Chapter Text
Rem jumped off the carriage, towards the White Whale. She remembered that clearly, she remembered how the whale crushed her between its giant teeth. She remembers the pain.
But it doesn’t make any sense.
One second she felt the white Whale’s teeth crushing her. She heard her own bones crack under the pressure. And the next she was standing in the city with a basket of appas. As her mind was trying to process what just happened she placed the basket on the floor and went down to her arms and knees. She felt nauseous and tried her best not to throw up. Her ears started to ring as her muscles started to lose their strength.
Subaru: ”How did I restart? I don't think I d-REM, are you okay?”
Due to her ears ringing she didn’t hear what Subaru said but that was not the main problem right now as she was still on the verge of throwing up. Her mind was still racing as it had not experienced a feeling like that before.
Subaru ran up to Rem and sat down on his knees so he could get closer to her.
Subaru: “Rem what happened! you suddenly collapsed, please say something.”
His voice was now heard clearly as he was now closer to her. At the sound of his worrisome voice she began to calm down a little and she felt her nausea calm down little by little. The ringing in her ears also began to go away.
She turned her head to see Subaru’s worried face as he looked at her.
Rem: “Subaru!”
Subaru: “Yes! Rem I’m here, please tell me what happened.”
As Rem heard the question she actually thought about something.
What actually did happened?
To that question she didn’t know the answer either. She still did not know what happened. She thought the whale killed her. It did kill her, she knows that. But why is she alive now? And how is it daytime when it was nighttime a minute ago? All the unanswered questions swirled around in her mind like an annoying bug. Answering them was like trying to complete a jigsaw but half the pieces are gone. Impossible. At all the possibilities her mind went blank and her muscles lost all strength. Her vision went blurry and the last thing she heard before blacking out was Subaru worriedly shouting her name.
SUBARU:POV
Subaru didn’t know what to do in this situation. Rem suddenly went unconscious which is a big change from all the previous loops and Subaru kinda started to panic.
He couldn’t find out why that happened. Just when the loop started she just fell without any clear cause and that didn’t happen the other times when Puck froze Subaru to death and the loop reseted. But the bigger problem is what to do now with Rem. He decided to just carry her back to the Karsten manor and get Felix to check up on her. After arriving he explained the situation and after Felix checked up on her he said that there was nothing wrong and that she just needed to rest. Subaru put her in a bed so she could rest. Then he was so tired he slept in a chair next to her.
REM:POV
Rem woke up in the morning and saw that Subaru was next to her. He looked so peaceful in his slumber that it made Rem almost forget about what happened for a moment… Almost. Suddenly the memories came flashing back and she NEEDED answers. And something was telling her that Subaru knew something
She reached her hand out towards him and nudged him slightly until he woke up. He woke up and quickly turned his head to look at her and then realized that she was okay.
Subaru: “Rem, I'm glad that you're okay. I got so worried when you suddenly collapsed!”
Before Rem processed what happened Subaru went and hugged her tightly. This made Rem blush a little but she still hugged him back.
Rem: “Rem is okay now Subaru, I'm sorry if I worried you.”
Subaru: “No need to apologize, I'm just happy that you're okay.”
Rem: “Rem is also happy that Subaru is okay.”
Subaru ended the hug and sat back in the chair.
Subaru: “So Rem tell me what happened?”
This was the question that Rem hoped that he didn’t ask because he probably won’t believe her if she says that she died and then went back in time. She would sound like a crazy person.
Rem: “Rem doesn't know what happened.” She tried to sound as convincing as possible. “Rem started feeling really bad all of a sudden and then I fainted”
Subaru: “Are you sure that's all that happened? I had Felix check on you just in case but I'm still a little worried about you?”
Rem didn’t like lying to Subaru but it was the best option right now until she could figure out what happened. She would slowly collect the scattered puzzle pieces and patch them back together till it is complete. Maybe Subaru could give her some information. She would then tell him the truth when she was prepared for it.
Rem slowly moved her head up and down signalling that she was sure.
Subaru: “Alright if you say so, I'm gonna take your word for it.”
Before Subaru could say anything else Rem said something weird.
Rem: “Rem has a feeling that something bad is gonna happen soon.”
Subaru opened his eyes wide before narrowing them at Rem like he was thinking about something important that had happened.
Subaru: “Why do you say that?”
Rem: “I dreamt that something bad happened to all thre- I mean two of us.
Herself, Subaru and Otto were in the carriage when the White Whale attacked but she shouldn't know about Otto right now because that hasn’t happened since yet because she went back in time. Why she went in time was still unanswered.
Subaru: “Sorry but I think I'm gonna cut this conversation short. I'm gonna have to go back to the market because we didn’t get anything since you fainted and I had to carry you. We can talk more about it together when I come back.”
