Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Subaru was sitting in the carriage on the way to the capital being pulled by his trusty dragon Patrasche. Otto and Garfiel were in front driving and he was in the back sitting next to Emilia with Beatrice on his lap. It was a quiet, peaceful part of the ride, the typically loud duo of Garfiel and Otto had fallen silent, Beatrice had fallen asleep on his lap and Emilia was quietly fingering her necklace.

Suddenly, the carriage stopped. Everything had just changed, and Subaru Natsuki was none of the wiser.

"Hey guys, everything alright up there?" Subaru called out, concerned about the stoppage

"A-One moment Natsuki-san, Patrasche says she's tired" Otto responded

Emilia took a deep breath, she knew the rules when their captor had let them out of that place. The last thing they could do was let Subaru learn about what had just happened to them. To everyone. No matter how badly she wanted to leap into his arms and apologize and tell him everything will be ok and that she loved him deeply and a hundred other things. That cursed witch would raise hell if she knew her secret was out.

"Well it can't be helped" Subaru mumbled as he lifted Beatrice off his lap and jumped out of the carriage, turning around to help his spirit and mistress off the ledge.

"Doesn't this seem like a nice spot for a picnic Subaru?" Emilia asked

"Are you sure? Were close to Priestella by now and Anastasia said she would make preparations for us"

"Can you blame me for wanting to spend some time with my knight before we get to the city?"

Subaru's eyes widened as he processed what she said. Wow, if I didn't know better I would say she had feelings for me. But Subaru knew better, he knew it might take a long time for her to mature enough to realize her feelings but Subaru would be there to reciprocate them, no matter how long it took.

"How could I say no to my precious Emilia-tan" he said, beaming and raising his arms but stopping halfway after a weight kept his left arm anchored to his waist. Beatrice stood there silently, grasping onto his hand. She did not trust herself to open her mouth quite yet. She was in a similar position to Emilia. She had developed quite the complex in that theatre after watching her Subaru be massacred by the Great Rabbit because she was too foolish to run to him and take his hand. But, as she already came to realize, that was in the past and it was time to look toward a bright future where she made her contractor as happy as possible. The happy ending he had worked so hard for.

"Beako are you alright?" Subaru asked, confused at his spirit's silence, but she quickly collected herself despite being on the spot.

"Of course I am alright, Betty has the right to hold her contractor's hand whenever she so chooses" she grumbled. Subaru's eyes quickly switched from his spirit to the blond and silver haired duo walking over to him.

"Hey guys, we were thinking about having a picnic, how does that sound?" Subaru asked, expecting them to have the same complaints he did.

"Sure, Natsuki-san"

"'F Course Cap'n"

Subaru blinked, then unlinked his arm from Beatrice (in exchange for headpats) and jumped back into the carriage to grab food and a couple blankets. They were at the end of their journey so he just grabbed some bread, meat and cheese. In a few minutes, everyone was happily eating silently.

"My mom always said the best compliment a chef can receive is a silent dinner table!" the dark haired boy said cheerily. Unknown to him, everyone was silent because they were lost deep in their thoughts. But at the forefront of everyone's mind was making sure that Subaru didn't know anything was different, and maybe make him realize how much they appreciate him too.

"Yes Subaru, these sandwiches are delicious" Emilia smiled sweetly at him

"Of course they are, they were prepared by Betty's contractor in fact"

Garfiel grunted in agreement

"Well if there's anything a shut in NEET needs to know how to make, it's a good old fashioned sandwich!" Subaru jovially ate his sandwich. Emilia frowned next to him, now that she knew what some of his odd sayings meant, she didn't like how often he referred to himself with those negative terms. Before she could speak up, her knight was speaking again.

"Well, if everyone's done we should get moving to catch back up with our schedule" The pitstop had taken all of 30 minutes, but Subaru was antsy to see this "Kararagian culture" he had heard about. If Anastasia's accent was anything to go off of, he was excited to see what the city held in store for him. In a few minutes, they were on their way again in almost the exact same positions they had been in before their stop, except now Emilia was letting her head rest on Subaru's shoulder. Subaru was blushing deeply at how she seemed to go from clueless to cuddly overnight and Beatrice just rolled her eyes, making sure to defend her spot on his lap as they continued their march toward the city. Subaru looked forward with hope in his eyes and two beautiful girls with him. The other 4 passengers weren't so gleeful. It was all they could do to hope that their excursion to Priestella would come and go with little trouble.

After they had stored their carriage, they walked with Patrasche down into the street. Subaru was delighted and surprised to find both of his hands taken by his spirit and mistress. All of them were shocked to see the city inside the walls. The beautiful canals sparkling in the sunlight converging in the very bottom of the city with traffic bustling all over the place. Subaru was in awe for another reason, this "Kararagian culture" was TOTALLY a ripoff of Japanese culture and he was loving it. Oh man, I can't wait to see what the food is like. They used a map to find their way to the place they were staying at, the Seaslyph Lodge.

"Goddammit" Subaru grumbled under his breath as he saw the purple haired man standing by the door waiting for them.

Julius was sweating bullets, how was he supposed to interact with them? How could he ensure that Subaru didn't find out? How could he look at Subaru knowing that he had killed him once? He shook his head, he was the Knight of Knights, he could handle this. And even if he couldn't, nobody else could. Ricardo had volunteered but Julius knew he was the one for the job. It was best if the Emilia camp was able to settle in peacefully and comfortably and he was the best person to guarantee that, even if he didn't know quite how to act around Subaru yet.

"Emilia camp, it is nice to meet you all. My name is Julius Juukulius. As always it is a pleasure Lady Emilia" Julius greeted them with a smile and some uncertainty

Otto and Garfiel blinked, forgetting that they hadn't met this man yet

"My name is Otto Suwen, head of internal affairs"

"Garfiel Tinzel, Shield of the Sanctuary" Garfiel's voice lacked its usual bite. How could he call himself a shield after seeing what happened to his Cap'n?

"Get on with it you grape haired bastard, what do you want?" Subaru spat playfully

"Anastasia-sama has asked me to ensure that you five receive the room and board that you have been assigned." Julius answered hesitantly

Subaru blinked at the glaring lack of bite from his words, but shrugged it off and fell in line as he marched down the hall to their rooms. They had 4 rooms, each right next to each other. It made Otto, Garfiel and particularly Emilia happy to know they'd be so close to Subaru in case something happened at night. Subaru was ecstatic to be in a traditional Japanese inn again. Oh man, if this is a onsen I am going to lose it Subaru felt like a kid in a candy shop

"So Julius, is this place known for its baths?" Subaru probed

"A-Yes it is, did Lady Emilia tell you" Julius asked with a eyebrow raised

"Oh I had no idea" she quickly offered

"They had a spot like this in my hometown," Subaru explained. At the mention of this, all 5 of their ears perked up. Julius continued to lead them to their rooms as if he wasn't dying of curiosity. Garfiel made his thousandth mental note to get some 1 on 1 time with his brother to get some stories from an alternate universe.

"Well here are your four rooms, please unpack and rest, someone will collect you for dinner soon" Julius continued down the hall and out of sight. The group dispersed into their rooms. The rooms were very nice, traditional Japanese style with paper paneling and wooden beams and a large, raised bed in the middle of the room up against the wall on a dark, wooden frame.

"Ahhh, nothing better than lying down on a bed after traveling eh Beako?" He lifted his head to look at his spirit from his prone position on the bed.

"What is your obsession with letting go of my hand I suppose?" She responded, irritated.

"Are you alright, Beako? You seem a little clingy today"

"Betty just worries about her foolish contractor sometimes. You get into lots of trouble without me in fact."

"Aww come on, there haven't been any major incidents in months! And this will just be a fun vacation. Pick up a crystal for Puck and maybe get some information on Gluttony" his face darkened as he got to the end of his sentence, but shook it off, he was supposed to be cheering his spirit up! Beatrice's face also darkened, but for a different reason. Puck used to be the most important one to her before she had met Subaru but ever since that day that she had chosen her contractor, Subaru far outranked Puck. Then to find out what terrible things her brother had done to her contractor, she didn't know how to feel. But she knew that if Emilia brought him back, their relationship would never be the same. She decided to shake off these dark thoughts and laid down on her contractor's chest on the bed, snuggling up to him.

"My Beako really can't be beaten in cuteness"

"Of course not, foolish contractor" Beatrice mumbled into his tracksuit

They laid there like that for a while, with Beatrice absorbing his mana as Subaru slowly dozed off. He was jolted awake by a knock on the door.

"Cap'n, me n Otto are goin to check out the baths, wanna come wit?" A sharp voice asked. Garfiel and Otto had been discussing in Otto's room about what to do. They both wanted to tell Subaru how much he meant to them, how sorry they were and thank him for how he saved them, but they couldn't. It was so frustrating, Otto had to talk Garfiel down from putting a hole through his wall. They knew they just had to act how they had acted before they were transported to that theatre, but neither of them were happy about it. Garfiel only knew one thing for certain, he had to get stronger to protect his Cap'n. Otto also had a new resolve to protect Subaru from the machinations of a certain clown but with the events of the theatre, he knew he would have to fend off the other camps coming for Subaru as well.

"Yeah, sure!" Subaru responded excitedly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes "Is that alright Beako?" Subaru whispered to his spirit.

"Betty does not approve of her contractor leaving her, in fact. But she can make this exception since you are so childishly excited about those baths" Subaru blushed a bit, but knew it was pointless to deny it. He quickly got up and grabbed a towel but froze up. There was a kimono hanging in the closet, 2 of them to be exact. In his and Beatrice's sizes

"Cap'n? You coming?"

"Ah, yeah sorry" he grabbed the kimono and towel and rushed to the door

"What's that girly thing ya got there?" Garfiel asked, testing the waters

"It's not a 'girly thing', they're gender neutral" Subaru snapped back, eliciting a laugh out of Garfiel and Otto. "It's called a kimono, and it's a very respectable article of clothing" Subaru continued, trying to push the image of Emilia in a kimono out of his mind and failing terribly. A few minutes later, they were all in the relaxing water of the onsen and they were all in heaven. Particularly Subaru who thought he would never experience this sensation again.

"Who knew some hot water would feel so good?" Garfiel groaned

"Supposedly this water has special healing properties" Otto explained quickly "I took a walk around the inn and ran into Felix." he conveniently left out the part where he asked Felix if he could manipulate memories. The men continued to relax in the bath, Otto and Garfiel were ecstatic that Subaru was once again conscious, safe and happy with them. Eventually however, dinnertime rolled around and the men toweled off and headed back to their rooms. The Emilia camp regrouped (with Subaru in his brand new kimono) and headed toward the dining area Julius had shown them on the way in. As they stepped into the room, they saw a large, low table with cushions going all the way around. The table was already populated with Anastasia at the head, Julius to her right, Ricardo to his right and the triplets on her left.

"Natsuki-kun, 'm glad to see that yer enjoyin the perks" Anastasia motioned at his kimono. Emilia also appreciated the view in silence.

"Ah, yeah me, Otto and Garf were just in the baths" Subaru sat down between Garfiel and Emilia next to Julius and Otto. Then, the members of the camps who had not technically met yet made their introductions. Hetaro and Tivey nearly had to physically restrain Mimi from jumping on the gorgeous tiger, but Subaru didn't notice.

"Anastasia-san, where is everyone else?" A silver bell chimed out

"The Crusch and Felt camps got delayed and I frankly don't know if Priscilla will bother to show up" the merchant answered. Things were bad at the Crusch camp. Felix couldn't believe what he had done to Subaru and how low he had thought of him, and so they had to slightly delay their travels in order to ensure he was ready to meet Subaru. The Felt camp had stopped so they could kick a particular trio out of their camp. Felt refused to forgive anyone who had directly hurt Subaru like that.

"Ah, I see" Emilia looked down as the table fell silent. Everyone except Subaru could figure the reason for these delays.

"Weird, Crusch seems like a very strict kinda lady, although accidents do happen" Subaru thought aloud. Then realized he didn't know her as well since she lost her memories. This sad realization was somewhat swept away when Subaru saw what was for dinner. The rest of the meal proceeded nicely, with Subaru scarfing down the sashimi, sushi and miso brought out for dinner. After eating their fill, everyone retreated to their rooms, everyone tired after their interdimensional travels. Subaru and Beatrice had decided to check out what else the inn had to offer. They were wandering around when they stumbled into a large courtyard. It was beautiful. There was a plethora of vegetation and a few trees that stretched their woody limbs over top of the area so that the setting sun filtered through its leaves. A small path snaked through the hip-high plants so that if you stood right in the middle and looked straight up, you could believe you were deep in a forest.

"Whoa this place is really beautiful huh Beako? I'll have to show Emilia around" the boy grinned stupidly

"Foolish contractor, always thinking of that girl" Beatrice mumbled, her hand seemingly glued to Subaru's.

"It's alright Beako, love is a complex emotion for grown ups, if you keep eating your vegetables maybe you'll fall in love one day as well" Subaru smiled, stars in his eyes as he thought of his most precious one

"Spirits have no need for romantic love I suppose, all Betty needs is her contractor in fact. And Betty is 400 years old I suppose!" she retorted hotly. Just then, they both heard several footsteps coming up the hallway behind the paper paneling. Subaru was curious, but didn't want to be rude so he stayed silent. Until the sliding door opened and the last whispers of the sun illuminated Lady Crusch, along with her knight and her retainer, Wilhelm.

"Hey, Crusch! It's been a while, how are you all doing?" Subaru walked over animatedly. Upon seeing Subaru, the Crusch camp had very severe internal reactions. Felix was wrought with guilt about the things he had thought and said during the viewings, Wilhelm had guilt as well but it was overcome with a strong desire to protect Subaru and let him live his life in happiness. For Crusch however, she was dealing with the outcome of seeing the conscious face of the boy who had grown so dear to her heart over the last few days.

"Subaru-dono, I am well. How have you been?" The Iron Lady quickly shook off her thoughts. Subaru was frozen for a moment. She seemed different. She didn't seem like the nervous but respectable lady she had been since Gluttony, it reminded him of how she had carried herself before the accident. But it was late and almost dark, Subaru figured he was just seeing things.

"Subaru-dono, it is great to see you again, it has truly been too long" the old man beamed at the young boy

"H-Hey Subaru-kyun" Felix stuttered nervously, avoiding eye contact. Subaru thought all of them were acting a bit odd, but figured that they were tired from their travels and whatever had delayed them.

"What kept you guys?" Subaru wondered aloud

"Our ground dragon fell ill, we had to procure another one in a nearby city." Wilhelm felt bad for lying to the boy but everyone there understood that some lies would be necessary in order to protect Subaru.

"Jeez, that sounds rough. Anyways, I'll let you guys get to bed, you must be tired from your journey". The whole group mentally winced. They could all honestly say the last few days had been some of the roughest of their lives. To see how Subaru had single handedly saved the White Whale campaign, assuredly saving all three of their lives in exchange for his dwindling sanity. Crusch still cursed herself for how she treated him in those failed loops, even if she had no reason to think he wasn't crazy.

"Yes Subaru-dono, I think that is an excellent idea, we are all weary from our travels" Wilhelm took charge seeing how Crusch and Felix had fallen silent. The Crusch camp retreated back behind the sliding door and shuffled off. Subaru figured he should get to bed as well and, after a few minutes, made his way back to his bedroom as well. As he got ready for bed, he mentally prepared for the worst part of his day. While Beatrice being there made it much more manageable, at night he couldn't keep his bad thoughts away, and that was usually when he scratched himself. He had made it a habit after Rem was erased, and although the last few months had been peaceful he couldn't bring himself to stop. Beatrice knew this, and always tried to help her contractor the best she could be distracting him with conversation. But sooner or later, they would have to quiet down in order to get to sleep. Subaru lay on the bed, clutching Beatrice to his chest tightly. Beatrice let her arms rest around his neck and she tried to apply some healing magic to take some of the strain away.

"What did I do to deserve such a great spirit" Subaru murmured, feeling much more at ease

"All Betty's contractor has to do is be himself, in fact" Beatrice concentrated on gently coaxing him to sleep with her magic. Soon, they were both fast asleep together. Both of their dark thoughts were chased away by the other.

As Garfiel prepared for bed, he couldn't get those thoughts out of his head. The scenes of him ruthlessly murdering civilians in his bestial form. That's all he was, a beast. He killed the girl he had loved, Ram and one of the men he respected most, Otto. He tried to cry quietly into his bedding, but he couldn't hold it back. He used his strength to kill people weaker than him. He just lashed out in anger like a child, and because of that, so many people he loved and would come to love died. He would never get the chance to develop his relationship with Otto, realize that his feelings for Ram was not true love, but boyish infatuation. Subaru saved him in every sense of the word, he allowed him to grow into a more mature, capable man. And how was Subaru repaid for these kind deeds? His mental health and confidence was torn to shreds, one of the girls he loved most was taken from him and the girl he loved most of all was completely oblivious as to how to act until a few days ago. Garfiel couldn't hold it in, he was sobbing into his bed now. His torment went unnoticed by one of the adjacent rooms with Subaru and Beatrice, who were fast asleep but Otto was wide awake as well.

Otto was sitting on his bed, back ramrod straight as he stared at a small, black object on the bed. At the object that had been the main cause of all of Subaru's suffering, along with the complete incapability of everyone around the knight. Otto had come to the city in order to repair the book and use it to defend against any possible future machinations from Roswaal, but as the viewings progressed, his opinions changed. The book was pure evil, the product of a witch who had no regard for sentient life. He knew now that nothing good would come of the book, and so he decided the next best step was to destroy it completely. He did not yet know how to go about it, but he could consult with his magic item repair contact in the city about what to do. He was snapped out of his thoughts by soft, ugly cries from the other room. Garfiel. Otto was extremely worried about the boy. As bad as Otto had it after the viewings, he knew Garfiel had it a hundred times worse. He had to watch himself kill everyone he loved save for his grandma out of petty anger. And while Garfiel had matured, he was still just a boy, a boy who needed support right now. Otto swiftly and quietly made his way to Garfiels room and knocked lightly. No response. Another knock. Garfiel knew it was Otto at the door, and his proud personality told him to dismiss the merchant, but he really wanted to see his older brother at the moment.

"Come in" he croaked, shocked at how his own voice sounded. As Otto opened the door, he saw what he expected. Garfiel was sitting in bed, back to the wall, his knees tucked into his chest with his head down and his arms wrapped around his own body. As strong and muscular as the boy looked, right now he just looked like a little kid. Otto carefully approached him and placed a hand on his forearm.

"Hey Otto"

"Hey Garf" There was a moment of silence "Would you like to talk? Or would you prefer if I just stayed here" Garfiel raised his head just enough to see the silver haired merchant. Through the dark, Otto could make out the tear stains on his cheeks.

"J-just stay here… please" hearing the blond boy speak so softly was new to Otto, but he obeyed the request and sat down on the bed next to him. He placed his arm around Garfiel and they sat there for a while. After a few minutes, Otto spoke up.

"You should try to get some rest, Garfiel, Natsuki-san will worry if you don't take care of yourself. I will too" the merchant spoke softly.

"How can I sleep after what we saw, I just keep seeing it, over and over" The blond responded, voice cracking. His grip around his knees tightened. Otto could see he was in no state to talk it through right now.

"Garfiel, in times like this it is important to remember that there are still people who love you deeply. Like me, your grandmothers, Frederica and especially Natsuki-san. I wont ask you to forgive yourself, but please keep in mind that Natsuki-san has already forgiven you and made you his brother." Otto spoke as he gently rubbed Garfiel's head. "Now give me one moment, i'll be right back" Otto retreated to his room momentarily and came right back as promised. Garfiel looked to be in somewhat better shape, but still nowhere near stable. Otto entered the room with a glass of water and a small vial filled with white powder. He poured the contents of the vial into the water and mixed it.

"Drink this, it will help you sleep, it should kick in almost immediately" Otto offered Garfiel the glass. Garfiel took it and drank deeply, finishing it in a few swigs.

"Thanks Ottobro…" Garfiel slowly moved under the blankets and into a sleeping position. Otto was happy that he was gonna at least try and get some rest. Just as Otto was about to turn and head back to his room—

"Otto, can you stay here for a bit?" Garfiel asked, his voice sounding more childish than ever. Otto, surprised, retook his earlier position on the bed

"Of course Garf, I'm here for you whenever you need help" Otto smiled at him, happy that he was mature enough to be emotionally vulnerable but devastated at seeing his little brother in this state.

"Yer the best Otto…" Garfiel murmured as he closed his eyes. Otto stayed there, with his hand on Garfiels forehead. I am gonna have to find a supplier of that sleeping medicine in the city aren't I. Otto stayed there for another 20 minutes, and when he was sure Garfiel was fast asleep, he quietly slipped back to his room. The Felt camp should arrive early tomorrow, i'm gonna have to defend Subaru from a double pronged attack. Otto thought sleepily, somehow, calming Garfiel down had also put him in a restful mood. No matter what I have done to you in the past, I will protect you now and forever Natsuki-san. The merchant promised to himself as he too drifted off to sleep.

AN: AN: My first time writing anything really. Let me know if you have any criticisms please! I was trying to just set things up this chapter, particularly dynamics in the Emilia camp and introducing some of the other camps to Subaru. Planning on dealing with the Felt camp and Subaru finding out Rem is likely awake next chapter. Check FF.net for updates bc I probably wont keep this as current, as of uploading there are 9 chapters.

Chapter Text

(RETCONNING HETARO AS NOT A SISCON BC WTF)

Felt strode into the city walls on a mission. Mission "Rescue Big Bro". She was pissed that the Crusch camp got there before her. Their carriage was behind schedule after having a few... atlercations upon their return to this reality. It had been settled with Felt kicking those 3 bastards out in a nearby city but by the time everything had been resolved, it had been too late to make it that night. She growled just thinking of how she housed those murderers into her camp. She was all for reform, her Grandpa Rom had told her some grim stories, but in some of those loops they had just seemed evil. Torturing a random man who was obviously a foreigner just to satisfy boredom? She shook her head. No time to be thinking about those things.

"Where the hell are we going Rein" Felt turned to look up at Reinhardt

"It should be just down this street, Lady Felt" Although Reinhardt would usually be ecstatic from being able to be so close to the border and experience new culture, what had just happened couldn't be ignored. He was the Sword Saint, the fact that people still met their end in way's similar to Subaru was unacceptable as the strongest. He had to do more, as the knight of Lady Felt. And, hopefully, as the friend of Subaru. He tried to shake those thoughts out of his head, he would be seeing the dark haired boy today and he had to act the same as always. Of course, hiding his emotions was nothing new but today they were a lot more volatile than normal. He led his lady to the doors of where they would be staying, the Seasylph Lodge. They entered and greeted the Anastasia camp minus Mimi (she was looking for Garfiel), then Julius showed them where they would be staying. When Reinhardt made it to his room he picked his eyes up off the floor, there was a familiar scent hitting his nose. A rather unpleas—

"Hey guys! Long time no see huh?" The dark haired knight stuck his head out of his room and looked at the duo.

"Big bro!" Felt ran to him and almost tackled him, but remembered the situation just in time to turn it into a weak punch on his shoulder "I-I missed you"

"Whoa, what a tsundere reaction!" at this point, Reinhardt felt it necessary to step in

"I would appreciate it if you did not use such terms with my lady, Subaru. Or should I say Lolimancer?" Reinhardt smiled broadly at his friend, momentarily forgetting how careful he needed to be in conversation.

"Whoa, thats scary coming from you Reinhardt! I was gonna ask Felt if she wanted to come to radio calisthenics but forget it!" Subaru pretended to fear the red haired knight, then laughed. As much as Felt and Reinhardt wanted to keep chatting with Subaru, they excused themselves in order to "unpack their things". In reality, Felt wanted to make contact with the Crusch camp, out of all the camps gunning for Subaru, Crush worried her the most. Felt also wanted to make contact with Emilia and discuss about combining camps. One step at a time for now though. Reinhardt was looking forward to seeing his grandfather. They had begun to develop a bit of a relationship during the events of the theatre and the fiery haired knight looked forward to speaking with his grandfather more, even if he didn't deserve it. Reinhardt got his room straightened out and collected Lady Felt so they could make their way to Crusch's camp. Reinhardt acquired a Divine Protection of Audio Vibration Sensation so he could locate where they were and made his way over with Felt in the lead. Before long, they came upon a sliding door that Reinhardt motioned at to signal to Felt that they had arrived. Felt slid the door open and stepped out into that same beautiful garden that Subaru and Beatrice had found themselves in last night.

"Honorable grandfather, how have you been?" Reinhardt asked politely while bowing

"Reinhard, I am doing well and I am glad to see you again. I was wonder—"

"Crusch! We need to talk." Felt strode over to where they were sitting on the side and plopped down unceremoniously. Reinhardt sheepishly smiled at his grandfather

"Lady Felt, what business do we have?" The duchess turned, confused.

"Cut it out, you declared in that place yourself how you feel about Subaru. We both know your trying to move him into your camp." the blond came out swinging. Crusch had the decency to blush a bit.

"Yes, I have been extremely upfront about that. What is your point?" she questioned, bored.

"You want what's best for Subaru, dont ya?" Felt hid a shiver as the duchess's eyes sharpened dangerously

"Yes" She said quietly, in a way that told Felt she better hurry up and get to the point

"Well id just like to know how you plan on defending him better than the Sword Saint could?"

"Lady Felt, while I appreciate the vote of confidence I haven't—" Reinhardt moved to protect his knightly code

"Shut it" Orders came before rules after all. Crusch stood up, motioning to Wilhelm that it was time to go.

"I do not appreciate the insinuation that my camp is incapable of protecting our own. I ask you to especially consider this given your recent staff changes." Crusch looked at Felt as she spoke these stern words, then marched up with her retainer in tow. Felt was about to explode in anger but she couldn't. Crusch was right, even if it was before they were with her she had harbored Subaru's murderers in her camp. As her friends. Felt watched the duchess stride off, fuming. Reinhard too was upset at how the short encounter had gone. It appeared as though relations between their camps could sour if the situation was not handled gently, and Reinhardt did not want to find himself at odds with his grandfather at such a precarious time. Felt had been hoping to come to a undestanding with Crusch or some information at the very least, but had just ended up with a spoiled mood. She had came off too strong and chased Crusch away. As Crusch stormed off, she cursed her position. She had changed a lot in the last couple days even if you don't count almost 2 decades worth of stored memories being returned. She was already in a bad mood that day because she knew she would have to explain to Subaru how she had her memories back and tell him that Rem likely does as well. She would also like to get around to expressing her feelings but for the sake of trying to keep Subaru in the dark, it was best to wait just a little longer for that. Even if she cursed letting him fall further into the half-elfs grasp.

Everyone met again at breakfast, and Subaru could suspect something was up. The rest of the Emilia camp could figure why it seemed tense between Crusch and Felt. Subaru just hoped that whatever their issue was wouldn't extend to Reinhardt and Wilhelm's relationship but seeing as how they were sitting across the table from each other, he was worried it couldn't be helped. Subaru was in between Otto and Emilia now, with Garfiel next to Otto. The Anastasia camp strolled in last and Subaru raised a eyebrow as Mimi happily plopped right next to Garfiel.

"Hey Garf, Mimi had a dream about you last night" as Mimi said this, Subaru's eyes opened wide and he turned to Otto. Otto just grinned back, having seen enough of Mimi's oppressive style of courting in the theatre.

"W-Wuh? Shut up twerp" Garfiel stuttered, then replied quickly with a dark blush on his cheeks. Subaru's jaw dropped. Otto wanted to laugh so bad he almost choked on his food. The rest of breakfast went by with harmless small talk, as well as some serious discussion at how to get a stone for Puck. Emilia didn't seem quite as happy as Subaru had thought, but she insisted that nothing was wrong. After breakfast everyone dispersed back to their rooms

Subaru was reading with Beatrice in their room when a knock at the door came.

"Subaru-dono, it is Crusch, may I come in?" The voice commanded respect, but sounded gentle

"Oh yeah of course" Subaru replied after a moment, really creeped out by how similar she seemed to before the subjugation. Crusch opened the door and looked at him with steely eyes, he hated it. It reminded him of the blue haired girl he held so close to his heart.

"I have to address a rather odd topic, so I will skip right to it." Lady Crusch sat down on a chair next to the door and faced Subaru. "What I have to say is shocking, but please know that it is the truth."

"Haha, you're making me nervous, Crusch! What's all this about?" Subaru started rubbing his head nervously.

"I had my memories returned to me yesterday. That was the true reason for our delay." She studied him as she spoke these words. If Subaru's eyes were wide as he watched Mimi, they were canyons in his head now. Beatrice looked at Subaru nervously.

"Y-What?" Subaru stood up with a wide smile now and got closer "That's incredible, so you remember everything? Im so glad"

"Thank you very much, Subaru-dono" the green haired girl blushed lightly and smiled

"This is great! Did Felix figure somet—" Subaru stopped mid sentence and studied the floor for a moment. If Crusch has her memories back… Does Re—. Subaru didn't even want to think the rest of that name. He couldn't handle that much hope, it hurt too much. It didn't matter anyway, Rem's body was at the mansion and he was in Priestella. He cursed the world for not letting him know the state of his beloved.

"Whatever it is" He spoke suddenly with a stern, almost scary expression

Crusch leaned back "Im afraid I dont understand Subaru-dono"

"Whatever you want, anything I have, it's yours. Have Felix do whatever he did to you to Rem. Please." It sounded like more of a order than a request

"Apologies Subaru-dono, but Felix was not the one responsible for the return of my memories" Crusch replied, now truly wishing her knight could fix the curse after hearing Subaru's offer.

"What? Then what could you have poss—"

"We have no idea why it happened, it could be a unknown third party like the authorities playing tricks with the Od Laguna. Whatever the case is, I have been the only one restored so far as I am aware. However, given your scent and connection to the cult, it is possible that Rem has been lifted from the curse as well." Crusch crushed his thoughts. Crusch felt terrible for lying to anyone, but particularly the boy she had fallen for. Subaru looked up and Crusch looked him in the eyes. They seemed so full of hurt, so much pain. She wanted to be there for him when he was in pain, someone reliable he could ask for help from. Then they snapped from broken and vulnerable to a hardened, battle ready glare.

