hey, you stood up to demons. Not too many people could.”

He elbowed Subaru playfully.

“Don't sell yourself too short.”

Puck turned from watching Emilia. Now, he looked over at the new man. He floated around him.

“Your scent… it's like-”

Nero gestured to the girl behind him.

“Like her right? You ever wonder if she had any siblings?”

Pucks eyes lit up realization.

“Your related to Lia!?”

Puck seemed genuinely shocked.

“I would have noticed if you were with her in the forest…”

“Yeah, I'm not from Ellior. I'm actually from another world. So is Subaru and Nico over there.”

He gestured at the woman in strange clothes - Jean pants and a welding jacket - as she conversed with the local craftsman.

“Well, that's definitely interesting. Maybe we should talk about that a little later.”

He suddenly got just a little bit more serious. Subaru tensed a little.

“First thing, the threat of demons and mabeasts are gone.” 

“That's good. I thought you were about to tell me there was a second boss fight.”

Nero rolled his eyes. Puck didn't waiver.

“Well, I don't think there's another ‘boss fight’ or whatever you just said.”

He turned back to Emilia and called out.

“Lia! Come over here. We should talk!”

She was currently engaged in a game of hide and seek. She turned to the first person she'd caught.

“Petra, I have to go. Can you please find everyone for me?”

The little girl's eyes widened for a moment before she suddenly adopted a eager expression that left Emilia just a little bit miffed. 

“You can count on me!”

She ran off. Emilia smiled nervously as she went.

“I hope she doesn't push herself too hard so soon after everything. She's still recovering after all."

The trio walked up to her.

“Having fun Emilia-tan?”

Her nervous smile seemed to fade away. Replaced by a much purer smile.

“Mmhm, All the children are ‘okay.’ I'm really glad.”

It was then that Puck spoke up.

“We’ve gotta talk.”

———————————————————

“So you guys and the maids fought and defeated a ‘Cerberus?’”

Puck questioned the duo who were sitting next to each other on the edge of a bed. They had walked back to the mansion and were currently back in Emilia's bedroom. 

“Yes. There were other enemies too but Subaru, Beatrice, Rem and Ram kept them away so I could fight the leader.”

Puck listened carefully.

“The enemy was super tough so I had to use all my power to stop him which really worried me.”

That was Emilia's assessment. Cerberus had been a seriously dangerous opponent.

“Honestly, It was kind of like fighting Melakuera but if he kept getting up over and over even after we defeated him.”

Puck scratched his head nervously.

“Geez, that sounds pretty scary.”

Emilia couldn't help but agree.

“It was. I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to defeat them if it weren't for Subaru and everyone. After defeating all the other enemies, they helped me take it down.”

“So where does Nero factor in here?”

Puck asked, turning to the newest resident of the mansion who was standing by the door.

“I arrived after the fact. I wish we had been just a little bit faster.”

Nero spoke with frustration laced in his voice.

“Well, everyone got back safely so it's alright in the end which is all that matters.”

Subaru smiled at Emilia's response. He too, couldn't help but agree. Nero's regret faded at her words.

“I guess you're right. My sis had everything in the bag anyway so there's nothing to get worked up over.”

He smiled, his words leaving Emilia not understanding his meaning.

“I just didn't expect my sister to be so strong is all. I was worried so I'm happy that you can defend yourself.”

“Oh, thank you.”

She smiled too.

“I didn't know I had any living family so I'm just really happy that you're here.”

Her smile deepened alongside his.

“I know that feeling. Being here with you is kinda new to me too. I didn't grow up with any biological family.”

Nero admitted. Then he looked back at Puck.

“Thanks for keeping my sister safe all these years.”

Puck shrugged.

“Of course, it's only natural I'd keep my daughter safe.”

Nero laughed.

“So my initial guess was right. You're acting as her dad.”

Emilia chimed in.

“Puck found me in the Ellior forest several years ago. He protected me and formed a spirit contract to save me. I really don't know what would've happened without him.”

It was then that a rumble shook through the building. Puck and Emilia tensed up as Nero sighed. 

“Nico's horrible driving… Ah, I'll deal with this.”

He opened the door.

“I'll be back.”

He ran out before anyone could say anything. After the sound of his footsteps had faded, Puck spoke up.

“So now it's just the three of us.”

His expression became deadly serious. Even more so than before.

“Lia, what do you want to do about Rem?”