Rem: “Please be safe Subaru, Rem will prepare a good meal for you when you return.”
Rem smiled as she said the last part. A genuine smile filled with happiness that could warm up any room. Subaru couldn't help but smile back.
Subaru: “Yeah, I will be back before you know it! And I'll look forward to eating your food because your cooking is the best.”
He then waved and walked out of the room while closing the door behind him.
Rem blushed a lot more than usual at the compliment and she didn’t know why. Maybe it was because he said it with a cheerful smile on his face. Then she became sad. Rem knew who Subaru liked. She knew that she felt envious towards Emilia. She knew that Emilia had’nt returned his feelings yet. She knew she still had a chance to win over his heart. Her eyes were now filled with determination and strength.
SUBARU:POV
Meanwhile Subaru was out in the city looking for the stuff he needed.
???: “Hello broke kid, do you have enough money to buy some appas now?
Subaru looked in the direction of the sound and saw the appa salesmen.
Subaru: “Hello Old man, I have enough money to buy some appas now.”
Appa Salesman: “That's good progress broke kid, how many do you want?”
Subaru: “I'll take 5 please.”
The appa salesman takes out five appas and gives them to Subaru.
Appa Salesman: “Thanks for buying.”
Subaru: “You're welcome.”
That's one of the items down. Subaru is still walking around looking for the rest when uses a shortcut through an alleyway.
Subaru: “Man alleyways bring back bad memories from my first day.Hope i don’t run into the same bandits. Wait, did I just jinx myself? No way i run into them again, RIGHT?”
Just when he says that he hears a voice in front of him. It is as if the Gods are watching him because the voice is from the three bandits. Maybe fate wanted this encounter to happen. Lady luck was not on Subaru’s side today.
Rachins: “Well, well, well look what we have here. Isn’t it the same boy we tried to rob when Reinhard came?”
Gaston: “Yeah it is, I would recognize those strange clothes from anywhere.”
Subaru: “Come on, my tracksuit is not that weird.”
all three together: “No, it really is that weird.”
Subaru: “You guys are the worst.”
Camberley: “We know and because of that we are gonna take revenge on you right now.”
Subaru thought that it was going to be easy because he had done it before. Maybe not this time.
Rem:POV
I got out of bed and made myself ready for the day. I was useless yesterday and made Subaru carry me because of the weird thing that happened. I still don’t know what happened but I confirmed with the other maids that I indeed traveled back in time which shouldn't even be possible. After doing some work I took a break and made some tea for myself. When I heard someone behind me. I looked and I saw Wilhelm standing there.
Wilhelm: “I can tell by your eyes that something is troubling you. If you tell me, I might be able to help.”
Rem was first surprised that Wilhelm knew but it was true. She knew Wilhelm was wise and wouldn’t tell anyone else so she decided to tell him.
Rem: “I think the White Whale kil-”
Suddenly timefroze the tea that she’d been pouring froze mid-air. She tried to move but her body wouldn’t let her. She tried to talk but she couldn't speak either. It’s as if her body turned to stone. But then a purple hand came out from nowhere and came closer to her. Now she could smell it. The witch’s scent. The smell was overbearing and made her feel dizzy. The hand came closer to her and it went through her and grabbed her heart. The pain was almost as bad as when the White Whale killed her.
But she was not the only one affected.
SUBAR:POV
At the same time Subaru kicked Camberley away and then tried to punch Rachins when time froze. Caught by surprise, Subaru just let it happen because that's all he could do in this situation. But he couldn’t think of a reason why it happened. He didn’t even speak when it happened. The hand grabbed his heart and the pain was something Subaru hated. The hand then left as quickly as it came and when time unfroze he stopped moving and grabbed his chest. So Rachins took this chance and stabbed him straight through his heart so he died in an instant. As his body lost all blood and his heart stopped working he felt the cold hands of death embrace him once again.
Subaru restarted the previous day in the city again. He immediately started to look for Rem because she would probably fall just like she did in the old loop. To his surprise she was completely normal except that she had her hand on her chest and a terrified look on her face.
Subaru: “Hey Rem! glad to see that you haven’t fallen over this time.”
Normally this would be a weird comment but nothing noteworthy but for Rem this time it was different. Her breathing hitched and she looked at him with eyes full of despair.
Rem: “You REMEMBER?”
To this response Subaru was completely dumbfounded and then went completely pale. Then he said with a weak voice.
Subaru: “Rem, how much do you know?”
His eyes opened wide at the realization that maybe he wasn’t alone in this loop. What consequences would this have in the future? Now it was Subaru’s turn to have some unanswered questions.
But something both knew very well was that this would be the beginning of many problems.