"Thank you for the information Lady Crusch, it was most valuable. Now come on Beako, we're leaving. Emilia will have to finish her negotiations with just Otto and Garfiel." Subaru grabbed the spirits arm and started dragging her out of the room with him.

"W-Wait Subaru!" Beatrice protested "Shouldn't we tell Emilia or pack clothes or get provisions or tell our hosts we need to leave early?"

"We can do that on the way out, we don't have a second to waste." That glare didn't leave Subaru's face. "If we just take Patrasche without the carriage and ride all day, we might just be able to get there by tonight. But we have to go now" Beatrice was dragged along, she could tell there was no way of talking Subaru out of this one and it's better if she was there than if he was alone. Then, Subaru stopped in his tracks. Rather, he was stopped in his tracks by Lady Crusch, taking a hold of his arm.

"I beg you to reconsider Subaru-dono, the knight of a royal candidate such as yourself shouldn't be traveling with such a small security force" Crusch asked in a last ditch effort to get him to cool his head, remembering all the unfortunate incidents that happened to him.

"Yeah, that's right, I am a knight. I'm supposed to protect the innocent. Are you implying I can't even take care of myself?" Subaru spat with venom as he ripped his elbow out of her reach and continued down the hall with Beatrice. Crusch was hurt to hear that tone from Subaru and watching him leave, praying he would be safe. She supposed she would have to be the one to break the news to Emilia. Subaru was out of the inn in record time and managed to do none of the things Beatrice suggested before leaving. He swung the door open to the inn's stables. The smell of hay hit his nose that would typically comfort him, but he hardly noticed it now. It's like his entire body shut down. He had one objective, getting back to the mansion as quickly as possible. He justified himself as he took Patrasche out and readied her to ride. Emilia didn't need him, she had Garfiel and Otto, those two were more than fit to handle any physical or interpersonal problem she ran into.

"You ready to go girl? We're gonna have to move fast today, are you up for it?" Subaru stroked the dragons neck. In response, she let out a defiant squawk. Patrasche could sense her master was tense, and it was making her want to start running as fast as possible

"That's my girl" Subaru almost let a smile touch his lips before he remembered his situation. He started walking out of the inn with his dragon and spirit in tow. To say Beatrice was worried would be a colossal understatement. Subaru wasn't exactly mentally stable at the moment, and Beatrice was the only one with him. They were making their way down a side street, using the map they had found the inn with, trying to make it to the proper city gate. However, as much as Subaru wanted to leave as quickly as possible, the criscrossing streets on the map and lack of street names had him lost.

"Dammit" he clenched the map he was holding tightly. He saw a large church on the map, and saw it arching over the other buildings about 100 meters to his right. He was able to find this church on the map and adjust his location, Subaru decided that cutting through a alley was the best way to get to the gate he had picked out. They were walking on a plain street with a couple restaurants that hadn't opened yet and even fewer people. He turned into a wide alley but still managed to be cramped with the amount of boxes and garbage back there from the restaurants. Luckily, Patrasche was still able to make it through comfortably. As he walked, Subaru noticed a homeless boy laying amidst the garbage. The boy was gaunt, with dark skin and long, disgusting hair that covered his face. His whole body was covered in grime and Subaru could tell that he reeked. Typically, he would lament the poor boy's situation, but his current one track mind wouldn't allow for it. As he walked quickly down the alley, the boy shifted. Oh Od Subaru grumbled in his head he better not ask me for anything. The boy picked himself up off the ground.

"N—" the homeless boy started with a creepy smile

"Sorry kid I don't have any money on me" Subaru cut him off before he could get a word out. Beatrice saw the boy, and immediately realized that they were staring at Gluttony, and Subaru had no idea.

"I am afraid you misunderstand, I am Lye Batenkaitos, Sin Archbishop of Glutto—"

As soon as Beatrice heard this she wasted no time. She had wanted to get verbal confirmation for her contractor, so as soon as he spoke those words she stepped in.

"Murak, in fact!" Beatrice shouted, her eyes steely. Subaru felt that unfamiliar sensation of weightlessness come over his body, and felt Beatrice's hand wrap around as much of his waist as it could before they took off. Beatrice jumped into the wall about 15 feet off the ground, and then kicked off to make it onto the nearby rooftop. Gluttony laughed as they retreated. He used Lunar Eclipse to channel Dorkell, the Leaper and appeared directly behind them on the rooftop. Beatrice's eyes widened, the screen hadn't shown this ability!

"V-Vita!" she yelled, panic entering her voice. Lye's body was crushed to the roof, quickly falling through and landing on the ground below with a loud noise. As much as Subaru wanted to kill the bastard who stole Rem from him, he knew he was outmatched without help. He grabbed Beatrice's waist and jumped off of the rooftop, high into the sky, still untethered by gravity.

"S-Subaru! My Vita just wore off in fact!" Beatrice exclaimed into his neck as they flew through the air, they had gotten out of her effective range but they had put a good bit of distance in between them. As long as they could reach a capable fighter, they had a chance to win if Gluttony's strength was comparable to Sloth. Subaru continued to jump rooftop to rooftop, now maybe 100 meters away. He was shocked they were able to slip away so eas—

"Lunar Eclipse. Palm of the Fist King!" The dark haired boy shouted as Subaru landed once more, Lye threw his open palm in a uppercut arc straight at Subaru's stomach, it was about to make contact until...

"EMT" Beatrice yelled quickly, using their absolute defense magic. The boy stared dumbly as his fist simply went through Subaru's chest. Good thing that didn't connect, he wouldve died for sure-tsu! The Archbishop was a little disappointed with how easily he had been able to catch up.

"El Vita, I suppose!" with that, he went crashing through the roof for a second time, this one made a much larger noise upon impact with the ground though. Shit, how did he catch up with us so easily? Just running away from this guy wont work. We have to distract him and run or straight up win the fight. Subaru did not like his odds of winning straight up, but he had no way to distract the boy. The streets were empty, and even if they Murak-roof-jumped all the way to the Inn, it would take a couple minutes, they wouldn't be able to escape the boy. Subaru had no idea what to do. Was he gonna end up like Rem? Forgotten forever? By Garfiel? By Otto? By Emilia-tan?

"It is still incomplete in fact, but the spell made by Betty and Subaru might work on him!" Beatrice snapped him out of his spiral. Subaru's eyes widened. There was a third spell they had made in theory, but it had never been tested on a large scale. Beatrice had been running through her options as well, she didn't have enough mana for Al Shamack, and all other forms of Shamack would just be buying time. She remembered this third, original, unused spell just in time.

"Your right!" A smile crossed Subaru's face, that really might be able to work. "Then let's do it! We gotta go now" He took his spirits hand and jumped into the hole that Gluttony had made, the Archbishop still pinned to the floor by an invisible force

"It will take the rest of my mana Subaru, and even that might not be enough. I will have to release the Vita!"
"That's alright, as long as you cast the spell right after, it should work! Are you ready Beako?" His spirit nodded in response. Like the other two spells, it was a spell that took a lot of mana to hold up, but had awesome effects. The difference is that this spell was for attack, not defense.

"EMC! Emilia-tan is a Major Cutie!" the dark skinned boy was suddenly covered in purple glass as Beatrice started undergoing intense strain. This spell crystallized the time around a individual, separating their flow of time from that of the universe. Then, it accelerated the time to move orders of magnitude faster than time flow on the outside. It should effectively mean guaranteed death for anything that lives less than hundreds of years. It was kind of a morbid and evil spell, but Subaru figured if he's using it on a Archbishop, it's alright. And it was working, the boy rapidly aged, in a moment he went from a young boy to a man bordering his early twenties. They saw him open his mouth and yell something, but they couldn't hear through the time barrier. Then the boy's body started morphing, the time barrier around him changing with his body. He took the appearance of a fair skinned, tall, blonde man appearing to be in his early twenties. This confused Subaru and Beatrice, who had never seen this ability. But then they noticed that this new body wasn't aging like the old one.

"W-what?" Subaru bumbled, Beatrice was unable to respond, sweat pouring down her face as she put everything into this last spell. Then he saw it, the mans pointed ears. He had turned into a elf! Subaru had no idea what the lifespan of elves was, but they were the longest living race in this world! This was a counter to their spell that the duo hadn't even thought of. There weren't even any full blooded elves left! Just two half elves who were both hundreds of years old. This is bad, this is really, really bad. All Subaru could do was stand there as Beatrice collapsed, completely unconscious after having wore her mana down to it's last nub. The light skinned elf broke free of his restraint, and smiled at the sweating duo. The elf suddenly turned back into the small, dark haired boy again. Subaru grabbed his whip and sent the tip flying towards the boy. As it pulled taut, the tip whizzed right through where the green eyed boy's head used to be. He had ducked under it, and proceeded to grab the tip to yank it out of Subaru's hand. The knight was easily bested in this contest of strength as his whip went flying out of his grasp.

"Ahhh what a feast! My memories didn't lie to me when they told me you would be delicious. But I feel as though you have been properly prepared. Thank you for the food-tsu!" Lye simply walked toward Subaru, both of them knew he was helpless. Beatrice, Emilia, even Satella. Im sorry I couldn't keep my promise. Subaru knew if he did nothing, his name and memories would be eaten just like Rem, he would enter that eternal comatose sleep, and that would be the end of him and Rem forever. He couldn't allow that to pass. As he glared at Gluttony with a fire that threatened to level cities, he grabbed a knife out of his jacket and drew it across his neck. Gluttony widened his eyes at the river of blood that poured out of Subaru's neck as he started to collapse. Ah, I remember now, it hurts so bad. Subaru felt a cold overtaking him, no the sensation was more similar to warmth leaving him. As his life poured out of his neck, he wept for the pain he felt, and for the promises he broke. I will definitely kill you. Lye Batenkaitos. Subaru fought through the pain to look the boy straight in the eyes as he drew his last breath.

Natsuki Subaru had died.

Chapter Text

(I am retconning a few things about the universe. Ill try to announce at the start of a chapter what I changed. I love Garfiel so a couple things about him and a tweak to the Authority of Gluttony.)

Subaru clutched at his neck as the surges of pain wracked through his body. He inhaled deeply, trying to breath through the blood clogging his throat. Then his body caught up with reality and he realized that he was ok. He had Returned by Death. As he recovered his senses, he looked at his surroundings. He was sitting on a large bed, surrounded by dark wood beams and paper paneling. He quickly realized he was wrapped in a very tiny hug from his spirit accompanied by a warm sensation, kind of similar to the bath he had taken last night. Shit he thought I completely forgot that I have to act normal when I come back. How am I gonna explain this?

Beatrice was horrified. She had been reading peacefully in her contractor's lap, absorbing some mana as she did so. She had sat on his lap in that accursed theatre and felt like she knew his heartbeat and breathing pattern like the back of her own hand now. Even though being this close to her contractor was a little unpleasant because of the smell, she was ecstatic that it was so faint now compared to just after they contracted. It brought her so much peace, knowing her contractor was alive, safe and by her side. Although she knew that Subaru had some pain in his future, she was starting to feel hopeful. The half elf had been giving him more attention, the other camps had realized how valuable he was and would start to treat him better and Subaru's blue haired love had woken up, even if he didnt know it yet. Her happy thoughts were torn away as she felt Subaru start shaking violently and grabbing at his own head. At first she didn't know what was happening but then it hit her. The stench. Just a moment ago, he had mildly smelled of rot and death, but now, sitting on his lap, it was impossible to miss. The pungent odor seeped into her nose and it might not have been so bad if not for the knowledge that accompanied it. Subaru had died. Right next to Beatrice, Beatrice had let her contractor die. Again. The old Beatrice would have started crying out of guilt and pity. The new, realized Beatrice from the theatre however, jumped into action. She wrapped her arms as far as they would go around Subaru's chest and buried her head under his chin. Then she started applying healing magic directly to his neck from the crown of her head.

"Ah, sorry Beako, I'm alright. I just fel—" Subaru was cut off by his spirit

"Don't worry. Betty is here for you. Whatever is happening, Betty will be there with you every step of the way. And Betty promises to do everything she can to protect you." Although she knew that she wouldn't have acted this way before the theatre, she figured that it wasn't too far out of line. Plus, she really, really wanted to comfort her contractor right now.

"Huh? What are you talking about? Don't worry Beako, I am a-ok" Subaru tried to give his biggest smile, but it was betrayed by the tears streaming down his face. Damn it, I forgot how bad it hurt. Of course, he hadn't forgotten, but the pain had faded somewhat from his memories. To have your consciousness ripped out of your body like that, and then thrust into a new vessel right at a moment of extreme stress. It felt so violating, so unsettling. Subaru wrapped his arms around Beatrice and dropped his head so he could cry into her shoulder

"—m sorry I'm such a worthless contractor. I can't keep anyone safe." He quietly whispered into her shoulder

"Silence. Betty will not tolerate this from you. Betty's contractor is the greatest in the whole world. He doesn't back down from challenges and he does things that nobody else can. He was able to take out 2 of the Great Beasts in two weeks when the whole world has been hunting them for centuries. Betty's contractor outstrategized the greatest magician in the world. Betty's contractor did all of this even without Betty. He did these things as a regular, seventeen year old human without status, fighting ability or allies. When Betty and Subaru stand together, there is nothing that they cannot do. You will stumble and falter, but Betty and all the people who love you will be there to pick you up. Whatever it is, tell Betty. I will believe you, anything you say." Subaru's eyes widened at the outpour of love and encouragement from his spirit, the tears falling from his face increases threefold. He held her tighter and cried harder into her, unable to form words. Beatrice returned his hug, and stroked his hair gently. Betty's Subaru has di— she cut herself off I need to let Emilia know. That was the plan they had made in the theatre. Emilia was the one closest to him. But he couldn't know about this and she didn't even know what the threat was. She decided the best course of action for now was just to get him to calm down and relay whatever information he had. After a few minutes of silent crying, he had gathered himself together. It had been months since Subaru had needed to Return by Death, and it reminded him of why the scars on his arms were there.

"Sorr— Thank you Beako. You really are the greatest spirit in the world." Subaru caught himself

"Hmm, it appears my foolish contractor finally recognizes the obvious" She said mean words, but with a loving tone. Subaru began to think rationally about the situation. Rem's status was unknown, but unfortunately that would have to take a backseat to the current situation. It appeared as though Gluttony was waiting for him, or it was a complete accident. Gluttony had also mentioned wanting Subaru in particular. Regardless, it was likely he would not attack citizens senselessly. Subaru was thankful he would have some time to work something out rather than be thrown right back into the fray. Subaru lifted his head off of Beatrice's shoulder finally. When they made eye contact, Beatrice saw a hard glare on her contractor, the same determination as the last loop, but without the senseless anger. It was the kind of look that had made several maidens fall for him.

"We are going to beat the Witch Cult" he declared. Beatrice was happy her contractor was in better spirits, but worried that the Witch Cult was involved. It didn't matter though, she would follow Subaru to the Great Waterfall if she had to.

"I'd like to tell everyone, but they won't trust me like you do Beako. For now, I should just start with Emilia." Subaru was now in full planning mode. Of course, everyone staying at the inn would trust him in a heartbeat, but there was no way for him to know that and Beatrice didn't want to clue him in on their secret. He got up to go to Emilia's room when Beatrice stopped him.

"Are you sure you want to go get her looking like that? Freshen up and I will bring her here." Beatrice poked fun at her contractor

"Huh? What are you talking ab—" Subaru stopped speaking when he saw his reflection in a mirror in the room. He looked terrible. Messy hair, puffy eyes and wet cheeks looked back at him

"Maybe that's a good idea…" Subaru admitted

"Foolish contractor" Beatrice shook her head, and got off the bed to head to Emilia's room. Of course, she had an ulterior motive. She needed to tell Emilia that Subaru had died. Whether it was just once or ten times, there was no way to know. She knocked on the door directly to the right of Subaru's, and opened it when she heard Emilia call out. She saw Emilia at a desk in her room, studying out of some book.

"Oh! Beatrice! Nice to see you. What's the matter?" Emilia turned and tilted her head inquisitively. It was odd to see her without Subaru. Beatrice stayed silent as she closed the door to her room and walked over.

"Subaru used it, in fact" Beatrice couldn't bring herself to say it. Emilias mouth opened slightly.

"What?" Her voice was an octave higher than usual.

"Don't make me repeat it" Beatrice said with tears in her eyes. She had managed to stay strong for Subaru, but now the weight of what had happened was settling in.

"H-How? He's right here! He's right next t—"

"Quiet! Foolish girl, he is in the next door room. He can hear us if we speak loudly." Beatrice reprimanded. Emilia simply sat there with a dumb look on her face.

"I was sent to fetch you while Subaru cleans himself up. We only have a few moments, Subaru wants to speak with you about how to handle the situation." Upon hearing this, Emilia snapped out of her daze. Right. Her knight needed her. He had just been through the unthinkable, and now he needed her help. And he would get it, no questions asked. But she couldn't stop the despair from seeping through. How did it happen? Did it hurt? How bad? Was it in a fight? An accident? Was she there? Was he alone?

"When Betty's contractor… came back. After he had calmed down, the first thing he said was he had to talk to you about it. He is counting on you. Please don't let Betty's Subaru down" Beatrice said shyly. It hurt to admit how reliant Subaru was on Emilia, but it wasn't like Beatrice could complain given her own track record. At these words, Emilia looked up with wide eyes. He was relying on her, she would stop at nothing to do what was requested of her. This time, her willpower managed to bat the dark thoughts away.

"Let's go." The half elf stood up and marched toward the door, looking more like a real leader than Beatrice had ever seen. Right as Emilia opened the door, Subaru stepped in.

"Emilia-tan! Just seeing you lifts my spirits! Sorry I came over, I was getting bored waiting alone." He flashed a goofy smile. Emilia's heart ached at how… normal he seemed. She would never be able to tell what had just happened to him. Listening to him proclaim his love for her constantly since they had come back from the theatre had almost been too much for the half elf to bear, and with this recent news she simply couldn't help herself. She rushed forward and embraced Subaru in a deep hug, wrapping her arms around his sides

"Eh?"

Before Subaru knew what was happening, his arms were already wrapped around her shoulder and waist respectively. Subaru felt the way her slender arms encircled his torso, how her soft body felt against his, the way her hair tickled his ears and how her fruity smelling shampoo invaded his nostrils. His mind went blank, forget the Witch Cult, Subaru couldn't form a cohesive thought. Emilia squeezed him tightly, forgetting her strength as she had many times in the theatre. He wanted to ignore it and continue their embrace, but oxygen called and Subaru began frantically tapping the small of her back in an effort to get her to relinquish her tight hold. After a moment, Emilia let go and pulled back.

"Ah! I'm sooo sorry Subaru! Hearing you say such nice things about me just made me want to hug you" She had got caught up in the moment, and once she realized what she had done, her face turned red.

"You wanted to speak to me about something and I just got ahead of myself" Emilia flattened the front of her dress, trying to appear unbothered. Subaru was just starting to get his head out of the clouds. Right, Witch Cult.

"No, I didn't mind at all" Subaru lied, embarrassed at how he had gotten asphyxiated.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Emilia sat down on the bed and looked intensely at Subaru, cheeks still red. Subaru decided it was best to forget the incident for now.

"Well, this might sound hard to believe, and I don't have any evidence for it… but I think that there is a Sin Archbishop in the city." Subaru just decided to come out with it. He knew that Emilia trusted him deeply but even he had to admit that it was an outrageous claim with no evidence. One of the most dangerous individuals alive, smack dab in the middle of a bustling trade city? It sounded insane. Subaru actually started to doubt if she would believe him after all.

"Ok. Do you have any details?" Emilia just tilted her head and maintained her stare. A part of her started imagining what horrible things could've happened to Subaru, but she managed to contain it from showing on her face.

"Uhh, yeah." Subaru got over the shock, then began to consider his next words. He had never gotten in trouble for sharing information from past loops, but he had also never been this brazen about it. He was scared, but decided to test the waters, half expecting to get the soul squeezed out of him. "The Sin Archbishop of Gluttony… Lye Batenkaitos…" Subaru breathed a sigh of relief before continuing. "He's a dirty, scrawny kid with long hair, sharp teeth, green eyes and dark skin. He can also shapeshift and teleport short distances." Subaru finished listing off what he had learned about the boy.

"This sounds troublesome, we'll need some way to lure him out so we can restrain him." Emilia pondered.

"I think if we can pull you, me, Beako and Garf together, we should be able to take Gluttony on with no losses. Actually, Garfiel should be here. Can you go and check his room Beako?" Subaru didn't like the idea of putting Emilia in danger, but she was the only combatant he could trust right now besides Garfiel. Plus, going off of Sloth's strength and what Subaru had seen last loop, the kid wasn't too tough. He was fast, and much stronger than Subaru but he had a perfect counter for Subaru's trump card last time. If only he hadn't shifted into an elf, Subaru would have won.

"Betty does not like being treated as a servant, her contractor had better be thankful that his spirit is so benevolent" Betty got up and trotted out of the room.

"My spirit is the best in the whole world!" Subaru got up and flung his hands into the same silly pose he always did. Beatrice tried to hide a smile as she left the room.

"Is this an emergency Subaru? Do we have to act fast?" Emilia asked, concerned.

"I don't think so, I have reason to believe he is looking specifically for me." Subaru couldn't understand how Emilia just believed him with no evidence. But that's why she was his Emilia-tan! A stormy look flashed across Emilia's face.

"I won't let those filthy cultists lay a hand on my knight" Emilia spat.

"Whoa, aren't I supposed to be the one protecting you Emilia-tan?"

Oh you have protected me Subaru. Over and over again, from everything.

"Are you disagreeing with your mistress?"

"Ah! Of course not Emilia-tan! Whatever you say!" Subaru bowed down to her vigorously as he said this.

"S-Should I come back later Cap'n?" A voice on the verge of tearful laughter asked from the doorway. Subaru sprang to his feet

"A-No! It isn't what it looks like! You have to believe me! Plus, Emilia-tan would never be interested in that." He quickly tried to defend himself. Emilia was offended by that last comment, but she had it coming the way she had been treating him even despite their recent hug. I'll have to prove him wrong one of these days... She blushed to herself. Once Garfiel had gotten the laughter out of his system, he steadied himself and turned towards Subaru.

"So what is it? Do you need my amazin' self to kick someone ta Tattaglia?"

"I'm gonna make an outrageous claim here Garf, and I have no evidence to back it up. So I'm asking you to believe me as your Captain." Subaru hated to levy their relationship for trust, but he believed the situation merited it. Garfiel waited for what he had to say.

"There is a Sin Archbishop in the city of Priestella" At the word 'Archbishop' Garfiel clenched his fists and closed his eyes. He had to calm his emotions in order to stop from shifting into a tiger beast as he had once or twice in the theatre. He had to control his emotions. He is better now than he was then. He won't be a burden, he will be a shield. Subaru watched him clench his whole body, before slowly relaxing and exhaling.

"Got it Cap'n, just tell me the time nd' the place" Garfiel opened his eyes and stared straight at Subaru. Subaru, once again surprised by how readily Garfiel had accepted this. Man, they have so much trust in me. I can't fail now. Subaru repeated the details to Garfiel that he had told to Emilia. Unbeknownst to Subaru, the blond boy had already seen Lye in the theatre.

"This is the one who ate Rem, right Cap'n?" Garfiel inquired after listening to his information

"Yes" Subaru had to block out the thoughts of Rem. Of how she could be awake, waiting for him. Subaru shook his head harshly

"Sorry to remind you of that Cap'n. It won't matter soon though, ill make that little twerp wish he was in the tunnels of Ginunhive!" Garfiel proudly declared. Subaru was glad that he had assembled a team, but he still needed to think of a plan. He had no idea if he would be in the same place as last time, and he would like to check if Gluttony had moved although he doubted it. He didn't like facing a enemy without a plan, but with Garfiel and Emilia fighting, it was hard to imagine a loss.

"I have an idea about where he might be, but first, does anyone have any ideas on how we can deal with shapeshifting or teleportation?" Beatrice was ecstatic that her speech about relying on his loved ones had finally got through her contractor's thick head. The two demihumans in the room were also delighted to see this.

"Hmm, freezing him solid might be able to stop him from doing those things, but with how fast you say he is I would probably have to get close enough to touch him." Emilia threw out an idea. Subaru silently doubted this plan seeing as how Gluttony had shapeshifted inside the time crystal, but decided it was a good backup plan.

"Teleportation ain't very useful in close quarters. If we can tire him out and then lock the two of us in some kinda small cage, I think I'd be able to deal with the shapeshiftin'. If he teleports out I think I can use my Divine Protection to force im back in" Garfiel suggested

"Garf, you can't seriously expect me to lock you in a room with a Sin Archbishop?" Subaru stared incredulously at his little brother

"I need you to have some faith in my amazin' self. As long as this guy doesn't have any tricks up his sleeve, I should be able ta endure his shapeshiftin'." Garfiel had seen him battle in the theatre and had discerned his threat level. In a 1v1, as much as he hated to admit it, he would lose. But if they were able to tire him out beforehand and give Garfiel a terrain advantage, he was confident of his victory. Of course, he couldn't tell Subaru this.

"He is a Sin Archbishop, I probably can't take him alone." Garfiel admitted. "But all abilities have a limit. If you three can tire him out and then lock us somewhere where we are standing on earth, I will win." he finished confidently, putting full trust in his Divine Protection. Subaru was weighing his trust for Garfiel against the blond boy's overconfidence. He decided that Garfiel wouldn't put the camp in danger for the sake of his pride, so he decided to go with it.

"Ok, that's what we'll do. Me, Emilia and Beatrice will tire him out and try to get him to use his abilities as much as possible, and then we'll trap him with Garfiel. Emilia, can you make an ice wall strong enough to lock them inside?" Subaru questioned

"I'm not sure if it will hold against a Archbishop, but if I put all my mana into it, I can make it strong enough to make it a nuisance that Garfiel can take advantage of."

"Alright, here's the plan. Emilia and I will fight him and make our way to the border of the city. Once we're there, we'll stand back and let Garf get in close. Garfiel, try to grab him and keep him close so Emilia can create an ice barrier around you two. How big do you want it?

"Eh, give me a circle tha's 15 feet in diameter and a roof 10 ft high." Garfiel specialized in close quarters because of his insane strength and feline agility. It was a little scary knowing he was stepping into close quarters with the Sin Archbishop, but he had no intention of losing.

"Garfiel, I want you to go here" Subaru tapped on the map he had, just above the church he had seen before outside the city walls. "Wait for us to come to you, from around here." he tapped another, slightly lower point on the map "Scout out a good ambush position and make sure you're in a good spot relative to where we are when we arrive. Emilia, I want you to carry me and skate on an ice bridge up and over the wall. Me and Beatrice will continually cast Vita and to tire him out, Emilia, try not to move to the wall too quickly so we can tire him out as much as possible but make sure you make it to the wall with enough mana. Then, when we go over the wall, Garfiel grabs him so Emilia can make the ice cage. From there, its all Garfiel. Is everyone good with this plan?"

"Aye"

"Yes Subaru!" Emilia loved seeing this confident, excited part of her knight. For the first time that day, Subaru smiled broadly and meant it. He felt like this plan would really work! It was still far before the time he had died in the last loop, actually, it was just about the time Crusch had come to speak with him. Shit! Crusch!

"Can we meet at the front of the inn in 20 minutes? If anyone asks, just say that us three want to go on a water dragon tour of the city." Subaru got up and moved to leave with Beatrice.

Perfect Garfiel thought I needed to keep Otto updated anyway. When Subaru had left the room and shut the door, Emilia collapsed onto her bed. She couldn't hold it anymore. The typically jovial boy joined her on the bed and cast his glance downward. He had gotten caught up in the preparations, and forgot what this had meant. His Captain had died, and he wasn't able to prevent it. He couldn't handle it. He had promised in the theatre, to himself, to Subaru, that he would become strong enough to protect their whole camp. That was his job as a shield. He was snapped out of his thoughts by the quiet cries of Emilia. Garfiel felt a bit awkward and he was dealing with a lot of emotions himself, but knew he had to try something. He wanted to be there for her the way Otto was there for him last night. He placed a hand on her shoulder and rubbed it gently. Three minutes went by. Then five, then ten. Garfiel knew he had to say something.

"It's alrig—" the blond stopped himself. Nothing about this was alright. "It will be ok Princess. He came to us for help this time. He isn't trying to deal with it on his own, he is relying on us." he said gently, with a hint of pride. Emilia looked up at him from her position on the bed

"And how many times did he have to die in order for that to happen? How many times has he already asked for our help? How many times have we failed him?" She snapped at him, with tears running down her cheeks. Garfiel just stared at her for a moment, unmoving. Emilia took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry Garfiel. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. It's just..." She trailed off, not knowing how to express the tornado of emotions in her heart.

"It's alrigh' Princess" this time he meant those words "I feel the same way. But if all we think about is what happened to him then, we can't be there for him now. I'm not askin ya to get over it or forget about it, but I am askin if ya could put it aside for the moment so we can kick this bastard's ass?" With these words, he tried a small grin. Upon hearing this, Emilia knew he was right. Her guilt, love and sadness were replaced with anger. A blazing, hot anger. How dare Gluttony lay a finger on her knight? She knew the plan was to let Garfiel finish him off, but Emilia was really looking forward to teaching this monster what happens when you touch a hair on her knight's head.

"Thank you Garfiel, I am feeling better. Please allow me to get ready now" Emilia looked up, still with wet cheeks but her words were spoken with a steely determination.

"Yes Princess" Garfiel turned and walked toward the door, trying to stop a smile from breaking out on his face.

He went over to Otto's room and knocked and entered upon Otto calling out.