A tough question. 

“She tried to hurt you and Subaru. Even if she helped you afterward, it doesn't erase the damage she did.”

Emilia sat silent. Thinking for a few long moments.

“I think-”

She looked up, her face serious.

“That Rem did something really, super bad…”

“Something that she really, genuinely regrets. She wants to fix things, so I'm fine with being lenient. At least for what happened to me.”

She looked to Subaru.

“But, I also know she hurt you…That makes me angry to think about so if you want to send her away or have her locked up-”

“If you're gonna forgive her for what she did to you then I can't really stand here holding a grudge. She barely touched me in the end.“

Puck sighed.

“Really? You guys are seriously fine with her staying here without any consequences? What's to say she won't change her mind again?”

Subaru sat deep in thought. Now that things had calmed down, he was left to question why Rem had even taken up such an extreme set of actions in the first place. 

“I doubt she'll do anything now; I think any punishments shouldn't be that extreme honestly.”

He was still frustrated about what Rem had done but that frustration and previous anger was not so great that he felt something had to be done.

Maybe if he'd seen just how intensely Emilia and Rem had fought the night before and how much blood had been shed, things would've been different, but he hadn't. 

Emilia herself had really wanted to make amends with Rem. While Rem had tried to hurt Subaru multiple times before, Rem had also been key to saving everyone, including Subaru. Without Rem, the power she possessed would have never awakened, and she would never have been able to control it when it mattered either. 

“So, me and Subaru mostly agree.”

Puck's frustration was palpable.

“...Well, I don't. She went after you. I can't forgive her, not with what she did to you.”

Puck was vocal about his thoughts.

“No matter what you say, I won't trust her.”

“I see… You don't have to forgive her. Just please, don't do anything reckless.”

Emilia didn't want her father to get into another conflict right after they'd all worked so hard to save everyone.

Puck seemed to consider for a moment.

“I'll keep an eye out is all. Just to make sure.”

He nodded his head. 

“And I won't hesitate to take action if something comes up…”

Thankfully, the trio had come to an agreement that would keep the delicate peace. 

“Am I interrupting somethi~ng?”

There, in the doorway stood the lord of the mansion. 

“We were just discussing matters and we've come to an agreement.”

“H~m.”

The clown lord turned to the great spirit and spoke.

“The two we captured have been moved to the basement.”

Subaru's face shifted with surprise.

“Captured?”

“Yes. One was hi~ding amongst the villagers and the other…”

His smile creeped up ever so slightly in a way that gave Subaru chills.

“You should go and se~e for yourself.”

———————————————————

Walking down the stone steps, Subaru couldn't help but feel on edge as he descended into the dungeon. 

The only reassurance was that Emilia had followed him down and walked just behind him. If not for that…

“This place is super creepy!”

He probably would have never wanted to come down here in the first place. 

“There is no ne~ed to worry. Both the pri~soners are secure.” 

The lord unconvincingly reassured. 

He reached the bottom of the stairs to find a metal bar door, opening it led to a hallway lined with dozens of cells on both sides. All sat vacant and clean at the very least.

At the end of the hall, two solid metal doors could be seen on either side. Walking up to the one on the left, Subaru looked to Roswaal.

“This is the calmer of the two. Go ahead, Suba~ru-kun.”

Subaru nervously undid the lock using one of the keys he'd been handed. Opening the door, his eyes widened in shock.

“Oh, hello mister.”

Through a set of bars that divided the room, the familiar face of one of the village children, Meili stood in the middle of the room. Her hands bound inside a block of ice. She smiled, a smile that seemed innocent on the surface but had an implacable air to it. 

“Meili?”

Emilia spoke out in shock as well.

“What? Why-”

She was interrupted by Puck.

“This little one was hiding amongst the other kids. She tried to make a break for it after everyone else had left.”

He looked over at the little girl and spoke with a fake friendly voice. 

“The malicious intentions were practically brimming from you so I'd obviously never let you out of my sight.” 

Her smile didn't fade even as the cat's features twisted into a gnarly scowl.

“Had you been an adult, I would have made you into an ice statue once I realized you were manipulating those mabeasts with mana.”

Even with a being such as a great spirit threatening her life, she remained scarily calm.  

“You can intimidate me all you want,but you're never getting anything out of me ki~tty.”

She stuck her tongue out.

“Ah. Still not telling us about your employer.”