"Ottobro, there's somethin' serious goin on." Garfiel sat down and prepared to break the news to his brother. He walked into Otto writing something down in a book in bed.

"What is it Garf?" Otto narrowed his eyes and put his book down, already fearing the worst. Garfiel answered with a cold look.

"DAMMIT" It was the first time Garfiel had heard Otto raise his voice like that as the silver haired man hit his head on the bed's backboard. The merchant took a deep breath to calm himself. I can't lose my cool. I need to be the rational one because the rest of the camp will raise hell when they find out. Garfiel looks surprisingly calm but I'm sure Emilia and Beatrice are in tatters. Otto pushed his own dark thoughts to the back of his mind.

"Shit. Ok. Where are Emilia and Beatrice?" Otto started formulating a plan on how to tell Emilia and start planning on dealing with whatever threat they were facing.

"Wait, tha's not all" Garf continued "T's a Sin Archbishop. Me, Cap'n, Beatrice n the Princess are gonna go kick his ass. We were planning in the other room, just wanted ta' keep you updated." Otto looks troubled. On one hand, Subaru had died to a Sin Archbishop, but on the other hand it looked like they already had it handled. Without him.

"What? You just want me to watch everyone fight a Sin Archbishop alone?" Otto struggled to keep his voice down "Just bring Reinhardt!"

"Cap'n can't tell him. He doesn't have any evidence so the only people he thinks he can trust are us. Of course, Reinhardt would believe him in a instant but he doesn't know that and there's no way we can let him know without spilling th' beans. I guess he's still a bit wary of wandering around talking about surprise Witch Cult attacks in the capital." Garfiel gritted his teeth a bit at this thought

"But it's alrigh'. Mine amazin self is there with the princess and the spirit. We already have some... background information. We got all the advantages!" Garfiel noticed Otto droop a bit at the mention of their advantageous information.

"Just... make sure everyone comes home safe. Alright? Everyone. That's including you." Otto started to tear up as he stood up and embraced his brother. He had never gotten this emotional before, but it was because he didn't realize how close to death he had been. How close everyone had been. Garfiel was surprised at the sudden contact, but understood.

"Don' worry Ottobro. We'll kick his ass and be back in time for lunch." Garfiel clapped him on the back "I'll teach him a lesson on what happens to people who attack the Cap'n!" Otto looked at him, some tears shining in his eyes.

"Right. But remember what I said. Keep yourself safe, Garfiel." It killed Otto to send them off without himself, but he knew he would just be an obstruction. It never ceased to amaze him how Natsuki performed in combat without any special abilities. Garfiel nodded in response, then retreated back into the hall. He stopped by his room to grab his bracers and hid them as he made his way to the front of the inn.

In Emilia's room, she picked herself up off the bed when Garfiel left the room and looked at herself in the mirror. Her simple, white dress was all crumpled, her hair was newly messy and her face was all red and wet. My knight is so troublesome, making me worry like this Emilia smiled at the thought of the boy. She decided to change our of her dress and into something a bit more combat oriented. She decided to slip into a bodysuit with a fake hem sewn in to make it look like her typical white dress. Subaru had made it for her when she had complained about combat in a dress with long sleeves and how it was restrictive around the legs. He had fixed this by getting a white and purple long-sleeved bodysuit, cutting the sleeves to just above the elbows and then sewing some white cloth with purple inlay around the waist to give it the appearance of a dress. All in all, it was pretty convincing and she loved that Subaru had made it with her in mind. After getting dressed, she made sure she was presentable in the mirror before heading out to the front of the inn.

In the room next door, Subaru had just barely made it in time for Crusch to come knocking. He did not enjoy reliving that conversation, but managed to make it out with minimal mental damage as well as some confusion from a loud curse he heard from the merchant's room. Beatrice watched as he reacted to the "new" information, shocked at his ability to recreate emotion. She couldn't believe it wasn't his first time hearing it. It was scary, frankly. That her contractor had to do this, had to become something that could mimic human emotion so freely. He didn't deserve to be forced to lie to his friends. Beatrice shook her head, that's the exact position she was in now. But she couldn't say that she wasn't grateful for the experience of the theatre. Now, everyone knew just how awesome her contractor was. As scared as she was about the coming fight against Gluttony, Subaru seemed confident. Against a confident Subaru, even Reid Astrea didn't stand a chance! After Lady Crusch excused herself, Subaru prepared himself for the coming fight, preparing his whip and also taking some fire stones in a sealed box. He had picked the trick up from Otto, and it was extremely useful for regular humans like them two. Now armed and prepared, him and Beatrice headed to the front of the inn. When he arrived, he saw that he was the last one there.

"Hey guys, everyone ready?" Subaru questioned as he walked up with Beatrice

"Mine amazin' self is rarin to go Cap'n!"
"Yes Subaru, let's go!" The knight looked at Beatrice and she answered without looking back.

"Where Subaru goes, Betty goes, in fact." All in all, everyone was in pretty high spirits.

"Right, let's go defeat a Sin Archbishop!" Subaru opened the door dramatically as they followed him out. They began walking on the cobblestone, and Subaru pulled out the map he had with him since they entered the city. He remembered the massive church he had seen just before encountering the boy and looked for it on the map. Garfiel began running ahead with his own map to scout out for an ambush.

"Whitestone Church" he said as he tapped the location on the map for his companions to see.

They all glared through the paper, that place was where Subaru had met his end. They continued walking for maybe fifteen more minutes. It was a beautiful day out. There was a huge, blue sky dotted with puffy clouds and the temperature was cold in the shadows and wind but with the sun shining down on the stone streets, the group felt warm. Subaru hadn't realized what a beautiful day it was. He could almost believe he was on a date with Emilia or doing errands with Beatrice. I guess dying makes you appreciate the little moments. Subaru shook his head. Focus on the mission! There will be plenty of time to make memories after we capture this bastard. Subaru guessed at this point they were a bit behind schedule of the original timeline, but thought that it shouldn't be an issue. As they passed the church, Subaru warned them to get ready or make any final preparations. After a few more seconds of walking, he turned into a rank, messy alley. After another fifty meters of walking, Subaru stopped and pointed to a lump in the garbage with a finger over his mouth. At first, the group couldn't even spot the boy from where they were standing. Then, they saw the steady rise and fall of his back covered in a black, filthy cloth. His long, greasy hair that cascaded down it and the heap of garbage he was laying on. Emilia and Beatrice were laser focused, not allowing emotions to get in their way.

"Emilia, start it out by hitting him with something, then get moving. Once he's chasing us, me and Beatrice will start casting. I'm ready when you both are." Subaru whispered. The two girls nodded in response. Emilia closed her eyes and got closer, within 15 feet. Then she slowly lifted her arms above her head. She inhaled deeply as she splayed her palms to the sky and as she began exhaling, something started forming between her arms. It appeared as though air itself was crystallizing and adding itself to the blue mass. Subaru always thought it looked beautiful, no matter how many times he saw it. It grew in size ridiculously quickly, the ends lengthening as the top one fattened to the size of several men. In seconds, Emilia was holding a ridiculously large ice hammer above her head, at the noise of the ice formation, the boy stirred gently for a moment. Right as she pulled her muscles taut to swing downward, the boy was gone. He had not run or jumped, he had simply ceased to be there. This teleportation disoriented Emilia, but she quickly stopped her swing and scanned the surroundings.

"Shit! Let's go now Emilia!" Subaru yelled as he leaped onto her back with Beatrice. Emilia sensed danger behind her, and quickly leaped to the rooftop in a single bound as she narrowly dodged the dark haired boy from stabbing her with daggers that had come from Od knows where. From there, she turned around to see her enemy. She saw the dark skinned boy on the floor of the alley, and began to leap from wall to wall, traveling toward the roof. He climbed onto the roof and stared at Emilia for a moment. He looked at Emilia and revealed his emerald eyes, long tongue and sharp teeth as his face broke into a horrible smile.

"Ah! We remember you! We have been waiting to eat you for so long-tsu! We are the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, repres—"

"El Vita in fact!" The spirit girl yelled, not liking the look her contractor was receiving. His words were cut off as Beatrice yelled over them. It was like watching a stone get dropped on wet tissue paper. The boy was crushed through the ceiling and landed somewhere down below. Very satisfying if you asked Emilia and Beatrice.

"Let's get some space, Emilia-tan!" Subaru whispered into her ear from his embarrassing position"

"Right!" Emilia jumped to the next rooftop, the one in the direction of the city wall. She turned again and observed the hole carefully. Subaru thought the best way to tire him out would be to continually cast and dispel Vita, causing him to frustrate his energy over and over. Subaru tapped Beatrice to have her release Vita. Almost before Subaru's hand left Beatrice's shoulder, there was a flash of black hair from the hole as Lye ran toward them at incredible speeds. It was hard to tell, but it seemed like he had some blood on his clothes by now. Subaru was shocked at how easy it had been to damage him. Garfiel would be able to handle this for sure! Emilia kicked off the roof, and caught them with an icy platform. She then coated the soles of her boots in ice as she kicked off the building. As they flew down the icy road at high speeds, the dark haired boy could be seen running, jumping and teleporting from rooftop to rooftop to catch up. Finally, he felt close enough.

"Dorkell, The Leaper!" He yelled out as he channeled his Authority. He teleported maybe 50 feet through the air, right in front of the skating half-elf. He readied his daggers and began to swipe at h—

"El Vita!" Beatrice screamed, the boy fell through the air like a rocket. Emilia started to skate in a spiral pattern downward, watching the Archbishop get pressed into the cobblestone alley. Now, the blood across the dark boy's body was unmistakable. Subaru was glad to see he was using his teleportation up, but disappointed that he had not shapeshifted yet. Probably because it takes a lot of energy or he has a limited number of uses Subaru concluded. He then tapped both his girls, as Beatrice relinquished the spell and Emilia began skating toward the wall quickly once again.

"Lunar Eclipse, Sky Hero!" The dark skinned boy yelled out. As he did so, the boy started running towards them. He kicked up into the air with a wide leap, at the apex, just as he began to fall. He simply put his foot down, planted, and jumped off. Off the air, off nothing. That was the ability of Gustav Wakefield. A forgotten hero who used his Divine Protection of Wind Walking along with his previously legendary crossbow. As the Archbishop began to run on the air, Subaru and Emilia stared incredulously down. This guy had a third secret ability? How many tricks did this bastard have? And none of them were about eating people! Wai- Subaru's line of thought was cut off as he saw the boy was gaining ground (air?), and much faster now than he was when he was teleporting.

"El Vita, in fact!" Beatrice cried. It satisfied her to no end to repeatedly protect her contractor from this monster. For the third time now, the boy plummeted through the air and hit the ground with a large crack. Subaru had no doubt that the boy was injured by now. When the boy felt the pressure alleviate, he tried to lift his body, he felt a pain shoot through the leg he had fallen on. Shit the boy thought we just wanted to have some fun and now we have to use Solar Eclipse? But there's no way we can just give up now, not with such a meal in front of us~

"Solar Eclipse! Neiji Lockhardt!" The boy cried out as he felt his form start to melt along with his broken leg.

When Subaru heard this, his eyes snapped open. He continued his previous line of thought. The boy had yelled something last time from inside the time crystal. It seemed he had countless unique abilities and access to shapeshift to at least two forms, and activated it by yelling a name? That has to be it. The Authority of Gluttony. He "eats" people then can shapeshift into them and use their abilities. What a disgusting ability. And that bastard ate Rem. Subaru glared down hatefully at the boy.

On the ground, the boy's body cracked and groaned as he grew several feet and put on over 70 kilograms of weight. His dark skin and slender limbs turned into massive collections of muscle. His dark, unkempt hair tidied into a ponytail and red tribal tattoos manifested over the right half of his body. Lunar Eclipse, Sky Hero! The newly formed man kicked off the ground and began his climb through the air. The hulking man flew towards them, even faster than before.

"EL VITA" Beatrice screamed into the wind as they got closer and closer to the wall. I can't believe that keeps working, does he not adapt at all? Subaru mused. Beatrice was sweating and breathing heavy now, but not as bad as Emilia. She was making ice thick enough to support hundreds of pounds of weight with no support beams beside the occasional rooftop they passed. Shit, we gotta wrap this up soon, Emilia still needs to make that ice cage. I hope Garfiel is ready. Subaru had the exact right idea, and Emilia started heading towards the wall now without stopping. Beatrice kept the spell activated as long as possible this time, and they were able to make it around a hundred meters before the muscled man was skipping through the air at them. As fast as he was going, Emilia made it to the wall first and flew over, praying Garfiel was ready to take over.

As soon as she leaped the wall, she started gently lowering herself to the ground while letting gravity accelerate her. She quickly stopped herself and looked behind her, already beginning to center her mana. She saw the Archbishop crest the wall, and leap down towards them. Emilia made no move to defend herself, putting all her trust in her shield as she gathered all the mana she had left. As the tattooed man sailed through the air at them, a nearby tree gently moved. It was moved by a gorgeous tiger who had been hiding, jumping off of the trunk as hard as he could. He sailed through the air and wrapped the Archbishop in a bear hug.

"Now Princess!" Emilia grunted as she aimed her hands at where Garfiel was about to land, and as soon as he made contact with the ground, a wall of ice breached the surface of the dirt. In less than a couple seconds, Garfiel and the man he was hugging were in a dome of ice that was made to the blond boy's specifications.

As Beatrice and Subaru watched Emilia craft the impressive wall, Subaru moved quickly to catch her as the spirit arts user began to collapse. That's not good, but if all goes according to plan it shouldn't matter. The dark haired knight thought. Garfiel wasted no time and before the walls had even closed, he bit deep into the shoulder of the Archbishop, intending to disable his arm. The surprised man was brought back to his senses by the white hot pain shooting through the left side of his body. Palm of the Fist King! The man went to drive his right fist through the blond's chest. Garfiel's bestial instincts told him danger was on the way, and fast.

The boy used his positioning on top of the man to launch himself onto the ceiling of their enclosure. The way he hung onto the ice with his claws really made him look like a tiger. Garfiel retreated back to a neutral position so he could get his feet back on solid ground to activate his Divine Protection. The tattooed man clutched his bleeding shoulder. Damn, who is this brat? Caught me off guard. He's probably not even worth eating, just got lucky. I'll have to use Solar Eclipse again to heal though. I'll kill him for that!

"Solar Eclipse! Carnivorous Beast" Once again, the tattooed man quickly melted and gained one or two hundred pounds, turning into a obese, balding man with a beard and a yellowed, dirty shirt and a stained apron over it. Garfiel could tell from a quick evaluation that the man was extremely dangerous, unbeknownst to any of them, Beli Hainelga had been the second most feared person in all of Gusteko, after the Bowel Hunter. Garfiel did not intend to give him the time to set up, and he launched himself off the ground toward the obese man. He struck the man in the stomach with a right punch of his bracer. The tiger felt the vibrations shake through his arm, using enough power to break most people's limbs. He expected to see the man get blown back, or maybe for his fist to bury into his belly, but neither of these things happened. The balding man leered at the much smaller boy, overall unbothered by the blow. Then, he began to swing his massive, meaty arm towards Garfiel. The boy's instincts screamed at him to get out of there, and he used his Divine Protection of Earth Spirits to bend the ground to his will. As the Archbishop swung his hips to deliver a terrifying hook to the blond's head, he lost his footing. No, it is not accurate to say he lost it, rather it was stolen from him. The ground he was standing in was suddenly several feet deeper and left the fat man throwing an ineffective punch at the boy's calves. Garfiel jumped back a beat, and began to arc his leg towards the man's head that was sticking out of the ground. As Garfiel twisted his body, he kept his eyes on the target. He couldn't believe his eyes when the huge man simply LIFTED his arm out of the ground! It was supposed to entirely restrain him as Garfiel delivered a kick, but he had broken free with little effort. The kick was already in motion and too late to stop, the man grabbed Garfiel's leg before twisting his body and throwing him into the ice wall. Garfiel choked as his back and head made contact with the hard wall and felt himself break through centimeters of solid ice, throwing him completely off balance as he fell to the ground and the fat man climbed out of the hole he had been forced into. Garfiel had just taken a severe blow to the head, but started administering healing magic instantly, clearing up his thoughts as the seconds ticked by.

Shit Subaru though from outside the fight. How tough is this guy? Can Garfiel really pull it off? Subaru didn't know how much they had been able to exhaust Lye, but it seemed like he had the advantage so far against Garfiel. This new form seemed so strong, but Subaru was confident nobody could withstand a no holds barred beating from Garfiel. If only Garfiel didn't have to worry about getting counterattacked, I'm sure his jaws could go straight through iron. Subaru began thinking of ways he could help. All the magic he had seen Beatrice used couldn't go through solid walls, and if they broke through it would just worsen Garfiel's position and expose Subaru with no way of repairing the hole with Emilia unconscious. Wait! That could work! An idea struck Subaru. He turned to Beatrice with his head working overtime. After a couple moments, he proposed his new idea.

Garfiel had readied himself by the time the man had gotten up and over to him. While his obese form had maximum damage and defense thanks to Carnivorous Beats as well as Beli Hainelga's build, it was far slower than both Lye Batenkaitos and Neiji Rockhardt and teleporting at these distances couldn't be justified for how much energy it expended. The man began another massive, earth-shaking punch, but Garfiel had been caught off guard the last two times, this time he saw it coming and easily ducked under the punch as it came, almost in slow motion to the demihuman with supreme senses. As Garfiel ducked the straight punch, he threw a right counter hook straight to the man's chin. This time, it seemed to wobble the mountain of a man. However, as Lye saw the hook coming straight for him, he knew it would be impossible to avoid. So he reached up with his right arm so that as the punch landed, the Archbishops massive, meaty hand grabbed on to the elbow of the boy, fully encircling his tricep. Garfiel widened his eyes and tried to pull his arm back, but it was at a poor angle and it felt like it was welded to the balding man's hands. Garfiel then jerked forward thanks to the pull on his arm that felt uncontestable, and just as he stumbled forward with his right foot, a huge fist exploded into Garfiel's head. The blond's vision flickered as he careened into the ice wall once again and fell to the floor. He started healing himself immediately off instinct, as the huge thing approached him again. For no particular reason, at this moment he remembered his promise to Otto. Bring everyone home safe, including himself. He had no right to falter here.

"Now this is fun! We are so hungry, you might just make Gourmet after all!" The man licked his fat, stubbly chin with his tongue. Garfiel could barely comprehend the words as he struggled to his feet. Once he had restored enough brain function, he quickly jumped back around the boundary of the circle from the slowly approaching man.

"It is silly though, thinking you could beat me with that little brat." Garfiel then saw his Captain motioning at him silently from the other side of the circle through the ice wall. He wasn't sure exactly what he meant, but then his superior eyes spotted a small hole in the ice, maybe a centimeter in diameter. He didn't know quite what was going on, but he knew Subaru wanted him to move the Archbishop to that hole. Garfiel waited as the fat man approached, with them now being directly opposite on the circle of where Subaru wanted him to go. Garfiel stepped back to slowly lead the man to where he had been standing, then used his Divine Protection so that the ground the man was standing on did a 180 degree turn relative to Garfiel. Now the man was at the bottom tip of the circle, with Subaru waiting at the top and Garfiel just next to Lye. The confused Archbishop lost his bearings as he felt the blonde get behind him, but weirdly felt a set of palms on his back. Garfiel had jumped between Gluttony and the wall so he could place his hands on the man's back, and his feet on the wall. Now laying horizontally with bent knees like a primed spring, he drove all his power through his legs and blew the huge man across the circle. As tough as Gluttony was in this form, he was helpless as the relatively small boy got behind him and pushed him after he had lost his footing. Lye flew across the entire circle, slamming into the other side

"El Shamak, in fact!" Lye realized he had just heard something from OUTSIDE the ice wall. Then he realized he couldn't move. He wasn't being restrained, not by anything visible at least. He simply was not in control of his body.

"NOW GARFIEL" a voice from the other side yelled, but the sound that got through the hole was quiet. Luckily, Garfiel picked it up with his excellent hearing. He had no way to know that Beatrice had drilled a hole through the ice wall over the last minute and how it was now filled with black smoke that restricted the Archbishops movements. He DID know that his Captain had just told him to let loose, and he intended to. Garfiel glided across the cage, now running on all fours as the small boy turned into a hulking beast bigger than Gluttony himself. His clothes ripped as he gained hundreds of pounds and striped fur grew across his body and a tail formed. He tackled the standing Archbishop and tore into his face. Garfiel sunk his teeth into the man's cheek, intending to rip the flesh out but he found the meat was much tougher than he expected. Impossibly tough. But Garfiel's animal instincts took over as he bit his teeth down into the skin, again and again until he broke through the tenderized skin. Lye was just sitting there. Feeling as the tough, thick skin on his body was slowly breached by the tiger who was eating him alive. The flesh was so strong that Garfiel had to bite it off in small strips, but it was still agonizing for Gluttony as blood poured over his face and into his mouth and nose. Beatrice was able to hold the spell for an impressive length of time, allowing Garfiel to turn Lye's face until something that more closely resembled a mosaic. Lye wanted to scream, to cry out, to punch the huge weight on top of him, to run, to kill the tiger. But he couldn't. Couldn't do anything. He simply lay there, allowing himself to be torn piece from piece.

On the outside, Beatrice was now covered in sweat. She was trembling but was determined to hold out for as long as possible. She was on one knee in front of the ice wall, pointer finger covering the hole that pumped a thin stripe of black smoke into the cage, which currently happened to be linked to the back of Lye's head. However, the awkward shape and direction of the spell caused it to eat up mana much quicker than normal, not that Beatrice happened to have a lot to work with considering Subaru's below average gate. After a few seconds, her finger fell limp and she collapsed back into Subaru's arms as the link of black smoke between her and Gluttony broke.

Inside the cage, Lye's desperate attempts to get the big cat off him suddenly were thrown into motion. The man attacked Garfiel with wild, uncontrolled punches just designed to alleviate his own pain. Garfiel saw this coming when Beatrice collapsed and dodged with plenty of room to spare.

"—Ghlar Ekipse" The man's ruined face looked like something out of a horror movie, it was completely unrecognizable without a nose or mouth. The man's teeth jutted out from his flesh without the typical cheeks that would cover them. As the man picked himself off the ground, his body seemed to sublimate into thin air, as a foot and a couple hundred pounds lifted off his frame. As this happened, his face reformed into the face of the tattooed man. It was scary to see the man shrug off such heavy damage with that. However, Garfiel had fought and won against the Bowel Hunter herself, who sustained much heavier damage without a scratch to show for it.

Garfiels mind was mostly gone as he fought with rabid instincts so he didn't mind too much. Garfiel leaped after him, Gluttony did the same. Palm of the Fist King! Lye threw yet another punch, this strike seeming more destructive than the one from his last form. This form also wasn't as slow, so it was much harder to counterpunch. Garfiel still managed to slip it, although his large bestial body made that a little more difficult. Gluttony threw another couple punches, and the blond boy parried with his bracers, redirecting the scary force away from his body. Garfiel lowered his shoulder and tucked it into the larger man's chest, causing him to spit some blood up on Garfiel's back. From that position, Lye locked his thick, muscular arms around Garfiels torso and began to pick him up. Garfiel, sensing this, used his Divine Protection before his feet left the ground to cause the muscular man to slip and fall backwards. The tiger took the opportunity to break the man's grip across his stomach and get some distance. Suddenly, the large man morphed back to a skinny, dark skinned boy.

"~Ah, hang on a moment.-tsu" Gluttony paused as he rifled through his clothes that shapeshifted with him. He took out some kind of black, leather bound book that the tiger couldn't make sense of. He began to open it and read its pages as the tiger began running to him on all four limbs. As Lye read, not taking his eyes off the book, activated Leaper and teleported outside of the ice cage.

"Sorry, you were fun to play with but we just got new orders, have to meet up with the others. We hope to see you real soon again and learn your name~tsu" The boy closed the book and pocketed it as he ran back over the wall through the sky. Subaru was dumbfounded, they were definitely in a losing battle. Beatrice and Emilia were passed out, and Garfiel was barely keeping up even with all his advantages. As Subaru watched Lye go up and over the wall, he let out a huge breath of relief. He is way stronger than Petelgeuse... I can't believe how lucky we got. Plus I learned exactly how that Authority of Gluttony works. It probably had something to do with knowing the target's name as well if his parting words are anything to go off Subaru was frankly happy at these developments, he counted not having to Return as a win, the information was just an extra bonus. Inside the ice cage, the beast raged and beat on its restraints. After pounding the wall several times with little result, the beast hunched over and morphed back into the small blond boy. He was exhausted, but the adrenaline still racing through him made it hard to recognize. He had suffered a humiliating defeat, trapped inside a cage of his own making, but at least everyone survived. He would bring everyone back to Otto safely as promised. At least there was that. However, Subaru and Garfiel had both stiffened when they had heard the Archbishop refer to "the others". What kind of mess were they getting into?

Chapter Text

CANON DIVERGENCES: Witch Cult knowledge of Priestella got upgraded, Priscilla wasn't planning on coming originally (before theatre). Priscilla camp wasn't planning on going to Priestella originally.

Hell no. Garfiel expected him to just wait at the inn for them to come back? Absolutely not. Not that he didn't trust his camp, but a Sin Archbishop? As soon as the Emilia camp left, Otto began tearing through the inn, searching for a member of the Felt camp. Otto didn't want to owe a debt to a rival camp, particularly Anastasia but he needed help badly. He thought through his options and landed on the Felt camp, they probably had the best intentions for Subaru and they had the Sword Saint. He didn't know how he was gonna explain to Subaru the fact that he told someone about their plan, but that was also a problem for another time. He had seen the Felt camp at breakfast minus Ton Chin and Kan, so they had to be around somewhere. He was walking through the wooden, Japanese style halls. The inn was massive, and he had no idea where the Felt camp was staying. However, he absolutely HAD to find Reinhardt and tell him to tail Subaru.

Otto decided to activate his Divine Protection to talk to all the bugs in the house, and ask them if they'd seen a small, blonde woman or a red haired man

"Nope!"
"Nah, sorry"

"Hmm… Don't think so" Several squeaky voices answered him.

Damn. He decided to ask the bugs to fan out and search, and to return to Otto when they found their target. As the bugs dispersed to complete their mission, Otto continued to clear the inn room by room. He was starting to feel tired, feeling the effect of his Divine Protection. He stormed down a hallway and when he hit a dead end, threw the sliding door open. He stepped into a beautiful garden which he typically would have admired, but he was not in the mood for it.

"Got it! Got it!" A squeaky voice called out as Otto turned.

"Take me there immediately" The bug began buzzing at the door, which Otto opened for it and followed. Otto followed the bug down a few hallways, before the bug finally stopped and floated in front of a door. Thank Od for my Divine Protection, it would have taken me forever to find them by myself. Otto thanked the bug before knocking on the door urgently.

"Yeah?" Felt called out, unsure of who could be knocking. When Otto opened the door, Felt's face went from surprised to an angry glare almost instantly. She knew there were very few reasons for why Otto would need to seek her out. This was either about them merging camps or something much worse.

"We need Reinhardts help. Immediately." Otto closed the door behind him and turned to look her in the eyes.

"Shit, what's the situation?" Felt got up and began preparing to go on the move

"Sin Archbishop" Are the only two words out of Otto's mouth, he paused speaking to give her a moment to register this.

At this, Felt dropped her jaw and furrowed her eyebrows. She opened her mouth, then closed it to avoid screaming. She felt her blood boiling. We can't keep him safe for a single day? They just got here last evening. The nasty eyed boy had saved her and her grandfather from a terrible fate. He had let her find Reinhardt, who had become very close to her. And then Felt watched everyone close to Subaru fail him again and again. Whether it was Emilia not being mature enough to grasp the situation, the maids being too foolish to see past their biases, the Crusch camp not believing in his goodwill, the Anastasia camps selfishness, the Priscilla camps cruelty or the complete absence of her own camp from any serious happenings. She had played princess in her mansion with Reinhardt while Subaru died, cold and alone for people who didn't appreciate him. After the theatre, she promised that she would protect him with the full might of the Sword Saint, but she had already failed. Tears welled up in her eyes. Above all, Subaru was her friend, she didn't want her friend to suffer the way he had been suffering for months. He didn't deserve the suffering. What he deserved was a nice, quiet life with the people who loved him, and Felt would enjoy it greatly if her and Reinhardt were included in that group. But for now, she had to focus on whatever had killed him. She wiped her eyes dry and turned back to the merchant with a defiant glare.

"Listen, we can't tell anyone. I'm not even supposed to tell you but I am not sending Subaru to fight a Sin Archbishop alone, now where is Reinhardt?" Otto spoke quickly.

"He just went out on patrol, he's been patrolling non stop since we got here" Ever since Reinhardt saw what happens to regular people in the theatre, stabbed in an alley by accident, he had been dedicating every spare second to defending the innocent. Otto would typically think that this is noble, but today he cursed it.

"Don't be an idiot, we knew something like this might happen." She walked over to her bed and slipped her hand under it. She pulled out some odd looking white box, a bit bigger than an orange with a groove running from the edges to the center on one side. She turned the groove-side face up, slipped her thumbs into the valleys so that her thumbs connected in the middle, and closed her eyes. She breathed deeply, and after a few seconds she put the box down. Otto watched all this with a look on his face.

"What exa—"

"Lady Felt, you called?" Reinhardt suddenly blinked into the room and began bowing to his lady. However, upon seeing a member of the Emilia camp, he faltered.

"Ah, Otto-san. What is the reason for your visit?" Reinhardt tried to keep his friendly demeanor up.

"Sin Archbishop" He repeated the two words he had said to Felt.

Reinhardt's eyes widened, there was no way. Subaru had just got there, he was in the other room. He was safe, Reinhardt had even smelled him at breakfast! As the realization hit him, emotions swept through his body. Anger, sadness, surprise, confusion. But towering above all was guilt. Reinhardt had so much power, enough to surpass the greatest heroes from history. But he couldn't protect his friend. The one man who saw him as a friend first, and a Sword Saint second. Of course Subaru respected and admired Reinhardt's strength, but that was secondary to the actual man that was Reinhardt van Astrea. His other friends, Julius, Felix, even his lady to some extent, always saw him as a Sword Saint before a friend. When Subaru saw him during a catastrophe, he wouldn't order him around like the tool he was, the dark haired knight would instead check to make sure he was alright, even if he was the strongest thing on the planet. Reinhardt knew he didn't deserve such a friend, being a monster and all. Maybe the viewings had convinced his grandfather otherwise, but the Sword Saints' self hatred ran deep, it could not just be healed by a father figure or new information. If Reinhardt couldn't even protect the one hope he had of feeling human that he didn't even deserve to begin with, what was he even good for? He activated his Divine Protection of the Calm Mind and his dark thoughts were chased away. He thought clearly, Subaru could be in danger now, in this life, in this timeline.

"Where?" the Sword Saint whispered.

"I don't know. They left the inn maybe five or seven minutes ago." Otto honestly replied, he should've gotten Garf to point out where they were going.

"I see. I will handle this problem."

With that, Reinhardt vanished from the room without even seeking permission from his lady. If he had cared to use it, his Divine Protection of Empathy would have told him that she wanted Reinhardt to leave as soon as possible. Reinhardt had no idea where they had gone, so he had to check the city street by street. He decided to do this by making progressively larger circles around the inn until he found them.

He dashed through the streets and sky at an incomprehensible pace. Most civilians on the streets couldn't even tell he had just gone by save for a bit of wind. The most battle hardened among them may have caught a red and white blur, but one would need sharpened demihuman senses and instinct to detect the Sword Saint at the moment. Reinhardt sprinted through every street, every house, every store and restaurant he came across. Clearing most of them in fractions of a second, but the city was massive and they could be anywhere. Reinhardt checked street after street after alley after street and came out with nothing. He checked everything and everywhere, until he had cleared the entire city in a matter of a minute or three. What? Where could they be? Reinhardt began to worry, what if they had already lost and gotten captured? Fine, if they're not in the city, then i'll check outside it. I'll run along the city walls, and then check the roads surrounding them. Reinhardt leaped onto the city wall from the edge of the city in a single bound and began to do a lap. It didn't take him long to find his target. He used his supreme senses as he approached to see a small structure of ice with Garfiel transformed inside it, a sleeping half elf and spirit, and a dark haired boy. Worst of all though was the stench that hit him as he approached. So Subaru really had di—

"Subaru!" Subaru heard a cry as Reinhardt crested the wall. What? What is he doing here? Damn, did Otto send him after us? It's ok, I can just pretend like we ran into Gluttony while looking for a water dragon tour and we ended up here. Just like our original plan.

"Oh! Rein, how ya doin buddy?" Subaru tried to keep a light demeanor. "What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here? Are you alright? Is everyone ok?" Reinhardt asked incredulously. He could sense that nobody was in mortal danger, but weren't they supposed to be fighting a Sin Archbishop?

"Ah, yeah. We're all alright, we ran into the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, he was really strong but he just ran off." At these words, Reinhardt's glare tightened. The one responsible for the White Whale and the comatose Rem had just killed Subaru again?

"I will bring you all back to the inn, and then search for Gluttony immediately." As he said this, he walked to the icy cage and shattered it in a single blow. Garfiel had calmed down by now, and had exited the cage by tunnelling using his Divine Protection and was watching over the unconscious girls. Reinhardt walked over to Subaru and picked him up princess style. Subaru was a little confused at how Reinhardt's expression barely changed at all at the mention of Gluttony, but figured that when you were a real knight like the Sword Saint, you could control your facial expressions.

"W-Wait, can't we just wa—" Subaru's sentence was cut off by the outrageous amounts of wind roaring in his ears. It would be impossible to hear anything, including his own voice. As his senses caught up with his body, he realized he was very high off the ground, and now overlooking Priestella as they flew over it. Hundreds of houses and establishments passing by underneath. He connected the dots and understood that Reinhardt had simply jumped. As the ground approached, Subaru got nervous. As the ground approached faster, Subaru wondered if Reinhardt knew how fragile he was, but when Reinhardts feet made contact with stone, Subaru felt as if no momentum change had occurred.

"Divine Protection of Person Handling" Reinhardt explained as if he read Subaru's thoughts. Hell, maybe he did. Reinhardt disappeared again, but in seconds Subaru was surrounded by the now human Garfiel and the unconscious Emilia and Beatrice. Subaru pumped what little mana he could from his gate into her as he picked her off the floor. Garfiel picked up Emilia as Reinhardt turned to them.

"I will go and search for Gluttony now. I will find him and capture him for questioning. Do let Lady Felt know." Reinhardt said politely with a hard stare, and then was about to vanish until he was stopped.

"Wait! Rein, don't just charge in recklessly, let me give you some information." It warmed Reinhardts heart to see the concern the dark haired knight had for him, even if it was unwarranted

"When Gluttony eats a name, he gains the ability to shapeshift into them and use their powers. He also said he was gonna go 'meet up with the others' so he probably won't be alone. If the Witch Cult is able to gain your powers, there is nothing we could do…" Subaru shuddered just to think of having to gameplan against Reinhardt. The guy was a walking cheat code!

"Thank you for your concern Subaru, I will take this into account" Reinhardt nodded, then vanished. It kind of looked like Lye did when he teleported, although he was just jumping. Subaru and Garfiel turned back, wondering how they could get the girls into the inn without anyone noticing. As they thought, Beatrice began to stir in Subaru's arms from the mana being pumped into her.

"S-Subaru, where is Gluttony? Did we beat him?" Beatrice sniffed weakly. Words couldn't describe how relieved she was that Subaru's scent was the same as she remembered.

"It was more of a stalemate, he just kind of ran away. He said he was gonna meet up with his friends." Subaru again got chills as he wondered who exactly Gluttony would be meeting with, but their altercation definitely could have taken a wrong turn if Lye had not received new orders from that book. Beatrice was just glad that her contractor had very obviously not returned yet. Garfiel and Subaru decided to try to get everyone back to their rooms without being spotted, luckily there was nobody in the halls as they quietly stepped back to where they had spent the night. Subaru made it to Emilia's room and dropped her off in bed, making sure she was comfortable. Then retreated to his room with Beatrice. Garfiel went off to his own room as well. Somehow, they managed to sneak back in unseen.

However, they underestimated one small demikitten. Earlier that day, Mimi had gotten bored of annoying Ricardo and her brothers and she wanted to go annoy Garfiel instead. She really liked the way she felt when she was around Garfiel, and wanted to be around him as much as possible. Based off what her Lady said, it seemed like she loved him which was alright with her, she didn't care too much for labels and was more concerned with the substance of the feeling. She searched the whole inn but he was nowhere to be found! She decided to go out into the city to search for him, she wanted to stretch her legs anyway. She walked outside and scanned her surroundings. It was a really good day to play, the sun was out with few clouds and a good temperature. She arbitrarily decided to walk down the street to her right. She got about halfway down the street when she noticed a red and white blur plummeting through the sky. Mimi jumped onto a nearby roof for a good vantage point, and saw Rein carrying the mini-boss! What are they doin? Mimi wondered. Then the red knight disappeared again, and arrived as instantly as he had left holding a new figure. Garf! Mimi couldn't believe her luck. She was gonna run over and jump on him, but something told her to hold back. Reinhardt quickly brought the mini-bosses spirit and the half elf lady. Then, the spirit woke up and they sneaked into the inn as Reinhardt left again. Mimi decided to tail them. She saw Garfiel go into his room, and she decided it was time to act. She walked up and knocked on the door. Inside, Garfiel was exhausted from his fight and confused by the knock on his door, but he figured it was Otto coming to check on their mission.

"Come in Ottobro" he said glumly. It wasn't a total failure of course, but Garfiel had never lost before and he was stalemated even with all the advantages he possessed and they had failed the main objective of capturing Gluttony. The door swung open and to his surprise, it wasn't Otto.

His eyes widened as a familiar demikitten strolled in. Garfiel wasn't in the mood for conversation but suddenly, it didn't seem so bad.

"Why did you sneak Emilia in?" Mimi questioned out of pure curiosity. Garfiel started sweating, he wasn't supposed to tell anyone, but he was in a pretty suspicious position now. Although Reinhardt did know, so could he tell Mimi? But Reinhardt probably only knew because Otto thought they were in danger, but did it really matter if Garfiel told everyone if Subaru didn't find out? But he couldn't expect the Anastasia camp to take the news of a Archbishop in their city lying down, they would probably do something and Subaru would find out. But would Reinhardt tell them anyways or have Subaru find out some different way? Would the Anastasia camp getting involved be good for the Priestella citizens? Damn Garfiel cursed his position, why is this all so complicated? I wish Otto was here. Mimi watched the boy go through a lot of emotions, clearly stressed out. She walked up to him and patted his head.

"Whu—" Garfiel looked up, his previously stormy eyes now wide with shock.

"It's ok Garf, Mimi knows you're a good boy. It's alright if you can't tell me." Mimi soothed gently. The blond stared at her for a moment, his ears registering those kind words. Then, it all hit him again. Everything from the theatre, from last night with Otto, from this morning finding out Subaru had died, from the physical exhaustion from the battle with Gluttony and from the emotional stress of knowing he failed his Captain. Garfiel quickly tried to hide his face as the tears rushed out, he couldn't stop them. Mimi just held his head to her chest and let him cry. She had done this once or twice in the theatre, and it made her feel warm knowing that Garfiel relied on her for emotional comfort. This time however, for the first time, he returned her hug. Wrapping his arms around her torso as he cried harder. Mimi was surprised, but happy and simply continued to pat his head.

"It's okay Garf, you're a good boy. Whatever it is, Mimi is sure you tried your hardest and looked really cool while doing it." she smiled sweetly when he looked up at her with a complicated face.

"H-How can you say that? You weren't there, you dont know nothin'" Just then, Garfiel pulled back and hid his face in his legs as he pulled his knees to his chest. He had failed Subaru. If he succeeded, if he was stronger, they would have captured Gluttony and his Captain wouldn't have to worry about anything. Mimi was completely undeterred by the tiger's retreat, and simply joined him on the bed, wrapping her arms around him again.

"Get off me twerp" Garfiel said in an empty, lost voice but made no move to force the girl away.

"Mimi does know Garf. She knows that Garf is the coolest, and that's just part of why Mimi loves Garf!"

"What are ya talkin about, can't ya see me sniveling like a little kid ere'?" Garfiel still looked completely despondent, ignoring her emotional comment. Mimi shook her head.

"Garf, crying doesn't mean you're not the coolest. Even Mimi cries sometimes. What makes you cool is when you keep trying after you cry. The more you cry, the cooler you are when you come back! Come on Garf, show Mimi how cool you are!" She resumed running her tiny hands through his hair.

"I can't do anythin' about it now, t's too late" Garfiel stared hopelessly at the space between his muscular legs. Mimi stayed silent for a moment as she petted him.

"It's ok even if you don't feel like you can protect the mini-boss. Mimi is sure whoever attacked him was suuuper strong if even Garf couldn't stop them." At these words, Garfiel's head shot up, tears still twinkling in his eyes.

"W-What are ya talkin about? I didn' say anyt—"

"People think Mimi isn't smart, but she is very observant. It's just that Mimi usually doesn't care enough to think hard about things. But Mimi cares about Garf, she thinks about him a lot" The girl said straightforwardly. The boy's face flushed red, the girl's kind words finally getting through to him.

"Alrigh' twerp. I'll show you somethin'." Garfiel wiped the tears from his eyes and got up. His guilt and melancholy morphing into rage, a rage that needed to be exercised from his body.

"T-Thanks for talkin' ta me Mimi" He stuttered, face still a mess.

"I'm off ta find the old man fer trainin" He clarified as he got up and walked out of the room. Mimi smiled at how her words had motivated him, and jumped off the bed to follow him. Watching Garfiel train? Count her in! Garfiel walked off to locate the retainer of the Crusch camp, Sir Wilhem van Astrea. As they walked there was, surprisingly, mostly silence. Garfiel had a lot on his mind. In the last few days, he had come to realize that he didn't really love Ram the way he thought he did. He cared about her a lot, had a lot of respect for her and thought she was cute, but Garfiel could tell what he held for her wasn't the same "love" that Subaru told him about. He thought that, if anything, how he felt about Mimi was closer to that sensation that Subaru described and Mimi had already confessed her love for him many times. Garfiel felt as though nobody could have cheered him up in the state he was in, but somehow this girl managed to do it in just a minute or so. He was wondering about the implications of that, and decided to file it away as a discussion point with his brothers for later as he started focusing his mind on getting physically stronger.

Across the inn, Reinhardt reported to his lady.

"I'm sorry Lady Felt, I searched every nook and cranny in all of Priestella, either they are hiding outside of the city, or they simply are not here. Subaru also tells me there is reason to believe that he is not alone, although if he is working with simple cultists or other Archbishops is unknown." Reinhardt dutifully informed his lady of his failings with his eyes glued to the ground. How dare he promise to protect Subaru and fail at the first opportunity? Now, a raving madman that had eaten Rem was hungry for Subaru and the Sword Saint had let him go! The fiery haired knight didn't understand, he had checked every street, every basement, every room, even the sewer system! It had only taken him four or five minutes, but he was not exaggerating when he told his lady that he had cleared every nook and cranny.

Felt was angry. No, scratch that. She was furious. First, she finds out that her big bro had managed to die already, then she found out that the Emilia camp assembled a task force to deal with it WITHOUT asking for help. Then, she found out that even sending the Sword Saint wasn't enough to capture these bastards. Then, it turned out that at least one Archbishop was involved, if not more. Despite them being Archbishops, she genuinely couldn't understand how he could slip by her knight.

She decided to send Reinhardt away because she needed some time alone. She wanted to cry and throw something and kick Reinhardt and just crumple into a heap on her bed but she couldn't. She needed to be in control of her actions, not her emotions. Felt sat down and did what her grandpa told her to do in stressful times. She slowly inhaled and exhaled, while she took stock of each of her five senses and allowed errant thoughts to pass through her mind. After a few minutes of this, her mind had cleared and she opened her eyes. It was time to think about her next steps because they would decide everything. She couldn't make another error like her conversation with Crusch that morning, not with her big bros life hanging in the balance. Fact of the matter was, Subaru had already died that day. Felt thought she would have some time before she could join the Emilia and Felt camps but clearly, Subaru's safety could not be guaranteed. She had tried to talk to Emilia before Reinhardt had found her, but the girl was dead asleep. She had tried to get in contact, but the girl was completely unconscious. But regardless, Felt knew she had to do something, and she needed to do it smartly. She wanted to set up a Subaru monitoring system, but with her camps presence in Priestella being just two people now, she didn't have the manpower because even the Sword Saint needed rest. She needed to get Crusch and Anastasia to help her protect Subaru without hurting his camp or him finding out anything fishy was going on. Crusch and Anastasia may have been her competitors, but against the Witch Cult they were allies, and she needed to be straightforward with them. It might cause Subaru and Emilia to hate her now, but Felt truly believed it was in their best interest in the long run. She wondered about who to talk to first and finally landed on Crusch. She needed to talk to her anyways and apologize for their interaction that morning. Typically, Felt wasn't the apologizing type but even she could see that telling Crusch she wouldn't be able to keep the one she loved safe was not right. Besides, Felt had nothing against Crusch, both candidates knew that the other had Subaru's best interest at heart, they just disagreed on the execution. But Felt had decided that there was enough thinking, and it was now time for action. The blonde strolled through the inn, trying to find Crusch again and before long, she happened to find Wilhelm, Mimi and Garf walking through the hall who directed her to Crusch's room. She approached the door, and knocked.

"Please enter" Came the voice of the stern duchess. She was slightly shocked when the door opened and it revealed the blonde candidate. Her mind immediately flashed to their encounter that morning, and Crusch had to stuff her more hot blooded emotions down to focus. Crusch simply held her glare on the younger girl until she spoke.

"Look, I've got two important things to say. Firstly, I'm sorry for the way I spoke this morning. It was uncalled for and I know you love Subaru and want to protect him. If anyone is capable of protecting Subaru besides my camp and his own camp, it's yours." She looked the duchess in the eyes as she spoke her sincere words.

"I understand that your actions were out of the motivation to keep Subaru safe and sound, which I respect. I appreciate that you made the effort to acknowledge your mistake, and I accept your apology" Crusch smiled. She might have thought that her camp was more suited to protecting Subaru than anyone else's, but she also supposed that all of the candidates thought that, so she could let it slide.

"My next order of business is much more grim. I am not sure if anyone is capable of protecting Subaru, because he has died at least once today." Felt didn't see any reason to mince words. Crusch's eyes snapped wide open, the previous warm and friendly atmosphere vanished. Her mouth opened, hesitated, closed, swallowed. The duchess averted her eyes from Felt toward the floor. She knew that this world was cruel to Subaru, but for him to die so soon after arriving in Priestella, clearly she would have to focus her efforts to protect the dark haired boy. She pushed back tears that beat against the back of her eyes, she needed to focus. Subaru needed her to focus, to protect him now instead of waiting around for her opportunity. She had been waiting because although they were close allies and perhaps even friends, she had been waiting to let him know that she had her memories back. She had just let him know THAT morning, and now he had died who knows how many times. Dammit, but who could it have been? Subaru-dono and his great spirit are formidable opponents to most. Crusch turned her attention back to the blond candidate.

"Tell me everything" Her glare pierced through Felt.

"Hang on, Anastasia should be here." Felt hoped that Crusch would accept this. The duchess merely stood up and started heading out the door without a word. Felt followed, assuming she was being led to the purple haired candidates room. They walked down the halls in complete silence for minutes before Crusch abruptly stopped, turned and rapped on a wooden door. The door opened with little hesitation.

"Ah, Felt and Crusch, please come on in" Anastasia stepped by and allowed them to enter, missing her trademark smile.

"Anastasia, I've got news and as unfortunate as it is, I believe it is in all of our best interest that I share it. Natsuki Subaru has died." Felt closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she says this.

"I see, that confirms it then." Anastasia merely folded her hands in her lap after taking a seat. The other two women just stared at her with their jaws open.

"I'm not a fool ya know, I had a trusted individual shadow Subaru whenever he left the inn. The tail ain't much use in a fight, but they're good for keeping me updated. They told me that Subaru had gone out wit' Emilia, the boy 'n the spirit. Then they told me that the Sword Saint was hot on their trail so I figured anything I could do would just get in the way at that point." Anastasia filled the couple in on why she wasn't surprised. Unbeknownst to the other ladies, the merchant had been waiting eagerly for their visit.

"Now I s'pose we've got some discussin to do. But without Lady Emilia?" Anastasia probed.

"Lady Emilia is currently incapacitated as a result of her battle. Rein said she'd be fine in a couple hours." Felt explained the absence of the half elf.

"Then if all necessary members are here, I propose we start this meetin'. It is in a—" Anastasia was cut off by the blond girl.

"There's another crucial piece of information. The battle that the Emilia camp just returned from was against the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony. Somehow, the bastard escaped Rein as well. Even worse, it's possible that he brought friends." Felt finished bringing the women up to speed. At these words, Crusch's eyes widened and she bit her lip. Gluttony. The one who had taken her memories, it was a reminder that had it not been for the theatre's experience, she would be the same naive princess she was before her memories were returned. To think that the one she detested most had killed her romantic interest, it put enough anger and fear into her to shatter her stoic expression as a shaky look snuck into her eyes. She knew that her camp wasn't strong enough to deal with this alone, though she loathed to admit it. Next to her, Anastasia was about to pop a blood vessel. She felt a particularly close connection with the city of Priestella. It was the main stepping stone her company used to transition to being a Kararagian company to a full-fledged international trading power. She had invested a lot of money, time and manpower to transform the city to suit what she needed and as she did this, she found herself quite fond of the city and the people who resided there. To think that these people she met with, worked with, forged bonds with, were walking side by side with one of the most dangerous criminals in history and completely ignorant of it, it made her sick. All three of them had seen how Gluttony had toyed with Crusch and Rem, both powerful warriors in their own right. After allowing the women a few moments to register what she had said, Felt began speaking again.

"Given this information, I propose a tri-camp alliance to monitor and protect Subaru. Big Bro absolutely cannot be allowed to go through such extreme suffering." Felt announced this with no room for negotiation. Even without the emotional aspect, all three girls knew that if Subaru became a true enemy, victory would be impossible.

"We should set up a vanguard with powerful warriors from different camps that can protect Subaru and contact Rein if needed." Felt continued. By this time, both of her companions had recovered and were considering Felt's alliance.

"But how're ya gonna stop Natsuki-kun from finding out somethin' is fishy once he sees people jumping out from nowhere to defend him when things go south?" Anastasia brought up a issue with the plan. These words brought the girls back into silence, they all knew that if Subaru found out what they knew, the Witch of Envy would intervene and could try to capture him like she had in the sanctuary only now, he would have no way to kill himself to escape her embrace. Subaru would call it a "game over situation". The three mulled it over for a long time before Anastasia spoke up herself.

"The Sword Saint can dispatch any of the Archbishops we've seen so far. I suggest tha vanguard's main purpose should be changed to monitoring Subaru and alerting Reinhardt if danger is near. Then we would just have to explain why Reinhardt was there." Anastasia offered a half-finished idea, Crusch saw the potential and picked it up.

"Subaru-dono is not from this land, although his knowledge of our culture and world have improved greatly in the last year or so, he still lacks the understanding that natives have. He has also repeatedly witnessed the awesome power of the Sword Saint's connection with Od Laguna. Reinhardt could claim to have received some kind of Divine Protection that would alert him when his friends were in distress. That would explain why the Sword Saint would be there to protect Subaru every time he was in trouble." The duchess added on to the current plan. Anastasia and Felt thought for a moment, brains thinking about how the plan would work, odds of success and potential problems.

"It could be an issue if somethin' happens to Felix or Julius though and Reinhardt isn't there to stop it. They are both Reinhardt's friends and if they get caught in a bad spot and Subaru finds out Reinhardt didn't save 'em, he could catch on." The merchant brought up an issue she had with Crusch's idea.

"I do not like to use my knight's emotions in plans, but it could be said that the return of my memories has made Felix emotional enough to cause distress. Therefore, Reinhardt wouldn't be able to tell if he was distressed because of a physical problem or an interpersonal one." Crusch spoke out softly. She was somewhat ashamed to use Felix's emotions in a plan, even if they were a lie. Anastasia, upon hearing this, was greatly interested.

"Mmm. And maybe Julius-kun recently had a cousin die?" Anastasia also did not want to make requests of her knight that went against his code of honor or play with his emotions, but surely some manufactured grief was a small ask in the face of the Witch of Envy.

"Ya know this plan would mean that Subaru thinks that Reinhardt knows when he is in distress. Particularly at night…" Felt alluded to her big brother's penchant for self-harm. Crusch frowned at the mention of the habit of the boy she loved.

"All th' better. Reinhardt would have an excuse to offer Natsuki-kun some emotional support" Anastasia managed to spin the problem into a solution. The girls sat in silence for a moment before Crusch spoke up.

"Then is it decided? We will create a rotating watch that will monitor Subaru-dono outside of the inn, armed with metia's that can contact the Sword Saint in case of an emergency. The explanation behind Reinhardt being conveniently on time is a newly received Divine Protection that alerts him when his friend's are in distress. The Sword Saint should also use this opportunity to confront and comfort Subaru-dono about his nightly activities." Crusch summed the plan up. She hated the fact that she would have to lie and deceive someone she loved, but it was truly unavoidable in the face of the Witch Cult. Anastasia nodded in response to her words and Felt grunted. With that, the women set out to iron down the details of the plan such as personnel in the vanguard and watch times.

As the three candidates wrapped up their conversation, three warriors could be sighted in a strange location, recovering from a fight. Wilhelm had led his accompanying duo just outside of the city limits so that he and Garfiel could train and not worry about disrupting the environment. Mimi had made it clear that while she typically would want to join in, today she wanted to watch Garfiel. Wilhelm chuckled internally at how the girl was head over heels for the boy, but more at how the boy was obviously head over heels for the girl, but didn't know it yet. Is there anything better than young love? Wilhelm's thoughts were flooded with scenes of his beautiful wife. He walked as the two youngsters chatted animatedly until they got outside the city and off the road on a blank patch of grass. Inside the theatre, Garfiel had asked Wilhelm to train him after seeing how he fought against the Whale and Sloth. Wilhelm happily obliged as he could see the young warrior had talent that surpassed his own, and that with the right tutelage the young boy could grow into a hero of legend. The old man was eager to train with the young boy, but had some doubts about how he would perform against Garfiel. Inside the theatre Garfiel had shown he was strong enough to defeat the most feared person in all of Gusteko in the Bowel Hunter, the blond teenager was nothing to scoff at.

"Garfiel-dono. Is this a acceptable place for our duel?" Wilhelm questioned, readying himself.

"Sure Wilhelm-san." Garfiel replied. Wilhelm was one of the only people Garfiel showed such obvious respect, besides his Captain of course! As Mimi heard these words, she backed off behind them so that they could fight unabated. Garfiel had been tired from fighting Gluttony earlier, but a lot of his fatigue had been from his complex internal emotions. He had healed his body and had enough time to replenish his mana so he was more or less in top form.

"Wilhelm van Astrea, Sword Demon." The old man unsheathed his blade as he prompted the battle to begin.

"Garfiel Tinzel, Military Officer of the Emilia Camp!" Garfiel accommodated with the standard introduction, as he readied his bracers.

Mimi watched with stars in her eyes as tension began to build. Garfiel initiated by kicking off the ground towards the swordsman, using his Divine Protection to propel his feet forwards. He flew into the range at which Wilhelm's sword could reach him and it was brought down toward his torso with terrifying speed. Garfiel was forced to twist his body to parry the blade with his bracer, and the force was enough to halt his approach. Wilhelm hopped back to escape Garfiel's range and made a quick stab at the boy's chest. Garfiel managed to parry this as well, his instincts and reactions keeping up with the old man's experience and technique. Garfiel stepped forward with a left hook to the body, Wilhelm knew he wasn't tough enough to absorb the blow, and so he stepped in to Garfiel instead. The unexpected move broke the boy's stance as the punch missed the mark, with Wilhelm now in close quarters with the upper hand, the butler took a hand off his blade and threw his elbow at Garfiel's chin. Garfiel had been caught off guard, but quickly recovered as he ducked his head to avoid the elbow, simultaneously reaching up with his hand to grab the hilt of the sword after Wilhelm had let one hand go. Wilhelm realized what the boy was going for, and moved the sword's positioning into the tiger's new, massive blindspot caused by ducking under the elbow. Wilhelm then quickly jumped back to gain distance, recognizing the disadvantage he was at in close quarters. Mimi watched happily as she sat, gripping the grass underneath her palms. It was only training, so the victor didn't matter but Mimi still wanted Garf to win!

"Very good, Garfiel-dono. Your natural ability and unique movements are very impressive." Wilhelm praised the boy.

"Thanks Wilhelm-san. You're pretty tough for an old guy." Garfiel responded in kind. After this introductory skirmish, Wilhelm had already recognized a weakness, and began formulating a plan to expose it so Garfiel could see it as well. After the brief pause, Garfiel began running at the swordsman again. He used his Divine Protection to create a wall of earth between them to obscure Wilhelm's vision, and then ran through the wall to catch him off guard. It worked as Wilhelm quickly leaped back to avoid being caught, but failed to escape the tiger. Garfiel at a full sprint was able to catch the older man mid leap, and moved to tackle him. Wilhelm reacted just in time and freed one of his arms from the pair that now encircled his torso. As Garfiel wrapped his arms around the butler's torso, Wilhelm turned his longsword around in his grip with precision so that it was now pointing toward his own body. The tiger recognized this and abandoned the grapple attempt, rolling off to the side and recovering to his feet. Despite being extremely strong, Garfiel actually had very little combat experience. He trained a ton and had incredible natural talent, but fighting a swordsman like this was unusual for him. However, the blond boy did not let up as he leaped toward the butler again. This time, Wilhelm was ready and Garfiel could see him begin the movements of a diagonal slice, intended to ward Garfiel off. With his inhuman reaction speed and instincts, Garfiel began spinning under the blade, already throwing a hook as the boy ducked in a circle to avoid the slice. This was exactly what Wilhelm had wanted, however. The slice had just been a feint, and when Garfiel spun to turn around he lost sight of Wilhelm moving his sword. By the time Garfiel's spin was over, his punch was being thrown right at the old man's head. It was about to connect when Garfiel felt a sharp pain jolt through his neck. He quickly stopped his movements as he recognized the situation. The Sword Demon stood there with his blade at the tip of Garfiel's neck, his injury had been caused by Garfiel moving into it, the butler had not even moved his sword an inch. Garfiel had been defeated.

"You see Garfiel-dono? You are an incredible warrior for one with such little experience. You use a unique blend of offense and defense, every time you dodge or parry, you also counter with an attack of your own. This is a strategy that is typically unused because it is incredibly committal, and in a fight the slightest mistake can cost your life. That is not to say that it is a strictly unusable strategy, but that its overuse will lead to your enemy exploiting it." Wilhelm finished his monologue, hoping the boy would be mature enough to not be ashamed by the loss. He was pleasantly surprised when Garfiel popped back up with a smile.

"Not a chance in hell that works again!" Garfiel reset to his fighting position. Garfiel knew that his weakness was a lack of experience, but how else could he become better than by gaining practice? There was no reason to beat himself up or feel down as long as he is getting stronger to protect Subaru, everyday. Plus, the squirt was watching him and he really didn't want her to see him in the dumps after she had cheered him up. After multiple rounds of sparring with intermittent teaching sessions that lasted for a total of thirty minutes, the two warriors sat down in puddles of their own sweat. With each passing round, Garfiel had been fixing glaring holes in his combat that came from a lack of experience. He had made a lot of progress that day and Wilhelm could honestly say he was a better warrior than he was thirty minutes ago. Upon seeing the two break with Garfiel lying down and shielding his eyes from the sun, Mimi ran over to her tiger.