Puck turned back to Subaru.

“And I'm not letting her go.”

“Yeah, if she was behind the attack… What the hell.”

Meili could not have been any older than twelve. To think she could have orchestrated such a thing was almost unfathomable.

“Who put you up to that?”

Meili's face didn't shift at all as she responded.

“You seem really convinced that someone hired me. How can you be so su~re?”

Subaru looked deep into her eyes. That implacable air was here too. A deep unease transmitted into his body at the sight.

“You're a kid. There's no way in hell a kid would try anything like this!”

Subaru exclaimed in frustration. 

“Someone made you do this. I understand that you're probably scared but we can protect you.”

He looked over at Emilia who couldn't help but agree. 

“Subaru is right. I haven't been around children a lot, but I know that what's happening here is not normal.”

She looked at the girl's eyes. Still mysterious but hiding an emotion that Emilia understood.

“Tell us who forced this on you. We'll protect you from them.”

“Yes, Emilia is right. They might be really scary, but you have three of the strongest people I know here to protect you.”

He looked over Emilia who blushed a little at the implied compliment. Puck huffed in frustration as Subaru turned to him.

“I'll follow Lia wherever she decides to go, but you're really infuriating me today.”

“So you're on board?”

“...Yes.”

Puck, exasperatedly responded before Subaru turned to Roswaal.

“Ros-chi please, you have wealth and power-”

“I see. It's true she is but a child.”

Roswaal interrupted him and approached the prisoner.

“If you are willing to testify as to just who hired you and give us informa~tion, I will do everything in my power to ensure your safe~ty.”

The girl seemed to think about the offer.

“Hmm… Well, now that I've failed, mama is probably going to be ve~ry angry so I can't go back anyway.”

Roswaal smiled.

“That sounds like a de~al to me.”

He turned back to Subaru.

“Now about the other o~ne.”

Subaru moved to close the door.

“Okay Meili, I'll see you a little later.”

“Bye mister.”

He shut the door and turned to the others.

“So, where's the other prisoner?”

Roswaal pointed to the opposite wall.

“In the~re. Be warned, it's temperame~ntal.”

Subaru's face shifted in worry.

“‘It’” 

“You will see.”

The clown glanced at Puck, as if silently passing a message to him. Puck tensed which only made Subaru more nervous. He'd looked to Emilia who saw the worry painted on his face.

“Don't worry, I'll be right behind you. If its something worrisome, I'll protect you.”

Subaru smiled.

“Thanks, but that's what I should be the one saying that really.”

He turned back to the door, his nerves relaxing ever so slightly before he opened it.

Inside, the cell was identical to the first. That wasn't the first thing that got his attention though. Instead, it was the figure chained to the wall. 

“Out of everything, why is it-?”

The figure of a man in a black suit with a white cravat. A silver collar with some kind of red gem placed in it, most likely placed there when he was captured, sat around his neck. Looking to his head, Subaru was shocked to find the face of a white rabbit looking back at him. 

“Hello-”

Its voice was deep and smooth, surprisingly well put together. Then, it continued.

“Fellow otherworlder~~...”

Subaru gulped as it spoke.

“I know what it's like to be so far from home… That hair and that face. The race that humans from earth call ‘Asian.’ I wonder if that continent is farther away from you now than the world I remember is to me?”

Subaru clenched his fist and practically growled as he finally understood what kind of being he was talking to.

“Enough games. Was that dog your leader or are there more?”

The demon licked its lips.

“Well, I suppose I do owe you considering the opportunity you've given me.”

Before Subaru could protest, the white rabbit elaborated.

“I'm not with that mutt. My aspirations are quite a bit grand-er than anything he could ever come up with.”

He gestured with his bound hands.

“The big shots and the dark lords playing the conquering game… I don't possess any want like that at all.”

He remained calm, but his voice, despite sounding the same, set off alarm bells inside Subaru.

“No. I'm more excited about a much less brutish goal. I can't tell you quite yet though. It would ruin the surprise.”

Subaru grimaced.

“What are you planning?”

The rabbit began to smile madly as he peered past Subaru.

“You will understand in time. Don't worry. You can't do anything to prevent this, so it won't weigh on your conscience too badly. Just know that once the time has come, this world will get much, much larger, just… not for her.”

Puck tensed, Subaru barely had time to gasp as the collar around the figure's neck shattered.