"Garf! That was so cool! The way you caught his sword in your mouth was so awesome!" Mimi gushed. At these words, Garfiel blushed and moved his hand from his eyes to look up at the girl.

"She is right, Garfiel-dono, you improved a lot in a very short period of time. I am sure that you will become an even stronger shield in no time." Wilhelm added to the girl's praise. At the outpour of positive comments hit the tiger, his blush increased and his mind started racing. He was a great fighter wasn't he? All he had to do was gain some experience, and even the Archbishops won't be able to threaten his Captain! All of the praise got to him, and energy flooded back into his body.

"Geezer! Come on, one more round!" Garfiel sprang back for his feet, momentarily forgetting himself and the respect he typically showed the old man.

"Apologies Garfiel-dono, it appears this old man has been tired out." Wilhelm chuckled as he said this, seeing the young demitiger's puppy-like behavior.

"Fine… Mimi! Let's go a couple rounds!" Garfiel was still raring to go and tried to acquire another partner, luckily for him, Mimi had been waiting for the invitation.

"Yay! Mimi has been waiting for this. You better get ready, Garf, you're super strong but Mimi can still kick your butt! Mimi Pearlbaton, Vice Captain of the Iron Fang" Mimi introduced herself for the duel in a ladylike manner.

"Garfiel Tinzel, Military Officer of the Emilia Camp!" Garfiel grinned at the equally excited girl in response. As the two began sparring, Wilhelm lifted himself to his knees and smiled as he watched the precious scene. It appears this old man has no place here... Wilhelm thought with a smirk on his face. He began heading back to the city as the fight between the two kids began in earnest. Garfiel and Mimi would spar for a few rounds, but eventually tired each other out and they returned to the inn together soon after to freshen up before dinner.

Emilia woke up in bed, feeling like she had been run over by a carriage. Her whole body groaned out in pain as she shivered under the covers. What exactly happened to me? My memories a— Emilia's eyes widened as her brain function returned to her.

"Subaru!" She exclaimed out loud. She remembered racing toward the city wall where Garfiel was lying in wait, but can't remember anything as soon as she crossed the wall. Something really bad could've happened to Subaru. At the thought of this, Emilia pushed her aching body out of bed. She was still pretty gross, still being in her sweaty fighting outfit but there were much more important things to worry about. Her muscles complained as she brought her body up from the bed. Chills wracked her body as she slowly hobbled to her door. She slowly opened it, and shuffled out into the hall. She hesitated, having lost her sense of direction and having to actively remember where exactly Subaru's room was. After ensuring she had the right door, she knocked a couple times while leaning on the doorframe. No response. Two more knocks, no response. Emilia tried one final time, and when she was met with no response again, she nervously opened the door. Inside, she found a dark room with the lights off and curtain drawn shut so that even though it was daytime out, the room was dark enough to comfortably sleep in. She saw a lump on the bed, and was compelled to investigate it. As she stumbled closer to the bed, sweat began to drip down her face as she approached the mysterious lump. Peeking over the covers, she saw the faces of Subaru and Beatrice, with the head of the latter being pressed into the former's chest. Wait she thought in her jumbled mental state, What if Gluttony ate him? What if he has the Sleeping Beauty Disease… This thought felt worse than whatever was currently affecting her body, and she gingerly moved a shaking hand halfway across the huge bed towards Subaru's head. She had to partially climb on the bed in order to reach him, but eventually her hand parked underneath Subaru's nose, and she could feel his warm breath tickling her hand. She brushed his skin as if he were made of glass, something she did many times in that cursed theatre. However, this time, in response to her touch his brows softened and the corners of his mouth tugged upwards. Emilia smiled, So he really is alright… I was so worried. As Emilia thought this, her vision quickly went dark and she collapsed where she stood.

Back at the Mansion

Roswaal sat in his office with the two maids standing by the door while Clind and Annerose sat across from Roswaal at the desk.

"Why is this room a mess? Explain this at once!" The young girl ordered. The Emilia camp had been staying in the Miload manor as a new one was constructed after Subaru burned down the old one with Elsa. On a particular day, the blue haired clone of Rem that had been sleeping in her room for months who Subaru seemed to have loved deeply woke up. She expected her body to be weak and tired but she found herself feeling exactly as she had before her meeting with Gluttony. She stormed through the familiar but different manor until she found Roswaal. At once, she began attacking the man savagely. She threw all manner of kicks, elbows, punches and knees at the margrave. Her flurry of blows tore through the room and knocked all manner of things over onto the floor. The magician simply stood there and kept a constant stream of healing magic activated while Rem landed blow after blow on his body. It drew to a close when, shortly after Rem entered, Ram burst through the doors and threw herself at her sister in an effort to get her to stop. Rem buckled at her sister's restraint, but ultimately surrendered as the two girls collapsed together in tears. Being back in a mansion so similar to the original, it reminded both the girls of how Subaru was chased through them by Rem while being cursed, it reminded them of how they had tortured and killed him together. And although Ram could love Roswaal and try to get him to change, Rem was not as interested in rehabilitation. Petra and Frederica arrived soon after Ram and saw the two maids on the floor and the sponsor for the camp on the floor with dirty clothes on although he was seemingly unharmed. Annerose and Clind had heard the commotion and came in last to check in on what was happening.

"Apologies. I had just woken up, it appears I was not myself" Rem said through gritted teeth. Annerose eyed her suspiciously, obviously there was something wrong with the girl. Her and her twin were in tears on the floor together, and Rem had just awoken from a slumber that had lasted months.

"Please forgive my maidstaff, Annerose. Rem woke up from her coma and thought that I had abducted her, it appears that her memories have returned fully now." Roswaal explained, Annerose was smart, and the story seemed a bit fishy but any other explanation seemed impossible but Clind knew there were things in the world far stranger than what he could imagine. The two eventually let it go, or at least pretended to, and left the office for the four maids to clean up with their master. Once the two who had been absent from the theatre left, Petra picked up where Rem had left off, and beat against Roswaal with tiny fists. Her attack was much less deadly than her predecessor, but Roswaal took a couple solid hits as he simply sat there and let it happen. Frederica pulled Petra off of him.

"Petra-chan! What would Subaru-san say if he saw you doing this?" Frederica reprimanded her student. Frederica had mixed feelings and would find a lot of catharsis from attacking the man herself but the part of her that was a maid argued against it. Frederica knew that appealing to her maid side wouldn't work and instead tried to work a different angle in order to get the little girl to calm down. It seemed to work when, at her words, Petra began to stop resisting and started glaring hatefully at Roswaal with tears in her eyes.

"I see emotions are veeeeery high right now. Everyone should cool off on their own before we decide what to do next~" The clown brought his accent back in full force. Petra and Rem gritted their teeth, but left the room with Ram and Frederica.

The four maids retreated to the waitstaff quarters. Their rooms were adjacent, and nobody wanted to be alone anyways. If one were to look inside Ram's room, they would see the maid sister's on the bed, fiercely clutching each other and muttering softly and if they were to look inside Frederica's room, they would see Frederica holding her student tightly on the bed as her student cried into her chest about what they had just witnessed. Rem sat up on the bed and stared at her sister.

"Rem loves you, but Rem cannot believe you are still trying to save the man that caused Subaru-kun so much suffering!" She tried one last time to reason with her sister, although she knew it was futile.

"He is the man I love sister, wouldn't you support Bar-Subaru no matter how far he fell? And besides, you and me have caused B-Subaru a fair share of suffering." Ram hated to remind her sister of their sins, but felt it was a important factor in defending Roswaal. Not that Ram forgave him, what he did was unforgivable. Ram was just able to imagine a future where Roswaal truly regretted his actions and the years he had spent mindlessly chasing that witch, then, she would be able to rest with her lover. Ram also figured she should start showing the dark-haired boy some respect after he was able to give Rem some self-confidence, something that Ram had failed at for so long. Useless older sister, Ram berated herself. Rem's eyes hardened at even considering not being by Subaru's side, and she decided to kick into action.

"Rem is going to Priestella to be with my Subaru-kun. Join if you wish, but Rem will be going one way or another." Rem displayed her dominant side that had been growing as the events of the theatre progressed. Typically, Ram wouldn't leave Roswaal's side, but she could detect the rift that had formed between her and her sister, and needed to prioritize their relationship at the moment. In the other room, Petra proposed the same idea to her mentor with a fiery look on her face. Frederica knew how badly the girl needed to see her hero, and figured that the huge city of Priestella would be safe, especially with the Sword Saint in town and so it was decided by the four maids individually that they would be travelling to Priestella. The oni sisters exited the room at the same time as the larger and smaller maid.

"Rem and Ram will be going to Priestella. Rem will be preparing for our departure while Ram alerts Roswaal." Rem politely informed them, and the two sisters began to split without another word.

"Wait! We're coming with you!" Petra spoke a little too loudly. At her words, Rem eyed Frederica.

"Are you sure about this Frederica-san? Trouble seems to follow my Subaru-kun wherever he goes." Rem gave the older maid an out, but Frederica did not need it.

"She'll have to be reunited with Subaru eventually, and it will probably be safer with the Sword Saint there." Frederica explained her reasoning, to which Rem could not argue. Petra, Frederica and Rem went to the stables, pantry and dressing rooms to prepare for their journey.

Ram found herself at the door of Roswaal's office.

"Master Roswaal, the four maids are planning to depart for Priestella at once." Ram informed her master with a cold voice but gentle tone.

"Of cooooourse. I will be coming with you, naturally" Roswaal caught the pink haired girl off guard. Roswaal had a lot of time to think in the theatre, and the understanding he had come to was that Subaru's power was much worse than what he had originally thought. If something… inconvenient were to happen, there is no guarantee that Subaru can fix it with his complete lack of control over reset points. However, Subaru was still the only one that could help him achieve his dream of seeing his teacher once again. Losing the guidance of the Gospel was a huge blow, but Roswaal had been through much to give up just after losing his source of commands from Teacher. Sfubaru needed to be protected, so that his mind wouldn't break in a loop where Roswaal was far away, to return to a braindead or insane Subaru is the absolutely last thing Roswaal could allow to happen. Trying to find a way to gain his teacher back without Subaru or the Gospel was truly impossible, even Roswaal would have to admit defeat if he lost his two biggest advantages. As such, he felt it necessary to travel to Priestella and protect Subaru as their sponsor should. Roswaal of course knew his plans would require some suffering to Subaru in the form of death, but the ways the boy had died in the past were downright inhumane. Roswaal could kill him in ways that actually felt good, and only when it was necessary for his plans. The boy had experienced too much unfair suffering, and Roswaal was worried that the teenager's mortal mind wouldn't be able to handle it. As Roswaal recounted his thoughts from the theatre, Ram recovered herself.

"Of course Master Roswaal, we will make the preparations at once." Ram curtseyed and retreated from the room. Once outside, she let out a big sigh, Rem was NOT going to like this.

Ram was able to track her twin down quickly enough with her synesthesia, and found her digging through the pantry, occasionally adding things to a few large boxes she had on the counter.

"Please make sure you are packing for five people. Lord Roswaal will be joining us." Ram knew there was no way to make it sound better, so she just came right out with it. When Rem heard this, she dropped the box she was carrying and turned to her sister.

"What? You want Rem to travel with that man? Absolutely not." Rem once again displayed her dominant side.

"Please Sister, he just wants to make sure Subaru is safe. You know he didn't know B-Subaru needed to die to trigger his ability. As much as I hate to admit it, Roswaal hasn't given up on that stinking witch and he needs Subaru to achieve his goal. And because of the lost bet in the sanctuary, he can't scheme against anyone, he'll need Subaru to stand on equal ground with him and choose to lend his assistance." Ram still felt unnatural trying to use the true name of the knight as she tried to reason with her sister. Rem fumed as she glared at her sister, still in disbelief of how she was able to look past everything that was done to Subaru. But Rem had no room to complain after what she had done… As Rem's thoughts moved towards that horrible, awful scene she had been shown in the theatre, she quickly shifted her mind back toward the matter of hand. Even though she had a lot of time to deal with it in the theatre, it was a very, VERY sensitive subject, and she was prone to breaking down at it's mention.

"Fine, if you want that cold-blooded murderer to join us so badly, Rem will accomodate." Rem barked at her sister in a way that never would have happened before the theatre and maybe projected a bit as well onto her hated master. Rem turned her back to her sister, and continued packing in silence. Ram figured that that conversation had went as well as it could have gone, and decided to leave the room to help somewhere else. After twenty minutes, the group was prepared to leave, with Roswaal having given Annerose and Clind some excuse about why he needed to take all four maids on a trip and having made arrangements for replacements to be sent. When the group of five sat down in the carriage, Rem and Petra had to sit up front leading the dragon, neither of them trusted themselves sitting next to the painted clown at the moment. In the back, all three members were silent, deep in thought. Only one thing was for sure though, soon enough, the Emilia camp would be reunited in Priestella.

Chapter Text

Canon Divergences: IDRK if this counts but I ship Frederica and Otto hard so you'll be hearing about that. Felt's internal feelings about her camp changed and Subaru's SH scars are not really noticeable, idk if they were or not in canon. Also trigger warning for self harm.

Subaru's eyes fluttered open as he gently awoke from his slumber and stared at the ceiling, the shades in his room were so dark one could mistake it to be nighttime. Despite having just woken up, he was exhausted, the fight with Gluttony had required Beatrice to use every spare iota of mana she had which resulted in Subaru being drained dry. Subaru closed his eyes again and dropped his head back onto the pillow, content to just lay there for now. As consciousness entered his body, Subaru felt the head of his cute spirit tucked into his chest. He smiled and groped around to find the crown of her head, eyes still closed. He patted the girl's hair gently, his favorite way of waking her up.

Something was wrong this time though, it didn't really feel like Beatrice's hair. Then he felt the head of his cute spirit on his other shoulder. Something was certainly wrong. His eyes snapped open to be met with the sight of long silver hair cascading down his chest and covers. Emilia..? Subaru's groggy brain took a moment to process the information he was receiving. EMILIA? Emilia had gotten somewhat used to sleeping with Subaru's permanently asleep body, and after she collapsed on his bed her sleeping body organized herself in a comfortable and familiar way, laying next to him with her head on his chest to be exact. His hands darted away from her head and hung in midair, at the sudden movement, the two sleeping bodies in the bed began to stir.

"Subaru, what's wrong?" Beatrice murmured sleepily from behind him, beginning to worry that he was having a nighttime "episode". Emilia was also stirring, but her eyes remained closed, she was notorious for being bad at waking up after all, she had also exhausted herself more than anyone else during the Gluttony fight.

"Ah…" Subaru couldn't think of what to do, how had Emilia gotten in his bed? Subaru clearly remembered climbing into bed with his spirit and falling asleep, and Emilia was on top of the covers as opposed to under them like him and his spirit. This led Subaru to believe that, for some reason, Emilia had snuck into his room and fallen asleep on top of him. This is heaven! The dark haired boy almost started tearing up before he was ripped back into reality.

"What is the half-elf doing here I suppose?" Beatrice questioned, now much more coherent.

"I don't know Beako, I just woke up and she was here" Subaru whispered back. Beatrice rolled her eyes at the women obviously throwing themselves at her contractor, but she supposed they could not be blamed. Any woman with a brain would want to be with her contractor. Of course, Betty held a unique place in Subaru's heart that could not be touched by foolish girls.

"Wake that girl up and send her back to her room I suppose, she is intruding on time meant for Betty and her contractor." Beatrice presented Subaru with a solution to the "problem". Subaru was typically one to listen to his adorable spirit, but this time he held off.

"D-Do I have to?" He eked out.

"Betty's contractor is pathetic, in fact" Beatrice smiled at how Subaru was acting like a foolish little boy. It was clear on his face how much he was enjoying the situation.

"Hold it! Any guy would want to let his beloved continue to sleep on his chest!" Subaru spoke up a little louder than intended, and he smacked a hand over his mouth when he saw Emilia begin to stir. Beatrice just rolled her eyes again as Subaru slipped an arm around Emilia. She has been really touchy and expressive recently, but who knows when I'm gonna get another chance like this? Subaru decided it would be alright to lay there until she woke up, and then ask her what had happened to end up in his bed. The three lay there in silence, listening to the rise and fall of each other's bodies and taking comfort in the communal warmth.

All good things must come to an end though as eventually, Emilia began to wake up for good. She slowly opened her eyes, and cuddled harder against the incredible warmth she felt against her side. It reminded her so much of sleeping with Subaru in the theatre, something that she had missed dearly. As her mind shook off the cobwebs of sleep, she began to wonder what that warmth she was laying on could be? She wiped sleep out of her eyes and slowly opened them to find that her head was on top of Subaru's chest.

"Ee-" She began to let out a squeak but was cut off by the realization that Subaru could be asleep. She gingerly lifted her head and craned her neck to catch the sight of a sleeping Beatrice, she continued to lift her head until she was looking right at Subaru's sleeping face. He looked so peaceful, Emilia watched his cute face as she had done frequently recently and then realized she really needed to get out of there. How did I even end up here? I remember coming in to check on him and then I just woke up here… I must have collapsed from exhaustion right at the worst time! Emilia felt terrible for sneaking into her knight's room and snuggling up to him without his permission, even if the benefits outweigh the negatives in this situation. Then, right as she was staring at him, Subaru's eyes opened gently.

"Emilia-tan? What are you doing here?" He asked with faux-sleepiness in his voice. Subaru decided he wanted to catch Emilia off guard, if for no other reason than to see her cute reaction.

"Ah! I am reeeeeally sorry about this Subaru. I woke up earlier and came to check on you and I think I collapsed from how tired I was…" The princess tried to explain what had happened with a tomato red face. At those words, Subaru's eyes hardened as he began to worry about the girl.

"How do you feel now? Are you alright? We still don't know everything about Gluttony, he might have done something to you." The dark haired boy was extremely concerned.

"Yes, I think I am okay now. Laying next to my knight is really rejuvenating!" She tried her hand at teasing as Subaru often did to her, but its effectiveness was lowered a bit by the crimson blush on her face.

"Wh- You- Hu-" Subaru decided to close his mouth to stop making a fool out of himself. The typically platonic half-elf had completely dropped the platonic stuff, the unique situation and new behavior made her comment super-effective as a blush spread across his face that rivaled hers. Emilia was pleased to see that her teasing had its intended effect, even if it was extremely embarrassing to say.

"Enough flirting I suppose. It will be time for dinner soon." Of course, Beatrice didn't need to eat, she just wanted to pour gasoline on the fire.

"Right! I should get back to my room and make myself look presentable." Emilia shyly sat up and tried to smooth her wrinkled, stinky clothes against her skin and was now EXTREMELY conscious of how she must smell.

"Ah, okay Emilia-tan, see you at dinner!" The boy called out as she began nearly dashing out the door and into her own room. That had to be a dream. Both Emilia and Subaru thought simultaneously. After a few minutes, Subaru had recovered somewhat and voiced a concern of his to Beatrice.

"Beako, I have been worrying about something and I was wondering if you could lend me your brain." Subaru asked.

"At least my foolish contractor knows when my superior intellect is required" Beatrice said 'yes' in the most pompous way possible.

"We fought Gluttony today to a standstill until he ran away and talked about meeting up with his buddies, then he disappeared so that even Rein couldn't find him. I can't just tell the knightly order or Anastasia that a Archbishop is waltzing around, they'd never believe me but I can't just let someone so deadly roam the streets without doing anything. But I have no idea what to do…" Subaru shamefully admitted, he had been thinking about it since he had woken up with Emilia, but didn't yet have an answer. Beatrice smiled at her contractor's good heart, and at the fact that she had good news to share with him.

"Foolish contractor, it is the Sword Saint's duty to report all such things to the council. If I had to guess, he probably told them that he sensed someone with a large amount of miasma who he could not locate. They will take him seriously because of his position and the council is probably making preparations to put into place tonight, perhaps they are already in place. They have probably already shut down traffic in and out of the city and tell the knights to be on guard. They can't tell everyone to just stay inside without reason but if the Sword Saint chose to tell Anastasia, she has already begun preparations as well." Beatrice shared her predictions on what the local government was doing about the problem.

"I guess that makes me feel better. Thanks Beako" Subaru gave her a weak smile and Beatrice could tell he was disappointed in himself. The spirit was heartbroken that her contractor still couldn't allow anyone else to solve problems for fear of losing someone important.

"You can't solve everything foolish contractor, let other people solve a problem for once." Beatrice was pulled to her contractor's chest as he patted her head and wondered how she could read his mind like that.

"My spirit really is the greatest…" He murmured into the crown of her head.

Crusch had wrapped the discussions up with her fellow candidates, and saw she still had a bit of free time before dinner. She now had the decision to either seek Wilhelm and Felix out and update them with the new plan, or seek out Subaru and have a conversation she had very much been looking forward to having. She decided to put the conversation with her retainer and knight on hold since Subaru would likely not be leaving the inn for the rest of the night, and so it should not be an issue if they were not brought up to speed quite yet. She had planned to begin her strategy as soon as she was able to, but trouble managed to find Subaru before she could. However, she hated watching the hours tick by knowing that Subaru was unaware of her feelings and completely in the clutches of Emilia.

She had spent a lot of time thinking about how she wanted to go about proposing her plan to Subaru and ran through many different versions of the conversation. She could discuss why she was the best option, how it would benefit him or even why it would be politically beneficial but she knew that Subaru cared little for these things when it came to love. She had seen on the screen, Subaru was a passionate man, and she wanted to be the object of his passion and so it would only be fair to respond in kind. She had decided that she would be straightforward, truthful (as much as the situation allowed) and passionate. She walked down the hall to where she knew Subaru's room was, turned and knocked.

"One moment!" The voice was accompanied by some shuffling and squeaking until the door finally opened. Crusch appreciated the sight of Subaru in fresh, wrinkled clothes and messy hair, clearly having just woken up. Crusch smiled at the sight, and took a deep breath.

"Subaru-dono, may I come in?" Her heart began to beat faster as she thought of the coming conversation but she maintained her stoic appearance.

"Of course Crusch-san, what do you need to talk about?" He welcomed her with open arms. On the bed sat Beatrice, who felt she knew exactly what the following conversation was going to be about.

"I was wondering if we could talk in private?" She asked politely, a blush starting to spread across her cheeks.

"Oh, is that alright Beako?" Subaru was caught off guard, but checked in with his spirit.

"Fine. Betty knows exactly what this woman is going to talk about anyway." She hopped off the bed and exited the room with her chest puffed out. She would usually stick by her contractor's side regardless of who wanted to speak with him especially considering the day's events, but she needed to do some investigative work without Subaru finding out so she took the excuse to leave. Upon the exit of the spirit, Crusch closed the door and Subaru began to get anxious. He looked at Crusch again and drank in the sight. She was dressed differently from her usual style, wearing a blue smock with thin straps that ran over the shoulders, the dress ran from her chest down to her ankles. It was the kind of feminine clothing she would wear right after she lost her memories before she started dressing up how Felix said she used to, but Crusch actually didn't mind embracing her femininity when the occasion called for it and she decided to take a gamble with the piece of loungewear during her sensitive conversation with the boy. It appeared to Subaru like she was a mix of the Crusch who lost her memories, and the one he fought the White Whale with, it was really a sight to see. Subaru quickly shook those thoughts out of his head. You have already got more than you can handle Subaru. He said to himself as he tried to take his mind off of "unrelated" matters.

"So what's up Crusch? You're making me kinda nervous, you know, asking to speak to a guy in private like this." Subaru tried to make light of the situation to ease the tension he felt building, but this only seemed to make Crusch uncomfortable as she shifted her gaze away from him. Crap, does she think I'm a creep? But she has her memories back, so she knows that I'm trustworthy, right? Subaru's mind raced to try and explain her behavior, missing the obvious answer right in front of him. Crusch was a stoic militarist duchess, but she was also a nineteen year old girl with little experience in romance so even she was susceptible to a bit of embarrassment.

"I apologize for making you nervous Subaru-dono, this is a very private manner and I wished to speak about it only with you." She began somewhat nervously, which freaked Subaru out further.

"Well I really appreciate it, w—" Subaru's habit of speaking randomly when he was tense kicked in, but Crusch had seen it coming and trampled over his words.

"First, I wanted to thank you. We only spoke once after the subjugation, but I do not think I was clear enough about how grateful I am to you. Without you, the subjugation would have surely failed and you put your life on the line time and time again, I can truly say that you were the key piece in bringing down the monster that haunted these lands for centuries." When Crusch had found out just how hard Subaru had worked to bring the subjugation to fruition, she was horrified. If the dark haired knight hadn't essentially spoon-fed her the victory, it was more likely than not that she would have died along with Wilhelm, Felix and all of her men. And Subaru had to die time and time again to bring her the victory on a silver platter which broke her heart. Subaru reacts wildly to the praise, waving his hands around to try to calm his racing heart and distract from the blush on his face.

"No Crusch it really was—" He was interrupted again by the duchess.

"I will not sit here and listen to you tarnish your own reputation. You are a hero and that is the end of things, if you would like to hear my praises more later, we can arrange that. My next topic is about something we discussed when we had just beaten the White Whale, I told you that you had grown dear to me, but that I haven't yet begun to see you as a woman sees a man and you told me that I was a candidate for the number three spot in your heart. I wanted to let you know that things have changed and I will be competing for as big a piece of your heart as I can get." Crusch declared fiercely, the slight blush on her pale skin contrasting with her dress. When Subaru heard this, his jaw dropped, Crush-sama liked him? The way a woman likes a man? Why? Was the first thought through Subaru's head, his mental image of himself not allowing him to see the truth. His mind was a storm of trepidation and confusion but he was also happy to hear those words. Then a guilt wracked his body at the thought of splitting his attention up between another girl and the two he already had eyes for.

"Crusch, let me say that it makes me happy that you feel that way. But you are a strong, beautiful and principled woman, any guy would be lucky to have you and I have already promised my heart to two girls so I just wouldn't be able to give you the relationship that you deserve" Subaru was surprisingly collected with his response, due to the knight's habit of breaking down or rising to the challenge when he encountered an obstacle, luckily he had been able to rise to the challenge this time.

"Subaru-dono, I appreciate the sentiment, but isn't it a bit presumptuous of you to decide what relationship I want or deserve? I am in charge of those things, and all I want is for you to keep an open mind, and an open spot in the number three place of your heart. Of course, my goal one day is to be your number one, but I have some work to do. If you have a problem with it because of your own feelings, you are welcome to reject my advances but if it is for my sake, please do not bother." Crusch smirked haughtily as she said this, not one to shy away from her own feelings. She also preened at the mention of her good qualities by Subaru.

"I appreciate your consideration and am looking forward to spending time together." Crusch gave an uncharacteristic sweet smile as she began to leave the room, then stopped.

"By the way, Emilia has given me full permission to fight for your heart." Crusch turned her head and spoke with a confident look, seeing the effect her words were having on the boy. Subaru was blushing furiously by now, and this added news about Emilia set his mind off as Crusch left and closed the door. I guess it makes sense though, Emilia isn't really interested in those things so why would she mind? Although there was that hug today AND she sneaked into my bed, but I guess honest mistakes happen? But what about Rem? I absolutely can't get involved with another woman while she is still asleep, that would be cruel. Subaru's brain tried to make sense of the conflicting thoughts in his head as scenes from earlier that day played out. Of course, Rem had also given her permission for Crusch to enter the fray, but they couldn't tell Subaru that. By the time he had recovered full brain function, the duchess was long gone. He sat in bed for a moment, thinking of how things could play out. It seems like things just keep getting more complicated…

Beatrice returned to the room relatively quickly, only having found Felt and made her spill what schemes the camps were planning. Beatrice was surprised by the relative competence of the plan, and was happy that there was now an effective defense system in place for her contractor; he had already died once after all. When she got back, the green-haired girl who had almost certainly confessed her love had already left and Subaru was on the bed looking dazed.

"Let me guess, she wants a place in your heart?" Beatrice caught up to her contractor on the bed and sat in his lap.

"How could you possibly know that?" He stared at the spirit with dumb eyes and an open mouth.

"It is quite obvious in fact, if Betty's foolish contractor could begin seeing how much value he has, he wouldn't be surprised if all the women in the world were to propose to him. Now come on, it is time for dinner." Beatrice encouraged her contractor to get moving. He begrudgingly got up from the bed where he had cuddled with his love and then been confessed to by a beauty within minutes of each other. He made himself decent in front of the mirror, trying to calm the storm of emotions in his heart. He eventually headed to the dining room with Beatrice, to see that the other camps were already there. Anastasia was at the head with her knight to her right and Ricardo next to him and the triplets to her left. Next to Ricardo sat Reinhardt and Felt, with Crusch, Felix and Wilhelm next to the triplets. Finally, Subaru took a seat to the right of the opposite head of the table, intending for Emilia to sit there. When he entered, Crusch gave him a warm smile and he looked away, still unsure about how to deal with the situation. Eventually, Emilia, Garfiel and Otto shuffled in and Subaru was surrounded by Beatrice and Emilia with Otto and Garfiel across the table from him. Subaru eagerly awaited whatever Japanese dish would be served, hoping that a taste of home would help quell the dark feelings that accompanied his death earlier that day.

"So, Mimi, we lost track o' ya today. Where were ya?" Anastasia asked her vice captain.

"Mimi, Garf and the old guy went to train!" Mimi's trademark voice rang out. Subaru raised an eye and turned to Garfiel.

"How did the training go Garfiel?" Otto was as interested as Subaru was.

"It was pretty good, Wilhelm-san really knows 's stuff. My amazing self was able to fix up some holes in my fighting style. It's great to be able ta duel people instead of just training alone all the time." The tiger was still in high spirits after the kitten had cheered him up.

"Indeed, Garfiel-dono is already an incredible warrior and holds the potential to become a legend with proper training." The Sword Demon gushed about a new boy close to his grandson's age who was beginning to become dear to his heart.

"Garf was super cool! He kept getting his butt kicked though… Then at the end, Mimi and Garf fought!" At her cheerful words, Anastasia and Ricardo seemed to have their interest piqued. It was well known how Mimi felt about Garf, but Ricardo and the merchant felt like her parents in a lot of ways and wanted to make sure that Garfiel would treat their little girl right.

"How did those matches go, Garf?" Otto asked, interested in his brother's personal life.

"The squirt was tough and I was tired out from Wilhelm-san, but his new teachings gave me a slight advantage." Garfiel proudly puffed his chest out at being able to defeat a strong warrior in Mimi Pearlbaton. Ricardo and Anastasia were both disappointed at first, but understood that Mimi would hate it if anyone took it easy on her, so they decided to leave the two be.

As the conversation melted into several side groups, food was set down and the whole table began to dig in. Today was a version of a garlic pork rice bowl with slight alterations to how he remembered it. It was still delicious stuff though, as far as Subaru was concerned. Subaru also noticed that Emilia had sat next to him, but avoided his gaze or talking directly to him. Subaru had to assume it was because of what had happened, accidentally crawling into his bed was pretty embarrassing, but the way she was talking when she had woken up made Subaru think she loved him back! Of course, he was partially correct about the reason for her embarrassment, but Emilia had also been alerted by Crusch that she had told the knight how she felt and so she felt particularly conscious of the boy at the moment. The three girls who wanted to be in Subaru's heart had come to an understanding in the theatre, all three girls would compete on even ground for the boy's heart, with the stipulation that no major moves could be made until Rem caught up with them besides Crusch's confession. It was all very jarring for Subaru, just three days ago Emilia was a bumbling romantic and Crusch was an entirely different person, with the news that Rem might be back, he couldn't believe how complicated his personal life was getting. A couple things had seemed odd recently, but he supposed his perspective had been thrown off with the usage of Return by Death. That unrelenting experience of his consciousness being ripped out right at the cusp of death and being thrown into a new, healthy body always seemed to have some effects on how he viewed other people, as much as he hated to admit it. Subaru shook the thoughts off, this was supposed to be a chance to relax and talk with his friends before he got working on a plan to capture Gluttony so he could get home to Rem as soon as possible.

"So, Otto, tomorrow you're going out to get the crystal right?" Subaru tried to clear his head with conversation.

"Yes, me and Emilia will visit Kiritaka-san at the Muse company tomorrow morning." As Otto said this, Crusch's ears picked up the interesting bit of information that Emilia wouldn't be around and she cursed the fact that she couldn't make a major move until Rem got there.

"Great! It should be a piece of cake if Anastasia set up the negotiations!" Subaru brightened at the sign of good news.

"All I did was set up th' meetin. It's up to Otto to secure the stone, this gal ain't that generous." In truth, Anastasia only set up the meeting because she had promised the Emilia camp she would, including Subaru. Most at the table did not want the Great Spirit to return after being shown what could happen if things went wrong. Even Emilia was unsure, but if they didn't at least try to get Puck back, Subaru would figure out that something was up.

"Don't worry Emilia, we'll get Puck back soon" Subaru noticed that Emilia's head drooped at the mention of her spirit, and mistakenly assumed she had been missing her father. It wasn't entirely untrue of course, but the situation was more complicated than that. When he spoke, she was snapped out of her train of thought.

"R-Right. We'll get Puck back in no time!" She smiled weakly, her mind overflowing with scenes of Subaru being brutally murdered by her father. Subaru could tell she wasn't alright, but didn't want to bring a personal matter up at such a crowded table. Sparse conversations littered the meal including (much to Subaru's delight) several discussions between the Sword Saint and his grandfather about things generally inconsequential. The tension he had noticed earlier between Felt and Crusch seemed to have evaporated, which he was extremely thankful for. As people began finishing their plates and the meal drew to a close, Anastasia spoke up.

"'Scuse me everyone!" The table fell silent. "The Anastasia camp will be visiting the Casiopea baths just next door, all of ya are invited and yer visits will be paid for by the generosity of the Hoshin company." Anastasia announced, deciding not to mention that she owned the bathhouse. She also decided not to mention that she had made the impromptu plan to visit the bath house because she had been running all over town all day trying to make preparations based on the news that there was an Archbishop in her city and she seriously needed to relax before working straight through the night. Subaru perked up at the mention of another word from the stars of his world, and wondered where it could've come from before his thoughts were cut off.

"Boss! Why are we going somewhere else for baths when there's a bath right here with special water?" Mimi raised her hand.

"So glad ya asked Mimi, while this inn has baths with latent healing properties in the water, the Casiopea has healers manually cast spells on the bathwater to strongly increase the effect. If ya wanna come, meet us at the front of the inn in fifteen minutes, don't be late!" Anastasia explained as if she were proposing a business idea and began to leave with her camp. Everyone who had used the baths so far were immediately interested at the prospect of an even better bathing experience than what the inn provided. When she finished explaining, the camps broke out about who would be going. In the end, everyone decided to make the trip (even though Mimi complained about having to take TWO baths in one day). With that settled, the dining room slowly drained of all it's inhabitants until it was just Felt and Emilia left who had dismissed their knights.

It was clear that Felt wanted to talk about something as she walked over and took the seat next to Emilia.

"Big Sis, we gotta talk somewhere private." Felt announced once she was sure they were alone.

"Alright Felt, what do we have to talk about?" Emilia asked, but Felt's glance showed that it was not a discussion to be had out in the open. They walked through the maze-like inn for a few minutes until they arrived at Felt's room. Felt opened the door, allowed Emilia to enter, and then closed it behind both of them.

"We set up a watch to monitor Big Bro when he's out of the inn. Their main goal is to watch for anything potentially dangerous and then contact Rein to save Subaru if need be. He's gonna explain always being there on time with some Divine Protection of Anxiety Sensing bullshit. However, he's also gonna have to pretend to be able to sense Subaru's distress, including when he's alone, at night." Felt laid out the plan, its holes and the solutions they had come up with to deal with it.

"So that means that Subaru will know that Reinhardt knows how much pain he is in?" Emilia asked worriedly, her knight could be really troublesome when it came to people knowing his true feelings, unless he was declaring his love for her.

"Yeah but don't worry Big Sis, this is good. Rein will have a reason to approach Subaru and try to comfort and uplift him!" Felt tried to make her see the situation in a new light and Emilia was worried, but figured that the Sword Saint could handle the issue.

"That brings us to my next topic of discussion. We need to merge camps as soon as possible. Subaru has already died at least once since we got back from the theatre, and nobody knows how much more his psyche can take." Felt lost her cheery demeanor as the conversation got serious.

"But Felt, we would have to explain to Subaru why one of us is dropping out of the race. He knows both of us have our reasons to become Queen and that both of us are very passionate about it. He would definitely get suspicious." Emilia brought up the main roadblock Felt had been dancing around. Felt took a deep breath, it was something she had been thinking about for a long time, since even before the theatre but she was too anxious to talk about it until she absolutely had to.

"Right. I was thinking about that. I didn't really want to participate in the royal selection to begin with anyway. I only went along with it to protect Old Man Rom and to try and make a better life for those in the slums. I know that you want the same thing, and if you would promise to make me a domestic advisor, I think I would be alright with stepping back." Felt spoke quickly, but confidently. Emilia's eyes widened as she understood Felt's message.

"But Felt! You can't just drop out, you're in a situation people would kill to be in! Not to mention that we would still have to explain to Subaru why you dropped out and you would have to think up a reason for Reinhardt to join our camp." Emilia categorically rejected Felt's proposal based on the holes in her plan.

"Listen, the truth is I had been thinking about it since before the theatre even happened. There are a lot of good things about this life but honestly, I can't stand it. The snobby people who look down on the slums, greedy folks in power who just desire more for themselves, that's all I have been able to find in the Lagunican government. If I can help people like myself with less interactions with those rich assholes, it would be saving me a lot of pain, and I know that you would allow me to work on the slums, so why not? Growing up, I had big dreams. I was gonna live in a mansion and have more money than I knew what to do with and I wouldn't yield to anyone. But then I got into the selection, and I found something out. The people with money, and big mansions, they had to do terrible things to get there, all of them. Exploitation, blackmail, coercion, even kidnapping and murder. I've been living the life I used to dream of for months now, and I have come to realize that it isn't what I want. What I want is the ability to help people in unfortunate situations and give them the power to fight for themselves, not hole myself up in some castle and live lavishly. Plus, I got to try out my dream, Big Bro never even got a chance to see what his happy ending looked like." Felt spilled her guts, voicing her unhappiness with the new, political life she led. Emilia was stunned, most little girls dreamed of being a princess, not to mention the rumors that Felt was a member of the Royal Family herself!

"Well… if that's how you truly feel then I suppose it would be alright. However, there is still the issue of what would happen to Reinhardt after your resignation. If you drop out, he would just go back to being property of the government." Emilia conceded one point, but brought up the other.

"That's what I was stuck on as well, but I have been researching. Why does the Lagunican government keep such a tight hold on Rein? In their own words it is to assure the national security of Lagunica from the Witch Cult and other countries. That's their excuse for robbing Rein of the right to his own life." Felt's eyes began to glimmer dangerously.

"Ok…" Emilia wasn't quite sure where this was going.

"Let's be honest, Kararagi and Gusteko wouldn't attack without provocation, and there have been rumors that Priscilla is a deposed member of Vollachian royalty so it would be hard for the country to organize a full-fledged war without first seeing the result of the selection first. The other problem is the Witch Cult. Big Sis, your camp is public enemy number one to the Witch Cult. Your knight took down two of the Great Mabeasts in two weeks and an Archbishop. Reinhardt told me he could convince the council to allow him to journey with the Emilia camp with the promise of no new government ordered missions unless a catastrophe were to occur as long as you guys would keep fighting the cult. I assume Big Bro being Big Bro will be enough to attract Witch Cultists and with Reinhardt there, none of them will stand a chance!" Felt wrapped up her grand plan. Emilia sat for a moment and thought through the plan, if what Felt said was true about the council, there would be no reason to object to the merging of camps and it would be a very effective way of protecting her love at least for as long as the royal selection wore on.

"Fine, I agree with your proposal." Emilia finally said, much to the relief of Felt.

"Perfect! It should take a couple days to officially put it into effect and we should keep it under wraps until then, but by the time we all leave Priestella the Emilia and Felt camps will be united under Lady Emilia! Until then, we have the watch program in effect to protect Subaru. Of course, you are at liberty to let members of your own camp know about the merger." Felt smiled cheerily, finally feeling that Subaru's safety was guaranteed in the long term. Emilia also allowed herself to feel hopeful with the idea that Subaru would be watched by the Sword Saint or his proxies constantly in the coming months. After they wrapped up their serious discussions, they moved on to more lighthearted conversation about the baths seeing as spirits were high.

Eventually, everyone had gathered at the front of the inn and the group of fifteen walked out together. Subaru had noticed Reinhardt seemed a bit more on guard than he usually was when they stepped out of the inn. Actually, he had seemed on guard since he had failed to find Gluttony, but Subaru supposed he couldn't be blamed for that. The large group of fifteen entered the lobby of the Casiopea to find extremely a traditional Japanese looking room, which Subaru didn't fail to comment on. The place was obviously very upscale with dark, expensive wood covering the place and complex light fixtures affixed to the ceiling. Before anyone could probe him for more information, they noticed the lobby was empty. Completely empty. There was an empty receptionist's desk in the middle of the room, which Anastasia strolled by with her camp. Upon seeing the rest falter, she swung her body around to face them.

"What are ya guys doin? We got tha place to ourself!" She smiled broadly before continuing to lead the way past the desk into the next room. The room they now found themselves in was rather small and plain and there was an attendant standing in front of two doors.

"Hello, my name is Lena. I will be serving you all tonight. If you need something, please just call my name and I will resolve the problem. Please leave your belongings in this room, and enter the locker rooms. Men on the left, women on the right. The Casiopea assures that your possessions will be well taken care of!" She smiled sweetly. The woman was a human a bit shorter than Emilia with long dark hair and an average build, she seemed very reserved and professional. Nobody had an issue with this, including Reinhardt who had already hidden the Dragon Sword Reid before coming here. The group followed orders and entered the locker rooms to disrobe. A few select members were a bit embarrassed to unclothe in front of the others, namely Subaru and Emilia who were both on the self-conscious side, but they would have to manage for the time being. A few of the men sneaked glances at his forearms, scanning for the scars he had inflicted upon himself out of a sense of duty and morbid curiosity. The groups stripped and washed themselves, preparing to enter the baths. Once the now-split groups were ready, they exited the locker rooms using a large sliding door, and stepped through to find their prize. As Julius opened the door and stepped through, several members of the group gasped. They stepped outside into what looked like a jungle oasis. Huge trees that were several meters in diameter stretched up toward the sky, surrounded by vibrant vegetation that seemed to be exploding from every crevice. The territory was encapsulated by towering stone walls that eclipsed even the trees. A deep, flowing river cut through the forest in broad, wavy strokes. The massive size of the property allowed for several smaller, convenient chest deep pools with stone banks to sit on. Julius smiled at the reactions of his compatriots who had never seen the gorgeous sight.

"Any body of water here is safe to bathe in and all of it has received treatment." Julius gave the signal to run wild, and the younger generation was inclined to indulge.

Garfiel, Hetaro and even Tivey ran and jumped into the swelling river as Felix, Reinhardt and Julius took a more low key approach, silently slipping into one of the side pools. That left Subaru and Otto who found a side pool of their own that was away from the loud chatter the boys were making in the river. As each member slipped into the water, they all let out groans or expressions of enjoyment. The water really was better than the inn, it felt like getting in a hot tub if the water was sentient and massaging you. Otto and Subaru splayed out in their pool, content to just listen to the ambiance of their friends merrymaking. Eventually though, the calming effects of the water got to work and the noise died down, Otto and Subaru both opened their eyes as they heard someone preparing to join them and saw a tiger slipping into their pool.

"Hey Garf" Subaru mumbled as he closed his eyes again, enjoying the water.

"Hey Cap'n, Brotto" Garfiel slipped into the pool a bit shakily which Subaru missed but Otto picked up.

"Everything alright, Garf?" Otto sat up and leaned in, a bit worried about how anyone could be stressed in this holy water. When he spoke, Subaru opened his eyes and sat up as well, trying to see what the issue was. Garfiel looked over his shoulder and made sure the other guys were out of earshot before opening his mouth.

"Ya know how yer always saying how much you love Emilia and Rem Cap'n?" Garfiel whispered. Subaru's mind was occupied by a new girl who wanted to be added to that list as a blush spread across his face at the thought of what she was doing at that moment. Otto cracked a wide smile, he could see pretty easily where this was going.

"Yeah, why?" Subaru questioned, shaking off thoughts of Crusch, still unaware.

"Well… I wanted ta ask how you really feel about them, how do you know that that's love, how do you say it so confidently?" Garfiel looked behind him again as he whispered this nervously, checking for Tivey and Hetaro and trying to avoid eye contact at the embarrassing topic. Finally, Subaru's thick skull was able to grasp what was happening, and he fought to keep a smile from touching his lips. Who the hell am I to be giving out relationship advice though? My situation isn't exactly ideal…

"Well, it's really complicated. I don't really know what to say, if I had to tell you what the meaning of being 'in love' is i—" Subaru's insecurity took over, as his habit of rising to the challenge or breaking down when faced with a problem kicked in. With all the events of the day including his Return, he was a mess and now, with his little brother counting on him to tell him something impossible, his mind couldn't handle it. The situation would have been much worse if not for the magical water hard at work soothing his body and soul. Luckily, Otto cut him off before he could do any damage to the blond boy's growth.

"Garf, it sounds like you're asking what love is, and how to recognize it. Right?" Otto took over, and Garfiel nodded silently, the water calming his nerves.

"Well, unfortunately, nobody can tell you. It's different for everyone and what it looks like for me will be different than anyone else's version." Otto smiled warmly as he spoke, and Garfiel's eyes widened. Otto was thinking of a particular person he had grown closer to recently, Garfiel's older sister Frederica. The two had bonded intensely in the theatre and it was clear they were both interested, however Otto had to push those thoughts to the back of his head as he continued his speech.

"However," Otto continued as Garfiel perked up, "some things are constant across nearly everybody. One thing is that you really enjoy spending time with them, regardless of what the two of you are doing. Another common symptom is being nervous around them as a result of your worries about their perception of you, but at the same time, you feel very comfortable with them and are quick to trust them. If you're not sure how you feel, just try to examine your own emotions when you spend time with them. Try to understand where they're coming from, and why they are there." Otto finished his monologue and watched Garfiel as he processed the information. Garfiel decided he had a lot to think about, but was appreciative of his brother's stepping up to answer his question. Subaru sulked as he felt as though he completely blew it which of course, he did.

"Alrigh', thanks ta the both of ya." Garfiel closed his eyes and allowed his body to drift into a prone position in the pool, he let the water work its magic as his mind got busy. The other two boys did the same, sensing that the conversation was over and let silence overtake the sanctuary. They continued to relax and Subaru tried to hide how poorly he felt after that interaction. After nearly an hour of soaking, the boys dried off, got dressed and packed up to meet the girls in the lobby. Once everyone was together, they chatted and gushed about how incredible the bath was as they headed back to the inn although Subaru was unusually quiet which most mistook for the peaceful effects of the water. The sun had set during their bath, and so everyone split up to head to bed uneventfully.

Subaru pondered his mental instability that day as he walked. He had died, found out Rem could be awake, been extremely hopeful, depressed, humiliated, thankful, embarrassed, loved and even with the effects of the Casiopea water, he was feeling very overwhelmed. When he finally returned to his room with Beatrice, he said goodnight to the members of his camp with a smile on his face, then he flopped on his bed face down.

"What's wrong with Subaru?" Beatrice could tell something was up, so she sat next to him on the bed and ran her hands through his hair.

"Today was… a lot." His voice was muffled by the bed. Beatrice instantly thought of how many times he might have died today, and was glad that he wasn't looking at her as the emotion seeped into her face.

"It's ok Subaru, you handled everything great, just like my contractor should." Beatrice tried to soothe him while rubbing his back.

"I dealt with Crusch's confessions, thoughts of Rem, Garfiel's issues, the Archbishop, Emilia and I just can't take it. I love all of those people and they didn't even do anything wrong, in fact I would be angry if they didn't talk to me or ask me for help… Then why am I so miserable?" He complained into the bed. He forgot how volatile Return by Death made his emotions, and then for everything else to be piled on top of that, he had been undergoing vicious mood swings the whole day. He felt his self-doubt stronger than ever after his failure with Gluttony and his little brother Garfiel. Crusch's confession made him feel inadequate to be vying for one incredible girl, much less three. Beatrice's expression soured further at the thought of those girls ruining Subaru's mood by prioritizing their relationship over the man, and promised to have a stern word with them later.

"You fought an Archbishop today, you… almost died. Frankly you should have been able to just tell the knights and then rest while they took care of it but the world is too cruel to my contractor. Instead, you devised a plan to go out and defeat him, and you did the best with the information you had. Then all those people piled their own troubles on you, and it made you feel overwhelmed, which is a natural reaction, in fact." Beatrice tried to comfort her contractor and took a shot at why he felt so emotional. Although Subaru actually hadn't been closer to death than any of the other four, his mind glazed over it as thoughts of his true death filled his thoughts.

"Thanks Beako. But don't talk about them like that, I want my friends to rely on me and come to me with personal problems" Subaru was silent for a moment before he spoke.

"Then will you rely on your friends and go to them with those things?" Beatrice started nudging him where she wanted to go.

"What? I did! I mean, I do. Today, I asked for everyone's help with Gluttony." Subaru sat up, eyes wet as he defended himself. He knew he was a serial lone wolf when it came to his problems, but that came from the knowledge that his death was of little consequence compared to that of Emilia, Beatrice, his brothers or anyone else close to him. He could always restart and fix it, they can't, and Beatrice didn't know that so to her it just seemed like he was taking everything on for a childish reason like wanting to impress Emilia. Of course, Beatrice knew the truth but couldn't let Subaru know that she knew, but she was still trying to approach the situation with tact.

"Foolish contractor, I mean relying on them for YOUR personal problems. Gluttony is a physical problem, so was the White Whale, Great Rabbit and Elsa. You asked for help in those situations because you knew you needed it. However, you absolutely refuse to ask for emotional help from anyone but me, and it's mainly because you can't hide it because Betty won't let you in fact." Beatrice arrived at a point she had been trying to drive home for a long time. Although she hated the thought of Subaru relying on those useless girls or his brother's for emotional help, she knew that she wasn't enough to keep him safe and happy, the theatre had made sure of that. At her words, Subaru just returned to his face down position, not wanting to accept the truth in her words. Beatrice frowned at the childish behavior, but continued to run her hand through his hair.

"Don't worry, even if you run from your problems Betty will be there for you. Betty will always be there for you, as much as I can." She whispered. Subaru had no response besides the light cries that the bed was unable to muffle. They lay there like that for a while, and Beatrice knew that eventually he would need to start talking to Emilia and his brother's when he was like this, but also knew that if he was pushed into it now he could destroy his relationships. They stayed that way for a while until they began getting ready for bed together, silently. Last night they had fallen asleep together quickly and peacefully, but after Subaru's death and the events of the day, they both knew they were in for a rough night. Her healing magic trick did little to help this time as Subaru grappled with his own mind, Beatrice's recent words stuck in his head. I guess it's true, I don't tell anyone my honest feelings but I can't. They can't know, that damn witch won't let me tell them. I can't confess my greatest failure, or even face their wrath for the things that I have caused. Subaru wanted more than anything for them to know the truth, and his wish had been granted on the condition that he could never know. He also didn't know that everyone in the inn was thinking the same thing, wishing they could throw themselves at his feet and beg for forgiveness. For now though, all the recent changes were doing more harm than good as Subaru's raging heart continued to beat against his ribcage, threatening to burst from the stress of his rapidly changing environment and behavior. Beatrice did her best to try and soothe her contractor, but even after the Casiopea, healing magic and headpats, she could tell he was restless. They lay there like that as time stretched on, eventually having to give up healing after seeing that it was not going to work. As the seconds ticked by, Subaru's sanity was scraped away and his thoughts kept getting darker until he rolled over so that his back was facing Beatrice. He knew that there was one thing he could go that could guarantee his dark thoughts would retreat to the deeper reaches of his mind.

"I have to do it, I'm sorry Beako." He whispered, not loud enough for most to hear. Beatrice's heart broke when she heard this, and she wrapped her arms around him from behind as far as they would go. She couldn't handle watching him continue to harm himself, not after what she had seen in the theatre, all the pain he had been through, all the pain he continued to experience. Even with all this knowledge, Beatrice couldn't protect him, not from the Witch Cult, and not from himself either. How could she claim to be one of the four Great Spirit's if she could not even protect her contractor from himself?

"Please don't…" She squeaked as tears ran down her face, trying to trap him in a bear hug but failing due to her stature.

"I'm sorry Betty is such a useless spirit" Subaru grimaced at how his weakness caused his spirit so much suffering. She cried into his back, knowing that she should be comforting him but not being able to handle everything especially after seeing him die to the Great Rabbit as a result of her proudness and attachment to that damn book. They each wanted to help the other, but both were in shambles. Subaru slipped his hand under the mattress and retrieved the knife he kept under there and his bedside towel. He sat up, still facing away from Beatrice as he readied his blade. He took off his pants and sat there in his underwear and tucked his towel between his leg and the bed. Beatrice tried to stifle her sobs as she saw Subaru going along with his plan, her self-hatred she had acquired from the theatre deepening. Subaru pressed the sharp, shining blade into the soft, white flesh of his leg and watched how his skin dimpled along the pressure. He angled the knife and drew slowly, the sharp pain that followed the blade's trail replacing the dark thoughts in his mind. As he drew, his inadequacies about Crusch, failures with Garfiel, ineffectiveness against Gluttony, anxiety about Rem and confusion about Emilia faded to black. He picked up the knife and drew another long, horizontal line running down his leg, the blood running down quickly into the towel to be absorbed. He watched the two wounds for a moment, the dark red cuts contrasting against the pale skin as they continued to bleed across each other. Subaru's mind had truly cleared from the habit, and each of his spirit's cries beat against his soul, but there was a reason why he continued to harm himself. It really helped, his dark thoughts from the day were gone, and he allowed a loose smile to grace his lips, just glad that the stresses from the day were gone. He cleaned his leg up as best he could as the cuts continued to bleed and he turned around to his spirit who was now sitting on the bed, glaring daggers into the sheets with wet eyes. She knew what the next step was, and she climbed right next to him and began applying healing on the red marks. As his skin stitched itself together in front of his eyes, he wiped the leftover blood off one more time before discarding the towel. He put his pajama pants back on and hugged Beatrice tightly, his brain finally able to rest.

"I'm sorry I had to do that Beatrice, you know I could do it in private if you'd like" He tried to console his spirit as she tucked herself into his chest.

"Absolutely not, Betty will bear witness to all of her contractor's suffering and save him, the same way he saved Betty in fact. Betty promised to be there for her contractor as much as she can, and spirits do not break their promises I suppose." Beatrice, although broken, still wanted to be there for her contractor one hundred percent of the time.

"Thanks Beako, you're the best spirit I could have. I'm sorry I have to do things like that, it really helps me clear my mind." Subaru nuzzled his head into the crown of her head, his mind empty after the events of that day had melted away. She just hugged him tighter in return, and she could sense him drifting off to sleep. She would like for nothing more than her contractor to never indulge in that disgusting habit again, but she had no room to speak. If she had been better, he would have had no reason to do such things so it was ultimately her fault and the fault of everyone who was supposed to have been Subaru's friend. These dark thoughts continued to haunt Beatrice for hours before she slipped off into a fitful sleep. All across the inn, people tossed and turned and, surprisingly, Subaru Natsuki slept soundly for the second night in a row.

Chapter Text

Canon Divergences: Demands of the witch cult and witch cult Gospels give them additional information than canon

Gonna be some spoilers for later arcs (post 7), just some super minor stuff though.

Subaru awoke gently, his eyes slowly becoming adjusted to the dark room. He grimaced as thoughts of last night returned to him and he felt his spirit shift in his chest. His body powered on as he reached up to gently stroke her hair as she woke up as well. His mind flashed with the chaos and instability that yesterday had brought, but he retained the calm his episode had brought him so his main concern was his spirit. She looked up at him from their embrace.

"Is my contractor feeling better this morning?" She questioned, still upset about last night but knowing it was anyone but Subaru's fault.

"Yes, I'm feeling much better now, one hundred percent!" He tested the waters as he sat up, and studied his spirit's reaction. She glared at him harshly.

"Ok, I'm sorry, I am truly feeling better than last night. Yesterday there was a lot of stuff going on and it was really hard for me to process it so I dealt with it the only way I knew how. I will try to be better about it and I am very thankful that my spirit is so understanding and accepting of my issues." He answered his spirit's question again in a much more serious manner. Beatrice accepted this and buried her head back in his chest.

"As long as my contractor knows that Betty will always accept him, that's good enough for now. Now come on, we must get ready for breakfast." Beatrice spoke into his clothes and made absolutely no move to get ready for breakfast. And one day I'll make sure you accept just how wonderful you are, foolish contractor. Eventually, Subaru did get up to wash and dress and they made their way to breakfast together.

They walked into the dining room and saw the Anastasia and Crusch camps already sitting while waiting for the Emilia and Felt camps. Everything appeared to be in relatively normal order to Subaru besides the peculiar devices at each table setting. Unbeknownst to him Anastasia was under the effect of several spells to make her function normally, she had been up all night making preparations, contacting important figures and setting up defenses after learning that there was AT LEAST one Archbishop in her city. She trusted Kiritaka Muse enough to know he would believe her if she staked her reputation on it but the same could not be said for the rest of the Council of Ten so it was pointless.

The main thing Anastasia had done to ensure the safety of the city was pulling strings and calling in favors in order to strengthen border security and patrol volume in the city. Crusch and Anastasia had kept their camps updated, so everyone in the inn now knew about the potential coming Archbishop attack. They were all dealing with it well enough, they knew that hanging around Subaru meant that trouble was bound to find them. The triplets were having a bit of a hard time grappling with their fear of the Witch but they were alright all things considered. As the Felt camp (which had a grand total of two current members) filed in, Subaru began to notice the tense atmosphere. The way everyone carried themselves like something bad had just happened, or how the excited chatter at yesterday's breakfast had mutated into dead silence.

"Reinhardt! How ya doin?" Subaru, who hated awkward silences, tried to break the ice with some friendly conversation.

"I am well Subaru, I had a restful night of sleep and am excited to see what the day holds!" Reinhardt responded with a typical nice guy response and a cheerful smile. Crusch could see the wind blowing around him but ignored it, they were all telling their fair share of lies these days. The rest of the Emilia camp filed in and got seated so that Anastasia could speak.

"Mornin' everyone! We've got a very special breakfast this morning of daisukiyaki which is a kind of savory pancake for those who don't know. If y'all would turn on yer stoves, the batter will be served shortly!" Subaru saw that the devices at each table setting were actually small, fire-stone powered stoves and turned his on with the rest of the table. A servant strolled by and set down bowls of batter and toppings/sauces for the meal and Subaru's eyes widened when he realized what he was going to be eating.

"It's okonomiyaki!" Subaru accidentally spoke his thoughts aloud.

"What's tha' Cap'n?" Garfiel questioned

"We had a food from my homeland that was identical to this, but it was called okonomiyaki." Subaru explained his outburst. Ears perked up around the table as he spoke of his origins.

"Ya know when I looked into ya I couldn't find out where ya came from. You must've come from a pretty interestin place to fool my contacts like that. Ya see my knight Julius loves stories from foreign lands, I was wonderin if you had any interesting stories from yer homeland?" Anastasia tried to probe for information while embarrassing her knight a bit, a win-win. Julius would typically argue back for his knightly honor, but he was dying to hear an interdimensional story. For the rest of breakfast, Subaru regaled the table with quick retellings of movies like The Last Samurai and Titanic as well as the cultural context needed to understand the movies. The table was fully engaged in these stories, unsure what was real and what was story, surely a ship weighing tens of thousands of tons couldn't float without magic!