“What-”

A white laser shot past his head, past the spirit before an ice wall could form, out of the door and toward the silver-haired girl who had no time to react.

“Screw that!”

Seeming to appear out of nowhere, a sword manifested between the beam and its target. The wielder of said blade being none other than Nero.

The metal arm Nero wielded, a different one than what he was using when he walked away, broke apart as he glared at the aggressor. His flesh arm reappearing as the cybernetic shattered.

The rabbit held his smile as he eyed the new visitor, his hand still making a smoking finger gun. A finger gun that fired a blast that almost struck the half-elf.

“Stepping in to save your sister? That's pretty brave to humans, though, I'm sure a lot of humans would be pretty mad with you as well given that she's a ‘half-devil’. Their words, not mine.”

Nero pointed his revolver at the white rabbit.

“Shut it fur-face. I think you've overstayed your welcome.”

Nero gestured his head to the others as demon magic began to build in his arm.

“I'm gonna send this over-sized plushie back to the underworld the hard way. Any objections?”

“None he~re.”

“He tried to hurt Lia. Let him burn.”

“Seems like everyone agrees. Goodnight.”

Nero pulled the trigger. The head of the white rabbit exploded into a mess of red crystals and clay as the firearm let out a deafening roar. Even still, the voice of the rabbit continued, now disembodied.

“I have what I need. My thanks goes to the half-devil for her blood. It makes step one very easy.”

He laughed maniacally.

“Well, bye-bye now and remember, we all go down the rabbit hole… Together.” 

The body dissolved, losing its shape and color until it was nothing but a lump of clay.

———————————————————

“Thank you. If you hadn't stopped him things would have gotten re~ally messy.”

Nero had intervened right before disaster so, Emilia was extremely grateful. 

“Again, I'm just happy you're safe.”

Nero turned a little away from Emilia towards Subaru. 

“I know this is another world but still-”

“WHAT?”

Subaru yelled, unable to tell how loud he was being or understand what either of them were saying.

“I feel kinda bad about Subaru though.”

Nero watched as Emilia healed Subaru's ruptured ears. She had placed her hands over the injury and her hands began to emit some kind of energy that glowed blue. While this had alleviated the pain, it hadn't fully restored his hearing yet. 

“Just a little bit more and Subaru should be back in tip-top shape.”

“Sometimes I forget how fragile other people's hearing is.”

After a minute of additional healing, Subaru's ability to hear finally returned.

“The ringing stopped, thank you Emilia-tan.”

She smiled as Subaru turned to Nero.

“And thank you too. If you hadn't stopped that guy…”

He didn't want to see that outcome. Especially not after how hard everyone had fought to reach this point. Having to reset now meant potentially having to fight the mabeasts and Cerberus again. 

It was then that the twin maids of the mansion bursted through the basement door. Having bee-lined to the source of the bang. Roswaal explained the situation to them quickly before sending Ram off. Rem got to work cleaning up the cell as the rest made their way back up to the first floor.

“We~ll-”

Roswaal turned to Nero. The clown-faced magician raising red flags inside Nero's mind due to his simple presence.

“I think introductions are in order.”

Nero quickly explained his relation to Emilia. The clowns face never shifting at the unexpected development.

“I cannot thank you enough for intervening when you did. Things would have gotten u~gly. I am the lord of this ma~nsion, Roswaal L. Mathers.”

“I figured you had some kind of authority here. Still, I wouldn't have guessed you owned this place.”

Roswaal smiled.

“Most nobles don't e~ither initially. Now, I wish to know to whom I owe my gratitude for saving my candidate.”

Nero smiled.

“My name's Nero. Nice to meet ya.”

“It's a pleasure meeting you Nero. Now I think it's time to have a little talk.”

They arrived back in the hallway. Outside, they could see that night had fallen once again.

“I'd like to form a partnership between your business and this camp.”

“Camp? You referred to Emilia as a ‘candidate’… You don't mean-”

Roswaal closed his eyes as he spoke.

“Emilia-sama is a candidate for the throne of Lugu~nica.”

Nero looked over at his sister with widened eyes. She found it hard to meet his eyes.

“I should have told you earlier.”

Nero chuckled.

“Well it looks like someone's moving up in the world.”

Roswaal spoke up.

“With Emilia running for the selection things are going to get much more live~ly. All eyes will be on her, both good and bad.”

The white rabbit, the demons in the forest… and more. Like a target painted on her back.

“So more will come if she's a candidate…”

He looked up at her.

“If you decide to go through with this, you could end up in even more danger. You know this right?”

Emilia's expression suddenly hardened as she spoke.

“I know the danger, but I reaally need to do this. “

A stark determination shone in her amethyst eyes, shocking Nero. 

“Emilia-tan's made up her mind on this already. She can't give up on this.”

Subaru reinforced this with a serious expression of his own.

“Well… that complicates things a little… I can't stop you if that's what you wanna do. Your my sister though so-”

Nero smiled as he announced.

“I'll take up the clown on his offer. I'll play bodyguard for now.”

———————————————————

Subaru awoke to the quiet sounds of the birds chirping outside his bedroom window. Opening his eyes, he could see the light of morning pouring into the room through the curtains. 

“...Ah, I gotta get up.”

The young man quickly rose from his bed and prepared for the day. Once he had gotten ready, he exited his room.

“Emilia-tan is probably already up and waiting for me.”

He quickly rushed over to her room to wake her up for breakfast.

“Things have calmed down once again. It's only been a few days since the demon incursion.”

Subaru stopped by the kitchen. He spoke a few words with Ram before proceeding to Emilia's room. Once he got over there, he knocked on the door.

“Can I come in?”

“The status quo has returned… Well, mostly at least.”

“Yes Subaru, you can enter.”

Subaru opened the door. Inside, he found Emilia doing her hair with Puck.

“Rem and Ram are preparing breakfast. It should be ready in a little bit.”

The spirit tending to the girl's hair responded.

“Me and Lia will be down in a second. We'll meet you there.”

Subaru smiled as he gave them a thumbs up before exiting. Leaving the room, he ran right into one of the new residents.

“Hey kid.”

The man known as Nero, Emilia's long-lost brother and now bodyguard, had moved into the room next door to Emilia.

“I gotta say, this place is nice, if just a little too high society for me. It's pretty nice for a medieval fantasy mansion. The sinks work and the toilets flush.”

This world's basic infrastructure seemed to roughly equate to their own world's infrastructure in many ways. Even Nero had taken some notice of it. 

“Yeah, It's surprising just how modern everything is. All we need is mayonnaise and a few other things. It'll really be similar to earth. Maybe not exactly like Japan but a similar quality of life.”

Nero had taken notice of many other things as well and he had some questions.

“Say… you just mentioned Japan. Is that where you're from?”

“Uhh. Yeah, that's right.”

“So… how did you get here? I'm sure you didn't get through the same way I did.”

Subaru scratched his head. 

“Uh, this is gonna sound a little weird but…”

He remembered back to that first day.

“I was about to walk home from my local convenience store and then, I just… I was just there, in the Capital. That's how I met Emilia. She saved me when I was confused and alone in a place I didn't know.”

“Just like them back then, taking me in. Just like Kyrie. Way too kind for their own good.”

A theory Nero had developed immediately upon meeting Emilia. He was able to read her pretty quickly. What he saw had reminded him of Kyrie somewhat with their angelic kindness, saving that village but there was more to it than just that.

“We had to fight an assassin. The Bowel Hunter. I know for a fact I would have died but she managed to save me and everyone in the loot house. She even offered me to stay the night here afterwards because I didn't have anywhere else to go.”

Emilia was someone strong just like Nero. Someone who used their strength to protect the ones they loved.

“‘I'll use this power if it means saving everyone’- That's what I heard in my head when I saw that light penetrating the sky. That's when you awakened your power.”

Nero's thought was cut off by the focus of it as she replied to Subaru's praise having exited her room.

“But I still needed Subaru's help to finish off the Bowel Hunter. Otherwise, she would have gotten away and hurt Subaru and the others.”

Subaru smiled at her with a slight embarrassment.

“I really didn't do much. You did all the work in the end. Same in the forest.”

Emilia pouted seeing Subaru downplay his accomplishments.

“Even if you are not super strong, you still are super-duper helpful and reliable.”

Subaru sighed.

“Emilia-tan wounds me even when she's trying to encourage me…”

He had one last thing to fire off.

“Either way, EMT saved the day too. Emilia-tan is seriously an angel from heaven!”

Emilia blushed deeply as she exclaimed.

“Stop playing around with me! It's embarrassing.”

Subaru couldn't help but smile at her reaction.

“Ha-ha. Are you two love birds done!”