Subaru watched as the table tried to make their "daisukiyaki" and smiled at the heartwarming scene of Reinhardt trying to teach his grandfather how to make them properly. Breakfast continued as Mimi "annoyed" Garfiel, Felt and Anastasia shared stories about growing up in the slums and Crusch and Emilia tried to make conversation with Subaru simultaneously as Beatrice glared at both of the girls. Breakfast drew to a natural close as people began leaving to attend to their duties. Unknown to Subaru, many at the table were going out to patrol the city in order to try and detect Gluttony before he could strike again using the information Garfiel had relayed. Subaru knew that soon enough he would accompany Emilia and Otto to the meeting with Kiritaka Muse for Puck's stone.

"I know! Beako, do you wanna go out for a sweet? You were a very good partner last night and I want to show some appreciation!" The duo were on the way back to their rooms when Subaru blurted out a question. He had wanted to be able to do something for his spirit besides just thank her when he thought of abusing the girl's notorious love of sweets.

"Hmm, I don't know…" Beatrice drooped at the mention of last night, and was still worried about protecting her contractor which made her fear the outside after knowing he had already died.

"Come on Beako, don't be so humble! Good spirits get treats." Subaru made the decision final and Beatrice allowed herself to be dragged out of the inn because she knew that they would be monitored. They stepped outside and noticed the temperature was much different than yesterday, it was blazing hot. The sun beat down on them as they walked, and Subaru started sweating as soon as they got off the property. They walked down a few roads at random because Subaru figured there would be one somewhere nearby and eventually, he was right. He barged into a shop that had small cakes in the window and let out a sigh of relief at being able to escape the heat. Thank God for ice stones, who knew all you needed to make air conditioning was magic? 

Subaru marched up to a display case with his spirit on his shoulders and Beatrice decided to try and make her contractor happy by focusing on the food despite how she was feeling. She loomed over her quarry, and spent a long time cutting each one in half with her teeth or melting them on her tongue in her mind. Eventually, she tapped Subaru's shoulder and got the one she wanted. Beatrice was quite happy with the outing so far, there had been pleasant conversation, a raspberry tart and the guarantee that they were being safely watched. Beatrice chomped on her raspberry tart and listened to her chatterbox contractor yap away, hoping that times like these would stretch on forever.

Wilhelm had been on duty to guard Subaru that morning if he went out, and caught him and his spirit leaving after breakfast. He had tailed the pair from a safe distance, he wasn't used to this kind of work but he picked it up quickly. He thought he had lost the boy for a second, but came to realize that they had just entered a bakery. Wilhelm figured they would go back to the inn after their stop, so he moved past the bakery and sat in the shade on a bench from far enough away that he could rest easy. As the old man rested, he brought a handkerchief out and dabbed at his brow. These hot days really get to you when you get older. The man smiled to himself as he thought of the pleasant youths he was surrounded by, they certainly made him feel younger.

The door to the inn slammed open as four unique individuals strutted in. A beautiful ginger woman with piercing red eyes, a one armed helmeted man armed with a sword and washboard abs, a young, cute boy no older than seven with pink hair in formal attire and a handsome, older man with red hair and blue eyes dressed in a green shirt with a brown tunic and pants.

"Well we're here Princess, you know you won't be able to tell Pal about anything you saw?" Al spoke to his lady in a manner that would have gotten his head chopped before the theatre, but felt it necessary to speak up given what was on the line.

"Why does a dog feel the urge to educate the divine? Know your place and keep your mouth shut until I tell you to bark, mutt." Priscilla settled for a stern reprimand to which Al responded with the silence she dearly craved. She had become extremely interested in the boy, and had decided that he would be joining her camp, therefore the world would make it so. Her pride had not been hurt a bit at being thrown into a cage by some dog who would not let her out and could extinguish even her Yang Sword, because the knowledge had been beneficial to her in the end which just proved that the world turns in her favor. They had not planned on coming to Priestella, but began their journey as soon as the viewings ended to free that commoner from his murdering camp. They were greeted soon by a servant who led them to their rooms, Priscilla quickly bored of this and walked through the inn a while with her entourage until she stumbled into a garden with people. The Felt camp to be exact. Reinhardt had been telling his lady he was leaving for patrol when the door to the garden had swung open and none other than his father entered. Heinkel's face soured at seeing his son, bringing unpleasant reminders of a simpler time with Louanna.

Far away from the unfortunate father and son, a fly buzzed through an open window into a room on the third floor of City Hall. The gnat buzzed around the floor, wandering aimlessly until it landed atop a massive item, the metia which allowed the radio to be broadcast in the mornings. It was in a grand room with ornate carvings on the floor, brown wood and bronze metal laying atop each other on the walls which ended with huge glass windows and a high domed ceiling. There were many people bustling about, exchanging files and making conversation and nobody would notice something as small as a fly. Then, something odd began to happen to the fly, it grew and mutated and snapped and creaked and groaned as it rapidly grew in size and changed shape. The sickly display turned from scary to horrifying as the bug expanded to something that was orders of magnitude bigger, a huge black dragon that filled the room it resided in. After the amorphous blob was the size of a cat, people began to take note and when it reached the size of a ground dragon people were already running away. As screaming filled the room, guards rushed in to deal with the issue. They slashed, stabbed, burnt and fired at the newly formed dragon, but metal seemed to break on contact as magic fizzled out on the scales.

"Ah ah ah! You pathetic meatbags, hands off!" A high and girly voice came out of the grizzled dragon's maw.

As the last of the civilians had left screaming, the dragon flicked her tail out in front of her and sent multiple guards flying who crashed into the wall and went unconscious or dead on impact. She turned to the rest, already bored as they began their charge and walked through their attacks and ended it by stepping on them.

"What heavenly ends for those stinking meat scraps, writhing underneath my perfect foot." She mused to herself as she listened to the symphony of screams and groans. She kept forcing her form to change unnaturally, smoke rising off her as thousands of pounds melted off until all that was left was a pale, blond girl with red eyes no older than fifteen in hotpants and a bikini top, an outfit much too revealing for a girl of her age. She seemed to pay it no mind, her eyes twinkling with a cruelty beyond her years as she turned to the huge metia in the room.

"Greetings worthless scum! Are you all quivering at the sound of my lovely voice~? Khaha, you nasty humans will never lay a finger on me! I just wanted to let you all know that this town is officially under siege by the Witch Cult. I am the Sin Archbishop representing Lust, Capella Emerada Lagunica-chan-sama!" A voice squealed out in Subaru's mind. He looked around quickly, then realized it was being projected into his mind and assumed it was the radio that made announcements in the mornings. Time in the bakery seemed to stand still at her declaration, before breaking into chaos at the exit. At the mention of an Archbishop, the folks in the bakery began stampeding out the door, wanting to get back home to their loved ones after hearing the unbelievable news. A Sin Archbishop, in one of the biggest cities in Lagunica? How could this happen? Was it real?

"We have taken over the city and will not relinquish it until our demands are met! Our demands are as follows: Subaru Natsuki, the artificial spirit, that ugly half-elf's hand in marriage and the witch's remains! If you guys don't comply within four days, we'll flush you meat scraps down the toilet!" The girl took a moment to cackle uproariously "Did I forget to mention? We took over all four control towers, so you meatbags better hurry before we kill everyone. This message was brought to you by the lovely, the luxurious Emerada Capella Lagunica and I look forward to watching you peasants beg and grovel! Oh, by the way, I made some presents for you guys, make sure to treat them reaaaaaly gently!" She began cackling loudly again as the broadcast was turned off. By the time what the girl said had settled in, everyone was outside to see the crest of the Witch Cult dangling proudly from one of the control towers. This was too elaborate to be a prank, it had to be real. The streets exploded into pandemonium and Wilhelm leaped onto a rooftop in order to maintain his line of sight on Subaru. He frantically grappled with the small, white cube with symmetrical engravings in order to call for his grandson, Reinhardt. He held for three seconds as his Felt had instructed, and Reinhardt would receive an alert telling him to come to where the signal came from. Subaru would describe it as a 'pager', but that's neither here nor there. Wilhelm held the cube, and suddenly his grandson was directly in front of him.

"Any information, honorable grandfather?" Reinhardt asked, impatient to get closer to the dark haired boy.

"None, please ensure Subaru gets to Muse Headquarters safely." Wilhelm bowed as Reinhardt jumped down and they went their separate ways.

Reinhardt quickly moved through the raging crowd and got to Subaru and his spirit.

"Subaru! Quickly, we must meet up with the rest at Muse Company Headquarters!" Reinhardt shouted over the roaring crowds.

"Okay!" Subaru didn't know why they were going there, but he trusted the Sword Saint. With his mind reeling after the Witch Cult's demands for his own head and his mistress's hand in MARRIAGE, he neglected to wonder what Reinhardt was doing there to begin with. He picked Beatrice up and followed the red-haired man as they began running down the road. Eventually, the streets cleared as the civilians found themselves in shelters and Reinhardt, Subaru and Beatrice were running alone. They turned down an alley and were greeted by something beyond comprehension. A massive purple and black striped beast, crawling on all fours with splotchy skin and no eyes. It bore a massive mouth that housed several rows of sharp teeth as drool poured out of its gaping maw, it locked on to the trio and pounced immediately, before Subaru could register what was occurring, the beast stopped midair as Reinhardt sliced it cleanly in half.

"T-Thanks Rein" Subaru stammered breathlessly, mind endlessly turning on what the hell that creature could have been.

"The situation seems to have worsened, we should move quickly." Reinhardt redoubled his efforts to get Subaru to safety after this discovery.

"So why are we heading to this Muse Company place?" Subaru had been working on his fitness and was now able to hold a conversation while running quickly as the group began moving again.

"Lady Anastasia told us that if a citywide catastrophe were to happen, all capable persons should meet at the headquarters of Kiritaka Muse." Reinhardt answered, glad they would arrive at relative safety soon. She never told me that… Do I not count as capable? The boy's inner thoughts leaked out before he drove them back. Focus, the city is under attack with at least two confirmed Archbishops, you need to drive them out without losing anyone important. Subaru tortured himself and snapped out of it as they finally arrived at Muse HQ. As they approached a building, they saw a gorgeous red-haired lady wandering the streets as several more of the black and purple beasts appeared, differing in size and form.

"Oi! Priscilla! What are you doing out here? It's dangerous, so come on." Subaru motioned her over and she obeyed. Reinhardt cut down the nearby monsters as Priscilla joined their group.

"You are a peasant who needn't concern himself with the wellbeing of a goddess. You are lucky that I have chosen you to join mine camp." Priscilla was a smart girl, and knew how much she could say without Subaru figuring anything out so she chose her words carefully, but allowed herself to act differently than before the theatre. Subaru balked at the thought of leaving the Emilia camp and Priscilla's sudden interest, but brushed it off as he had much bigger problems and Priscilla had never made sense to him anyway. The small group of four entered Muse HQ, the grand building was creepy when they entered the entirely empty lobby. Reinhardt led them through a few hallways until they arrived in a small room that had a huge table, map and a rug. Decor was pretty sparse besides a couple drawers with books on top and ornate purple wallpaper. Upon arrival, they foundFelt and the Anastasia/Crusch camps minus Felix. The room froze up as Subaru entered, nobody knew how Subaru was going to play into this catastrophe yet. He was their strongest weapon, but also the most fragile one there. Anastasia had decided during her preparations that what Subaru would do was a game time decision, and the fact that the knight was one of the Witch Cult demands pretty much guaranteed that he would be on the sidelines this time.

"Priscilla, how nice of ya ta join us. Natsuki-kun, where's the rest of yer camp?" Anastasia had completely dropped her friendly persona and was all business now. The addition of the Priscilla camp could be a boon or a curse depending on how the Bloody Bride acted. The preparations she had been making so desperately had been completely blown out of the water by the unprecedented FOUR Archbishops that had been reported taking over the control towers and City Hall. In accordance with her preparations, all the civilians were to be sheltered and guarded by knights and city guards. She had requested anyone capable to meet at Muse HQ, which she had already addressed and sent them out to deal with the now beasts roaming the streets. Luckily, Kiritaka had made himself useful by taking the White Scales and barricading themselves in with the Witch's Remains as a last line of defense. As far as her reports from dying men told her, three control towers and City Hall were inhabited by an Archbishop each and the last control tower had two strong guards, and there were some freakish monsters littering the streets that could easily kill a civilian and they had to repel this attack of unimaginable proportions by the Witch Cult. To do that, she needed as much firepower as she could get which included the heavy hitters in the Emilia camp.

"I have no idea, me and Beako had been out doing an errand when the announcement came on and we ran into Reinhardt who took us here." Subaru gave his report. Anastasia cursed, was it so much to ask of that inept camp to meet at the predetermined spot when an emergency happens?

"Ok, here's the situation. Everything that the Archbishop said over the radio appears to be true, and there are also some unidentified monsters crawling all over the city. Additionally, I have received reports about two extremely strong Witch Cultists guarding one of the control towers, so it is possible that one of the Archbishops is roaming the streets. Luckily, most civilians have already been sheltered and are under protection by foot soldiers so all we need to worry about is how to repel this attack because we are absolutely not giving into their demands." Everyone knew if Subaru fell into the wrong hands, it was over. Anastasia continued her brief and updated the group with information as well as any advantages and disadvantages. Subaru looked around the room at their options. They had the Sword Saint, excellent fighters in Ricardo, Mimi, Julius, Priscilla, Wilhelm and Subaru/Beatrice as well as some slightly weaker warriors in Hetaro, Crusch and Tivey. The heavy hitters they were missing were Emilia, Garfiel and potentially Al. Subaru reminded himself that Otto could be extremely effective in any situation in a pinch. Ten present and fourteen total to fight against the four Archbishops, countless beasts and two strong cultists that had taken over the city. They had some luck in the way of civilian protection and the guard stationed at the Witch's remains, but had to deal with these new beasts and the threat of the Archbishops flooding the city whenever suited their fancy. Just then, the door swung open as a group of three barged into the room.

"Where is Subaru?" Emilia yelled, looking around frantically. She rushed over to him (sparing a quick glare at Crusch who had found herself at his side) and wrapped him in a hug. She was sweaty and panting as she hugged the boy, as a matter of fact so was Garfiel and Otto.

"I'm so sorry we're late Subaru, we were on our way but these weird monsters kept attacking civilians so we had to handle it. I'm so glad you're safe!" She squeezed him, then begrudgingly let go of the hug when she realized the atmosphere of the room. Subaru quickly relayed what Anastasia had told him to his camp,

"Whatever, we need ta deal with this now. The longer the Cult is in control of the towers, the higher the chance is that they sink tha whole city." Anastasia butted back into the conversation.

"Now listen, ya might not like it but I am gonna suggest that Natsuki-kun stays here where he is safe, I'm not comfortable handing the Witch Cult one of their demands like that." She continued.

"What? Abs—" Subaru began but was promptly cut off.

"I agree, nothing good will come out of giving them what they want." Ricardo spoke over him.

"Apologies, I agree with Ricardo-san." Wilhelm added. Multiple voices chimed in confirming their agreement until Subaru was forced to capitulate. He had to admit, it would be stupid to hand over the witch's remains or Beatrice so it makes sense that Subaru should be withheld as well. He gritted his teeth, not wanting to accept his fate but clearly outnumbered.

"Then what about Emilia? Are you gonna keep her here for protection too?" Subaru tried one last tactic to keep himself in the battle.

"They explicitly stated that they want Emilia to marry her off, likely to the white haired man if my reports about a huge harem always nearby that bastard are true, as long as she avoids him it shouldn't be an issue. We have no idea why they want you, so it is best to keep you outta harm's way." Anastasia quickly struck down his counterpoint.

"My reports tell me Lust can shapeshift and is in City Hall, Gluttony is in the South tower, a man in white robes who is possibly Greed is in the East and a bandaged woman who has some kind of mind manipulation power is in the West tower as well as two Witch Cultists who are much stronger than average in the North tower. One is a petite swordsman and the other is an enormous, multi-armed warrior." Anastasia had immediately recognized the description of Greed from the theatre, and let everyone know but admitted defeat on a complete lack of knowledge from that woman in the West tower, not a single man had made it back to report to her besides a description from far away.

"I believe it is possible that the Cult has access to reanimation, and is making corpse-warriors. It is possible that the multi-armed warrior is Eight-Armed Kurgan. I do not have enough information to make a guess on the 'petite swordsman'" Wilhelm shared his theory and combed through his mind for petite swordsmen, although his mind kept being drawn back to one name.

"Well tha's just perfect ain't it? One of the most decorated Vollachian soldiers in history decided to join us with an equally powerful, unnamed partner." Anastasia let out an angry chuckle.

"We need a plan, we have to prioritize the recapture of the Control Towers. They could flood the city if they notice something is wrong, so we need four parties to attack simultaneously, as well as a fifth group that can distract Lust at City Hall." Crusch took command over the situation, displaying her militaristic side. Anastasia gave her a side eye at how she took control of the meeting, but nothing she had said was wrong.

"For the group that will deal with the West tower, I nominate myself and Garfiel-dono, if they truly are corpse-soldiers, they will not be as strong as the originals and we should be able to take them down." Wilhelm spoke out first, wanting to confirm his suspicions about Kurgan's partner as soon as possible and noticing the boy's interest in the name that he had read about in books.

"Ha! If there is a woman with mind control, I would like to see how she will fare against mine divine self. I suspect that peasant will throw herself at my feet and beg forgiveness as soon as she gets a peek at my incomprehensible brain." Priscilla turned her nose up as she spoke. She did not particularly care for the city or its citizens but she could recognize the need to be rid of the Witch Cult, so she supposed she could get her hands dirty. It certainly is incomprehensible, Subaru thought to himself.

"Based on Lady Anastasia's reports, it seems that the man in the East tower is the strongest. I will do my best to deal with him." Reinhardt stepped in to take the most difficult opponent everyone had seen on screen.

"I would like to confront Gluttony, but I'll need backup." Crusch wanted to confront the Archbishop who had eaten her and killed her beloved, but could recognize that she couldn't do it alone.

"Me and Ricardo-san would be happy to join you, Lady Crusch." Julius stepped in to support the duchess, which she responded to with a small smile.

"Well then I guess it's up to us to handle Lust!" As much as Emilia wanted to tear Gluttony apart, that group was already full and nobody was covering Lust yet. She spoke to the three triplets, unsure of their victory in a straight on battle, but if all they had to do was distract the Archbishop, they could survive.

"That sounds like everythin' then, all five groups are decided. I have someone bringing five metias as we speak to coordinate a simultaneous attack." Anastasia chimed in, providing them with a method to execute their plan. As all the warriors readied themselves, Subaru sulked on a chair as Beatrice tried to comfort him. The warriors left the room one by one, some giving Subaru looks of pity or using his image to inspire themselves. Emilia gave him a quick, tight hug after Crusch had already left and hurried out of the room as the rest of his camp clapped him on the back, ruffled his hair and said their parting words.

"'M sorry to hold ya back like this Natsuki-kun, I know it might be a bit humiliating to be kept outta tha battle like this. I think you still have a major part to play in all this because the opportunity hasn't shown itself yet, but I hear you have a knack for being useful in impossible situations." The purple haired candidate gave her candid thoughts and tried to cheer Subaru up a bit. Positive reinforcement through words wasn't necessarily her style, but the screen showed it working on the knight again and again. He was led back to the lobby and sat there with Beatrice while Anastasia furiously met with contacts and drew up contingency plans while waiting for reports from the knights and guards that were fighting on the streets. She's right, I do have a part to play in this. The wheel's in Subaru's head began turning, thinking of how he could get out of this situation and help his friends when he felt a sharp pain on his foot.

"What was that for?" Subaru looked down at his spirit who had crunched his foot with her own.

"Betty had the feeling you were thinking something foolish in fact." She knew her contractor would hate the powerless position he had been put in, and would be thinking of ways to get out of it.

"You know me too well huh?" Subaru sheepishly smiled, he had been caught red-handed, but that didn't make him want to go out there and help any less. Beatrice didn't fault her contractor for not trusting the others, the theatre had shown all of them how useless they were without Subaru, but now they KNEW what the stakes were. They knew that if Subaru was to fall into the hands of the Witch Cult, especially given the new information that one of them could manipulate minds, it would be bad news not just for Priestella or Lagunica, but the whole world.

"Of course, foolish contractor. You are always saving everyone around you, let them save you for once." She hoped her words would get through to him. Luckily, it did relax him somewhat. Yeah, we did send a lot of really strong people out there not to mention Reinhardt. With him on the battlefield, it's hard to imagine a loss. Maybe it'll be alright if I just sit this one out, it might be cowardly, but I really don't want to die again. Images of his suicide against Gluttony flashed through his mind and the emotions and feelings that ran through him flooded his body, he hated to send Emilia out by herself to distract an Archbishop, but she was stronger than him and Beatrice in their current position so he might just get in the way. As Subaru pondered this, the doors flew open and a man barged through.

"Yo! Bro! Where's the Princess?" Al spotted Subaru immediately, and was clearly in a hurry.

"Ah, she went to the West tower to fight one of the Archbishops I think." Subaru responded, the sight of a weaker knight clearly going to rescue his lady hurt him.

"Damn, she really gets wrapped up in the nuttiest stuff. Thanks for the info Bro I owe you one, see you later!" Al charged back out the way he had came, he would not be denied from seeing his lady, and Subaru began to have fantasies of riding in on a ground dragon to rescue Emilia from the clutches of an evil Archbishop…

Emilia and the triplets had decided that Emilia would be the main combatant with her massive mana pool, and the kids would provide support when needed. They had just arrived to City Hall, and were camped out on a nearby rooftop, looking for a convenient entrance that was less obvious than a window or the front door. The group was dripping in sweat from the blazing heat, but they were all more focused on their mission, the triplets may have been young, but they were veterans on the battlefield and even Tivey who was the weakest of the three was a capable fighter in his own right.

"It looks like we should be able to enter through that maintenance door. It will likely lead us into the basement of the building where the heating and cooling units are. From there, we can clear the building from the basement to the third floor." Tivey alerted his companions to a plain, innocuous door on the side of the building. They quickly jumped from the roof down to the street and quickly made their way to the door, when Emilia tried the handle it was locked and so she froze the door straight through near the handle and flicked it out so the lock was removed and the door swung open. They were met by a set of stairs the went down on the left and up on the right, they decided to head to the basement so they could clear the building from bottom up so they wouldn't be ambushed or surprised. The basement was dark, damp and warm from the hot day outside with a slight layer of dust on most of the surfaces. They took care to clear each room, disrupted only by the occasional bug whizzing by or unrelated noise from outside. They entered a new room that had pipes running all along the ceiling and walls that were connected to a air conditioning unit that was powered by a massive ice stone in the center of the room. As they slowly made their way around the room, being sure to check their blind spots, Emilia noticed some movement from behind a collection of pipes, the pipes being too dense to tell what they were hiding. She alerted the triplets and began preparing her ice magic, finally jumping behind the pipes and freezing whatever had been hiding solid from their seated position. From the feet to the neck, this person was now encased in solid ice. Emilia looked down, but what looked up at her shocked her. It was a small boy, no older than five with dark hair and dirty clothes who was now almost entirely frozen, staring at her with trembling eyes and an open mouth.

"P-p-p-please… It's so cold" The boy begged, his bodily functions shutting down as the drastic change that had killed most of his skin cells on impact caught up with the rest of his body. Emilia's eyes widened, as the ice shattered into fine dust, releasing the boy from his restraints and she quickly moved to comfort the lost child who flinched at her touch. Emilia pulled back, feeling like a criminal for what she had just done to this poor child who was staring at her with terrified eyes. Just then, the boy began laughing and Emilia snapped her head back, completely lost.

BREAK

"Wow, some of you insects can really be entertaining!" The boy stood up, shaking off his awful condition as the redness and white spots on his skin disappeared, turning back to a healthy, rosy color. As the boy spoke, his proportions and features were demolished and replaced with new ones. The four spectators had never seen anything like it as the boy turned into a girl who seemed in her young teens with blond hair and red eyes and wearing a very sensual outfit.

"It's me, your goddess, Capella Emerada Lagunica! Archbishop of Lust!" She wore a loose smile and had a cute look in her eyes that were reminiscent of a child asking their mom what was for dinner. Emilia was the first one to have her brain catch up with the situation, and she grabbed Tivey and Hetaro and began sprinting out of the basement as Mimi followed them. They had agreed that they should move the battle outside as quickly as possible, so finding her in the basement was the worst possible option.

"Their no fun, don't those dirty meatbags want to put their filthy hands on me?" Capella sighed with boredom and leisurely gave chase through the maintenance floor. Emilia had been able to escape back onto the street, closely followed by her companions. They put some distance between them and the building and began setting up an attack for when Lust inevitably came out the door. They had all readied their magic, but as the seconds ticked by, they began to get nervous. Was she just playing with them? Was she going out another exit? Did she just want them to think she was going out another exit? As these thoughts rushed through their heads, they heard footsteps behind them, all four of them spun around to reveal Lust approaching slowly. They had no time to think about how she had been able to slip around them with four demihumans trying to sense her, so they all jumped to get distance between themselves and the Archbishop. From there, Emilia wasted no time and began firing ice crystals at the Archbishop. She had learned that the Archbishop could shapeshift, but she was hesitant to engage in melee combat without knowing more about her abilities. After all, Gluttony could shapeshift as well and he had several other tricks up his sleeve. Emilia couldn't believe her eyes when the ice shards pierced straight through the small girl, watching her black blood run down the ice and drip to the floor. Then, the mortally wounded Archbishop spoke.

"There it is! I knew you couldn't wait to get your grubby hands on this lovely lady!" Capella squealed in delight as the ice slipped out of her body, replaced by flesh. Emilia and her companions watched the feat of regeneration, shocked at how quickly she recovered. Emilia launched volley after volley into the Archbishop, kicking up dust as some of the shards drilled straight through the cobblestone street as they lost visibility of the Archbishop. Emilia finally stopped, curious as to the state of her opponent and as the dust cleared, Capella was shown drenched in blood, but unharmed. There was something else that was different about her as well, her slender arms had morphed into huge, disgusting black and purple fists bigger than her head. She leaped toward Emilia and began to swing her massive fist at the half-elf's head. Emilia saw it coming, and took note that Lust was not particularly fast so she was able to dodge it easily. As the massive paw swiped at where Emilia used to be, a enormous noise exploded from their right, Capella was blasted straight through by the triplets releasing their Roaring Wave. She was blown to pieces as black blood and chunks of flesh sailed through the air, but one of the chunks containing her head just began forming her body anew from the neck down until she was whole again. It was a disgusting process to watch, a pulsating black sludge oozing from her head as it solidified to form her flesh and clothes. Some of the blood that had been raining down from the Roaring Wave managed to reach the group and they all screamed out in pain as the black liquid made contact with them. It was small amounts, so there were no major affects but it taught them a major lesson.

"Blood… It's her blood, don't fight her in close quarters!" Tivey yelled out to warn Emilia from being burned in the future. At his observation, Emilia gained some distance and tried a new strategy she had picked up from fighting Gluttony. She encased the Archbishop in a massive dome of ice that was multiple feet thick, Lust watched the dark blue ice encase her and decided to show those peasants something worth dying to. As the dome completed around her, she turned back into that familiar black sludge as she began to expand at a ridiculous rate. As scales and a tail began to form, she grew to a huge size, quickly filling up the dome until she couldn't fit, but her Authority demanded that she continue to grow, and so the world bent to her will. She moaned and groaned from her cage, feeling the intense pressure of being in a space smaller than her body was meant to be as the ice held fast. After around twenty seconds of this excruciating growth, the ice shattered and Capella quickly finished reaching her final form of a massive black dragon with fearsome horns as it healed it's bones from the damage it sustained from breaking out of the ice cage. Emilia was shocked that it managed to break through, but decided to switch strategies again. She raised her palms to the sky and began to form a massive block of ice in the air as Capella opened her gaping maw. Capella took a deep breath in, and used the unique Od of flying dragon to convert her mana into fire deep within her belly, she began exhaling quickly, and the black fire that had grown within her began to spew out of her mouth before it was harshly stuffed back into her mouth. The triplet's Roaring Wave managed to beat her flames to the punch and wreaked havoc on the dragon's head. The top of her head had been blown off and her neck simply ended as a gruesome stump as blood spurted out but all four combatants were far enough that they were not injured. Capella regenerated her head and turned her attention to those three brats.

"Ah, how lovely. Little girl you are in love aren't you?" Capella cooed at Mimi.

"Yes! Mimi loves Garf and he is the coolest in the whole world so Mimi will kick your butt so she and Garf can go play." Mimi declared, either too stupid or too brave to fear sharing her love's name with the Archbishop

"Silly girl, don't you know that all the love in this world belongs to me? Let me show you…" Capella began muttering herself as she changed her dragon form down to a much smaller one. Mimi's jaw dropped in shock as a bonafide replica of Garfiel appeared before her eyes with the exception of being bigger than the real Garfiel by about thirty centimeters and fifty kilograms.

"No, a bit smaller right?" She asked in his voice as she studied Mimi's reaction, turning into a perfect clone of Garfiel Tinzel.

"Eww! Mimi will never love you because you'll never be Garf because Garf is the coolest and you're not cool!" Mimi screamed at her, hating how she took the form of the one she loved. As this conversation had been happening, Emilia was hard at work crafting her weapon. A massive block of ice was suspended in the air above Capella, it was tens of meters thick and must have weighed thousands or tens of thousands of pounds. She brought her hand down, manipulating the manifestation of her mana to obey gravity as the block started traveling down towards the ground. She managed to catch Hetaro's attention, and he caught sight of the massive object descending towards them. He watched it approach them, and right as Capella looked up to identify the shadow that was obscuring the sun, Hetaro grabbed his twins and leapt to safety as the massive block crushed the Archbishop. At first there was nothing, then after a few moments a black blood began to seep out from the bottom. Emilia was breathing heavier now after calling upon so much mana, but she had a lot of fight left in her. Emilia cautiously watched the enormous brick of ice, looking for any signs of life when Capella strolled out from behind the block looking none the worse for wear.

"Filthy half-devil, it appears you are also in love, no? Let me see if I can get it right…" The small blond girl began her disgusting transformation again, turning into a perfect replica of Subaru complete with dark hair and his classic tracksuit.

"How's this, Emilia-tan?" Subaru asked her with a cruel smile and an evil glint in his eyes.

At the sight of her love, Emilia clenched her teeth and forced the ice brick to shatter into hundreds of spears which all launched themselves at Capella.

"DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK WITH HIS VOICE." She yelled at the Archbishop, losing control of her emotions somewhat as she thought of the scary implications of Lust's power. The spears tore through Lust's body, embedding themselves deep in their body until Lust looked like a pincushion, blood streaming down their body.

"E-Emilia-tan, why? I loved you, Emilia-tan…" Subaru closed his eyes and ceased breathing dramatically. The act gave Emilia quite the scare and she had to remind herself that she wasn't facing Subaru, that was Capella. She grit her teeth and jumped back with the triplets white she forced the spears to explode, causing Lust to explode along with them. Emilia's maneuvering had managed to avoid any of them getting hit by the blood.

"Khahahaha! You meatbags really are fun to play with! Unfortunately this lovely lady is just about done playing. But don't worry, once you pathetic worms die you'll finally be able to understand and receive my benevolent love." When the smoke had cleared, Capella was standing in the street, unharmed. Her body began to crack and groan again as she reverted to her dragon form. Emilia and her crew were now used to the ability, and they wasted no time attacking while Lust was in a vulnerable state. Ice and wind tore through the huge black mass that kept getting bigger and forced it to devote itself to filling the holes that were being smashed through itself. Eventually though, it was able to finish it's transformation and it swiped it's tail toward the group as a way of clearing their fire. It worked as the four were forced to evade to safety, reminding themselves that melee combat was impossible. Capella moved forward and flicked her tail again, inhaling slowly as she did so. The triplets realized too late that the tail swipe was just a distraction as Capella began to breathe a black hellfire towards them. At the last moment, Emilia was able to construct a ice wall but noticed something was wrong. The fire that was hitting the ice was simply burning on top of the ice as if it were wood! The ice wall was melting quickly and was going to break in a matter of seconds if nothing was done so she pumped more mana into the wall to repair it as it burned.

"That fire can burn anything as if it were flammable, we need to evade it, not block it." Tivey gave a theory as the four maneuvered away from the melting ice wall. They had underestimate Capella's lung capacity however, as she simply kept spewing the flames and followed them on their retreat, hitting several buildings in the process that lit up like a cotton ball. Eventually, she exhausted her breath and was forced to stay still for a moment, recovering herself and her opponents recognized the opportunity to counterattack. As more ice and wind headed her way, the black dragon collapsed, the great beast turning into a writhing, living mass. The mass quickly scattered across the ground and ran and Tivey quickly realized that it was a huge horde of rats that was dispersing in every direction on the street. They killed as many as they could, but some inevitabley wriggled into buildings, sewers and alleys before they were caught. The group got on top of a building for better vision, breathing heavier now. They scanned all around for the Archbishop, and Hetaro quickly called out to his allies as he saw the little blond girl jump out of a window and up onto the roof. They spun around to see Capella on top of the roof, and before they could move she lifted her hand which had been turned into a sharp, bladed prothesis and severed her own head. Then she angled her neck and held her head toward the group, the black blood spewing out like a gyeser. Emilia tried to build an ice wall and Mimi tried to do the same with wind magic but it was too little, too late. The blood drenched all four of them as they collapsed to the rooftop, writhing in agony. It felt as though molten lead was being injected into their bloodstream and spreading across their body, blood rushed through their ears as they screamed their throats raw from the unthinkable pain. The group quickly quieted down as the passed out from shock and left an unharmed Capella with their unconscious bodies.

"Honestly, none of you are worth receiving my love, but the benevolence of the great Capella Emerada Lagunica knows no bounds!" Capella said to no one in particular as she jumped off the rooftop, satisfied with her handiwork as she returned to City Hall.

Subaru had given Anastasia and Beatrice the slip, he knew neither of them would have let him step foot out of City Hall. Seeing Al charging gung-ho to Priscilla made Subaru realize that no knight would sit on the sidelines and let his lady put her life at risk. He knew that Emilia was going to City Hall with the Pearlbatons to hold off Lust, and he didn't know how much danger she was in because he knew nothing about the Archbishop. As he sprinted across town, he just prayed that she would be safe and after fifteen minutes of running, he reached his destination. A battle had obviously occurred, if the black stains on the ground and cracked stone were anything to go off, which made him increasingly worried as he failed to find any sign of life. Maybe they just killed her and already went back to Muse Headquarters? Subaru's optimism peaked its head out as he tried to explain the strange scene. He tried to be as observant as possible because he knew there could be an Archbishop nearby, but he truly couldn't find a soul. As he scanned the square, a sliver of blue caught his eye, he craned his neck to the rooftop of a nearby building and saw a little piece of ice, a few feet tall which he decided to investigate. He entered the building which seemed like some sort of apothecary and mentally apologized to the owners as he stomped up their stairs with shoes on. He finally managed to find a trapdoor on the third floor which granted rooftop access and he rushed out to find the ice he had seen. He quickly saw the bodies of the three Pearlbaton's on the ground before his eyes snapped on to her. His love, on the ground faintly moaning in pain with disgusting black skin that had pulsating veins which covered the right side of her face and a part of her torso and legs had been affected through her clothing that had seemed to have melted away. His eyes widened and his body went on autopilot as his legs sprinted to be closer to her, his mind felt far away from his body, as if he was just watching the scene from above. He dropped to his knees next to Emilia and picked her upper half in his arms while her groans intensified as her consciousness slowly entered her, tears falling from his eyes as he witnessed her wretched state. Subaru was no knight.

"Emilia-tan, I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you" Subaru managed to squeak out when he saw her open her eyes. Emilia's brain was fighting to keep her body on, and her thought process was so sluggish she could barely process basic information through the throbbing, pulsating pain running through her, but she understood that her failure was making her knight feel bad.

"Subaru, it's alright, please don't blame yourself." She tried to rectify his misunderstanding, but the effect of the Dragon's Blood making her brain feel like it was in a thick syrup and she had to take long pauses during her speech.

"Did Lust do this to you? What happened?" Subaru desperately questioned, searching for some way to save her the way he needed to.

"Her blood, it's like poison…" Emilia explained the best she could what had happened, Subaru understood what she was trying to communicate.

"Ok Emilia-tan, just wait right here, i'll go out and figure out some way to fix this." He took his tracksuit off and replaced his knees that propped her head up with his balled up coat. He gave her a gentle kiss on the clean side of her forehead before he stood up and gave one last look at her pathetic state before starting to leave the rooftop."

"Wait, Subaru, please don't go." Emilia weakly pleaded as he left, Subaru was in such a hurry to try and spare his mistress of her fate that he didn't even notice, already halfway down the trapdoor he had entered through. He rushed back down through the apothecary as images of Al, Julius and Reinhardt flashed through his mind, all of their mistresses were fine. I dealt with Sloth so I can deal with Lust. I have to. He grabbed his whip and carefully snuck to the base of the City Hall, he decided to go in through one of the window's that had been opened to try and alleviate the effects of the hot day. As he slipped into a bathroom, he slowly glanced through each of the stalls and let out a shaky breath as he cleared the room. What the hell was that? I've never seen anything like it… First Gluttony takes Rem and now Lust does this to Emilia? Unforgivable. Subaru's heart was pounding out of his chest as he peeked out of the door, and found a complete lack of any life. He left the bathroom and hugged the wall as he walked, pausing outside of the next door and listening in, only entering after ensuring there was no abnormal noise coming from within. He swung the door open to find an office that had a large, crowded desk with a grand, wooden chair on the other side tucked in. He also happened to see a young, blonde girl with red eyes sitting on the desk, feet dangling toward the floor.

"Oh! You're that meatbag that the bitch was so fond of, aren't you?" Capella tilted her head at Subaru with an innocent look.

"What did you do to Emilia?" Subaru grit his teeth and had his whip at the ready but stopped himself from letting loose on the Archbishop in order to get information. You know you can't win in a 1v1, especially without Beatrice, I need to play smart here, figure out what she wants and dangle it in front of her. Subaru had learned a couple tricks of the merchant trade from his failed loop trying to gain support from the Anastasia camp.

"When you look at me with those passionate eyes, it makes this lovely lady blush! But all the love in the world belongs to me so naturally I accept your feelings." Capella smiled sweetly at him, Subaru ground his teeths together at her nonsensical words. Love? So she wants love? Should I pretend to love her, or tell her that I will love her if she cures Emilia?

"R-Right, if you cure Emilia, I promise to love you until the day I die!" Subaru declared, figuring Emilia would forgive him for making a hollow promise given the situation.

"Khahaha! You're cute, 'your' love isn't yours to give, it is simply mine by birthright. But, in return for receiving your love I will grant you this information in my infinite benevolence. As far as I know, once someone is infected with my blood there is no going back, they will continue to suffer for the rest of their miserable lives!" Capella twisted her face into a cruel smile as she spoke these words, and Subaru's mind went haywire. He typically wouldn't trust a Archbishop but when he saw how much joy was in her eyes as she crushed his hopes, he knew her words were true. He collapsed on a chair near him, head in hands. I am going to die, I have to die, there's no way that I can let Emilia continue to live like that. He didn't care if Capella killed him then and there, to be quite honest.

"Your not very interesting, are ya? Your pretty pathetic, so get out of my sight, this lovely lady has better things to do than watch you squirm around like a worm." She dismissed him offhandedly, to which he responded by getting up and shuffling out of the room with eyes glued to the floor. He didn't know why Capella hadn't killed him, but his brain had been overloaded by everything and his appearance was closer to a zombie than a knight. Well, I guess I better check up on the other groups and see how they're doing before I restart. He had promised not to think of his lives as expendable, but he would kill himself as many times as it took in order to make sure Rem and Emilia were safe and happy, so he allowed himself to make an exception. He wandered down the blazing hot streets, managing to avoid the demibeasts by going through empty buildings. How cowardly, but then again it makes sense, I really am not deserving of being a knight, i'm always too late. As he walked through buildings, he heard a voice calling after him.

"SUBARU!" Beatrice yelled as she finally caught sight of her contractor. He had asked to use the bathroom, and after ten or so minutes she checked up on him to find that he had vanished, she used their bond to detect his general direction and had given chase through the city to find him.

"Oh, Beako." Subaru turned around and spoke in a tone devoid of emotion.

"Subaru, are you alright? What happened? Why did you run away?" She could tell that he had not Returned based on his stench, but he was very obviously not acting like himself.

"Oh, it's not really important. I wanted to check up on how everyone was doing…" As he said this, Beatrice's mind ran wild, they were near City Hall and if her memories were correct, their bond had been pointing her towards City Hall for a few minutes, had something happened with Lust or Emilia? As Beatrice's mind raced, the sorry state of her contractor caused an ever-growing knot to form in her belly.

"Foolish contractor, I am never going to let you out of my sight again. Whatever problems come along, we will handle them together." She tried to establish a line of connection with the despondent man, to no avail.

"Not this time Beako, I need to fix this, nobody else can fix this." Subaru voiced the thought that had been repeating in his head. Beatrice's heart shattered as she heard this. He's planning on using it again I suppose. Why? What happened? Beatrice's heart may have broken, but she had not given up on saving her contractor, whatever the issue was, she would find it and solve it.

"Subaru, talk to me, what is wrong?" Beatrice pleaded, trying to get to the crux of his condition.

"Lust… did something to Emilia, something about her blood. It's causing her terrible pain, and there is no known method of recovery." The spirit's mind tore through the four hundred years she had spent reading in her library, searching for an iota of information to give her contractor hope. Come on useless spirit, save your contractor! Subaru turned around and continued to shuffle through the houses, searching for the South tower which was closest to city hall which was the battleground for Gluttony versus Crusch, Julius and Ricardo.

Beatrice fell in line with him, needing to be close to keep him safe as her mind scouring the billions of words that she had read in her life, trying to find the right combination to bring her contractor back. After a few more minutes of silent walking on the streets now, they arrived at the South tower. Subaru approached the scene where a battle had very obviously taken place, blood marks stained the floor and walls of the tower along with several huge gaps cut out of the stone buildings and floor. There also lay Crusch, Julius and Ricardo, either unconscious or dead. Beatrice glared at the sight, snapped out of her frantic thoughts as her contractor approached the bodies. He knelt down in front of Crusch, the woman who had declared her love for him just yesterday and stroked her cheek with a finger, no response. The rising of her chest told him that she was still alive, and he came to the conclusion that all three of them had fallen victim to Gluttony's Authority.

He chuckled at the realization, I can't save anyone if I can't reach them, I should have never let them lock me up in Muse Headquarters. He viewed the scene, then made up his mind, he had been putting it off in hopes of finding some information, but all he found out was that the attack on the South tower was born to fail. He turned to Beatrice, wondering how to kill himself without her preventing it. Beatrice had caught on to her contractor's plan, and had been determined to stop him but she realized if she knocked him out and his checkpoint changed to after the battle with Lust, he would hate her forever. She couldn't bear to let him die but if she stopped him he would hate both her and himself for the rest of time, the spirit was trapped in an impossible situation.

Tears began falling from her face as she realized the hopelessness of her situation, her contractor would commit suicide, with Beatrice right next to him. She couldn't protect him, couldn't save him and the worst part was that she would never know how close she was to him in his final moments. The version of her that greeted Subaru after death would try to justify his death by telling herself that there was no way she had been around, that Subaru had died far from her grasp because if she was there she would never let it happen. But the Beatrice in this moment knew, she knew how pathetic she was, even with all the resources in the world, even with the Sword Saint and the might of the five camps, with the backing of the Great Spirit of Yin, they were all powerless to save Subaru.

"Please Subaru, don't leave Betty. Betty needs you, Betty can't allow you to hurt yourself." She collapsed on the ground in a puddle of tears, gripping the hem of his pants as she begged, her mind trying to think of anything it could to save him. Subaru's eyes widened, a flicker of emotion turning on. How does she know I am going to kill myself? Is it that obvious? Why isn't she angry at me for throwing my life away? Why is she going to let me do it instead of just draining my mana? As his brain reactivated, questions swirled through his mind, it was almost like she KNEW he would Return, but that was completely impossible. There had to be another explanation, but he frankly didn't care as the majority of his mind was focused on the foul sight of his love, and the comatose state of his new suitor.

As Beatrice took a tighter hold of his leg, sobbing into his calf and pleading incoherently, he pulled a knife out of his jacket silently. I can't let her see it, she'll heal me, I need to die as quickly as possible. Subaru raised the knife to his ear, shaking slightly as his spirit continued emotionally praying at his feet for his continued life. It's okay Beako, I'll come back to save everyone. You won't have to look like this ever again. His hand steadied, as he plunged the knife as deep as it would go into his ear. His knees buckled as his consciousness vanished and he crumpled to the floor with his spirit. Wow… So fast… He thought weakly as he tumbled through the air, time slowing down to allow him his last thoughts.

Subaru Natsuki was dead before he hit the ground.

Chapter Text

I don't like how everything goes the exact same in every loop in Re:Zero, so there will be small or large changes from loop to loop even if Subaru does not have a impact. Also some stuff about Lilliana's character.

When Priscilla had arrived that morning, she had quickly tired of the peasants at the inn, and decided to go for a walk to find something interesting on a whim. She was quite pleased at the scorching weather, but of course the world would deliver her favorite weather to her on the day of her arrival. She was strolling aimlessly through the streets humming to herself when she heard something gorgeous. Her interest piqued, she decided to find out what the commotion was. As she entered a large courtyard, she found a crowd gathered around a small, tan girl scantily clad in exotic clothing, playing a unique instrument and singing a beautiful song.

Priscilla easily cut through the bustling crowd around the girl to give those peasants something to really gawk at. She made eye contact with the performer as she approached and stood beside her, the singer was initially confused but a wide smile broke out on her face as Priscilla began dancing. Her dance was beautiful, her divine beauty and skilled dance coupled with the Songstress's enchanting melody drew in an even bigger crowd. As Priscilla leaped and waltzed to the melody, she noticed something in the eyes of the pathetic crowd. Despite Priscilla being so kind as to gift those mongrels with a transcendent dance, they were more focused on the girl than her!

This truly drew her attention to the small girl she was performing with, and examined her with discerning eyes. The Vollachian princess came to the conclusion that the only way some street performer could garner more attention than her was if she possessed some ability granted by Od Laguna. The girl must have some kind of Divine Protection that allowed her to capture the minds and souls of these pathetic spectators, something that was certainly entertaining to Priscilla. They continued their performance, drawing a huge crowd to the point that guards had to start redirecting street traffic until it finally drew to a close, a uproarious cheer broke out as Lilliana bowed and Priscilla stood tall to bathe in the praise. The crowd eventually dispersed as the two performers turned to each other.

"Wow! Those were some incredible dance moves!" Lilliana praised the mysterious lady.

"Of course, I excel in all that I do. I am Priscilla Barielle, and you have caught my eye." the princess scoffed while staring at the songstress with an intense look.

"Ah, one of the candidates for the throne? You must have so many incredible stories… I am Lilliana Masquerade, the Songstress!" Lilliana shrunk a little under the pressure of her gaze, but quickly regained her ditzy confidence as she introduced herself.

"Hmm, I have decided that you will be joining my camp as well, count yourself lucky that you have caught the interest of a goddess." she ordered.

"Oh… That's really flattering, but I pride myself on sticking out on my own. I will become the greatest singer in the world until everyone from Vollachia to Gusteko knows my name! But for now, I'd like to stay in Priestella…"

"Ho? It greatly pleases myself to see peasants reaching for such lofty goals. It has been decided, you shall join my camp for as long as we remain in the city, your payment shall be to perform on the biggest stage of your life." Priscilla wanted the girl to join her camp, but respected her grit and determination so she decided to adjust her request, and reward the diva with a worthwhile prize for one such as herself. Lilliana stopped to consider the offer, she had always been extremely carefree and did what suited her tastes at that particular moment and for some reason, this pretty lady really drew her in, it was a feeling she wasn't particularly used to and wanted to indulge in more. Plus, she said that she would get the chance to perform on a big stage without leaving Priestella, so what harm could it do?

"Okay! I'm happy to be a temporary member of the Priscilla camp!" Lilliana squealed with excitement, this could be a great chance to hear some stories to sing about, or maybe even witness them! Priscilla smiled, thouroughly entertained by the diva, unbeknownst to both of them, the Songstress would end up playing a more important role that day than anyone could have imagined.

"So what are we doing? Where are we going?" Lilliana had the visage of a young puppy following her mom as Priscilla began walking down the street with the diva at her heel.

"I was wandering the streets, looking for something to entertain my divine self when I happened across you who fulfilled that role. You see, when I want something the world rearranges itself to make it so." Her typical, snooty response.

"Wow! So can you tell me any heroic stories that I can sing about?" The young girl had stars in her eyes as she was led through the streets.

"A heroic tale? Sounds amusing… I have decided that you will participate in one of your own soon enough. A quality performer such as yourself need not beg and grovel at the feet of others. You may sing of your own accomplishments, and regale the crowds of peasants with your song." Priscilla had been quite bored that day regardless, and decided that watching the singer participate in some kind of brave adventure was worth watching. The duo continued to walk down the streets aimlessly, while Lilliana chattered and was occasionally reprimanded by the stern princess. They continued this for a while, until they arrived at the edge of the city.

"Hey! We've been walking for so long that we made it to the city limits, I think that's the West Tower! Or maybe the East tower… Where exactly are we going, Priscilla-sama?" Lilliana was a little confused at the lady's antics, but didn't want to upset her either. Priscilla ignored the young girl's chatter as she peeked through one of the higher windows. She had caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a knight rushing out of sight, much too quickly. Something had to be going on in there.

"Let me ask you a question, diva. You have grand dreams, and the desire to achieve them, but do you possess the bravery and willpower to bring them into reality? If you are not willing to lay your life down in exchange for your dreams, leave me without another word." Priscilla asked the girl, wanting to see if she truly possessed a heart worth watching before throwing her into the fray. Lilliana paused, of course she thought that she possessed what she needed to make her dreams real, but the tone of the princess made her hesitate. She had lived through some rough times on her own in the wild trying to fulfill her basic needs, and it was scary. The pain that fear, hunger and thirst brought were things that she absolutely needed to avoid, would she risk undergoing that suffering again or something even worse to become what she wanted to be? Definitely, a thousand times over. The young girl turned to the Vollachinan, eyes brimming with determination.

"Absolutely, I won't let anything stop me from standing with the great heroes of legend!" Lilliana announced, Priscilla smirked as she heard this. This diva truly does appear to be a worthwhile individual.

"Then follow me, if you falter in the heat of the moment, you will die. Keep your wits about you and do as I say, and you will have all the stories you could hope to sing about." The princess began approaching the door, Lilliana did not hesitate at the mention of death, a life without dreams and songs was worse than death! Plus, when she was around Priscilla she got this weird feeling that everything was gonna be alright. They approached the door together, but were stopped by a voice piercing through their minds which Lilliana recognized the source of immediately.

"Greetings meatbags!"

Subaru collapsed to the ground panting, the white hot pain that had shot through his skull quickly fading. His eyes were squeezed shut and he gently opened them, relaxing his muscles as his body realized it was no longer in mortal danger. Even though he had just Returned by suicide yesterday, it was something that was impossible to get used to no matter how much he tried to prepare for it. As his senses began focusing on things besides the mortal wound he had just administered, he realized where he was. He heard the clatter of metal on tables, merry conversation, he felt a sticky sensation on his face and smelled an intensely fruity aroma. He also realized he had not collapsed to the ground, but rather his upper body had fallen on top of a table, his lower body saved from falling by a stool. He was in the bakery with Beatrice, and had collapsed squarely onto her raspberry tart. Subaru's mind kicked into gear, a sense of determination and happiness overcoming him now that he knew Crusch and Emilia were alright, but of course it was not all good news as he had to find some way to protect them over the next few hours. It kind of reminded him of how his mind would clear after cutting himself, except this was on an infinitely larger and more important scale. He raised his head, preparing to play off his tumble into the spirit's baked good as some sort of prank or joke and locked eyes with his spirit.

Beatrice was an excellent magic user, earning her the title of the Great Spirit of Yin. However, while she excelled in Yin magic, she could lend her abilities to other schools of magic as well, she could be considered an excellent magic user in any of the six schools of magic, even Yang magic which was the opposite of her predisposed element. While she sat at a table with her contractor, listening to him chatter away about nothing, he suddenly crumpled onto the table, knocking his forehead onto her dessert. This was accompanied by a foul smell radiating off of him, even worse than when he had Returned yesterday, Beatrice immediately understood what that meant, and the implications of it.

She quickly cast El Shanti on herself, it was a Yang spell that allowed the recipient to think clearly, and brought an overwhelming sense of calm onto them. While it did not completely stop the breakdown that had been imminent moments before, it vastly decreased its effects to the point that she was confident she could hide it from Subaru. She just hoped that he wouldn't notice through their bond that she had just cast a spell, but he was too busy dealing with his Return to even realize. She understood that if she let Subaru find out that she knew he had just Returned, Satella would come to take him and while Reinhardt might be able to beat her, she didn't want to bet sending her contractor to hell on the battle. He raised his head and looked at her, and although El Shanti was silencing her negative emotions, the sheer volume of despair and grief allowed a little to seep through. What about the watch? Was he seriously in a situation that not even the Sword Saint could handle?

"A-Are you okay Subaru?" Beatrice asked, not knowing how to comfort the boy without revealing her hand. Fate truly was too cruel to her contractor.

"Yeah Beako, sorry. It's just so hot outside today, I think I might have overheated a bit" Subaru chuckled as he gave the lame excuse, hoping she would accept it. Beatrice was over the moon to hear this as it gave her an excuse to go and provide her contractor with some comfort. She hopped off her stool and onto his lap, administering healing magic through her back and the back of her legs.

"Betty can tell you're lying, but it's okay, you don't have to tell me the truth if you don't want to or can't. Betty will always believe you." She said what he needed to hear as she applied the healing magic thoroughly. She was now focused on what had killed her contractor, and how she had allowed him to be alone with the aggressor.

"Just tell Betty what needs to be done, and she will do it I suppose" She tried to prompt him into giving her the information she needed to protect him. Subaru teared up a bit at how she knew he was lying, but trusted him anyway, and the memory of her state just seconds ago, urging him to stay alive. That was another weird thing, it seemed like she knew he was gonna kill himself, but how? Then it hit him, their contract, it operated somewhat like the Oni twin's synesthesia, and they could usually get a vague reading of the other's intentions if they focused, but it still didn't explain why she didn't stop him, maybe she knew that his love for Emilia was so great there was nothing she could do, but that didn't really sound like his Beako, he also had to keep in mind the lingering mental effect Return by Death had on his perception of others, and decided to chalk it up to that. It appeared that he had Returned to just before Lust's announcement, and as Subaru was locked in thought, Beatrice silently slipped a hand into her dress and grabbed ahold of a small white metia, the same one Felt had used to call Reinhardt and the same one that Anastasia had given to the five groups last loop. She activated it, pinging to Anastasia that Subaru had Returned as she had been instructed after the first Return when she had left during Crusch's confession.

"The towers, we have to get in contact with the other camps and get to the control towers now! Let's head back to the inn to find the others" Subaru told Beatrice his makeshift plan as he was already running out of the door, greeted by extreme heat as soon as he left the bakery. Beatrice followed, gathering that a bad situation was imminent given the rush her contractor was in, and decided to speed up their retreat to the Seasylph Lodge.

"Journa!" When Beatrice said these words, Subaru felt as though a weight had been lifted off his back, kind of like Murak but he also felt like his body was in tiptop shape, and his legs started moving much faster than they had been a second ago. It was another basic Yang spell Beatrice knew, and she was happy the small amount of mana Journa expended if it got her contractor to where he needed to be. The bakery was close to the lodge, and they turned onto a street just a couple blocks away when Subaru heard a voice he absolutely detested enter his ears without permission.

"Greetings meatbags! My name is Capella Emerada Lagunica, Sin Archbishop representing Lust!" A high pitched voice rang out in the minds of the city, launching into her monologue about how the Witch Cult had taken over Priestella, proven by the sinister black and red flag that adorned the North control tower.

"FUCK" Subaru yelled, he was too late again. He might have been late, but that didn't mean there was nothing he could do.

"Change of plans, we're going to Muse Headquarters" He grabbed her hand and took off running again. Beatrice saw Reinhardt who had been summoned by Wilhelm at the announcement behind them on the top of a building but quickly shook her head, signaling him off. He didn't understand why, but trusted the Great Spirit and decided to make use of his time by directing civilians to shelters as Subaru and Beatrice continued sprinting to Muse HQ. After just a few minutes of running with Journa activated and a lack of demibeasts due to their quicker movements from last loop, they had arrived at their destination and Subaru nearly broke down the door on his way to the war room from last time. He quickly found it and entered to find the Anastasia camp already set up.

"Natsuki-kun, glad ya could join us. Where's the rest of yer camp?" Anastasia asked, trying to gather all the strongest fighters.

"Don't know, I was out with Beako when we heard the announcement and came straight here, they should be here soon." He replied, Anastasia proceeded to give him the rundown of her reports but it was purely performative. She knew he had died thanks to the signal from Beatrice, and had let her camp know.

"So it seems like we'll have to send out five groups, one to handle each tower and one to distract Lust at City Hall. It's unfortunate we don't know anything about the West tower, none of the guards were able to send a report…" She summed up her speech with a tentative plan about how to handle things which ended on a dark note, Subaru was about to reply when the door opened as Reinhardt and Felt entered looking somber, Reinhardt had smelled Subaru through the door and alerted his lady to the reality that Subaru had died so they had time to prepare to face him. The dark feeling in the room cleared up a bit as the impenetrable Sword Saint entered, diluted somewhat by the knowledge everyone held that they had all already failed at least once.

The Crusch camp followed shortly behind, with Al arriving alone soon after them, interrupting Anastasia's report as they entered, Felix had been dispatched to a field hospital to assist wounded civilians who had fallen victim to Lust's demibeasts and Al made it abundantly clear he was only there because he probably had the best odds of finding Priscilla by meeting up at Muse Headquarters. Emilia, Otto and Garfiel were right behind them which threw Subaru off a little as they were much later last loop. He wished everything would go the exact same in every loop, and if he was in a small setting like the Sanctuary or the mansion, it often did but the more people that got involved, the less predictable things got so in a huge city like Priestella, there was no way to tell what would change. However, it seemed as though the Witch Cult assumed identical positions as last time and Gluttony had been in the same place even after a Return, so he couldn't complain too much. The Crusch and Emilia camps were relieved to see Subaru seemingly alive and well, but had no way to know that he had already died once that day and Anastasia speedily ran through her breakdown one final time.

"Well now that everyone's here I suppose we can get right down to business. We will need five groups to handle each tower and City Hall." Anastasia began the war talks.

"Wait, Subaru was one of their demands, shouldn't he stay somewhere safe?" Emilia cut in, prioritizing her beloved.

"He's a knight of the Kingdom of Lagunica and we need all the help we can get. We need to prioritize the safety of the city." Anastasia argued, the Crusch and Emilia camps confused as to why the merchant was acting as if Subaru was just a regular knight.

"I agree with Emilia, it is not wise to hand over an object of the Witch Cult desires." Crusch chimed in, also wanting to protect Subaru.

"Subaru Natsuki defeated an Archbishop and two Great Mabeasts in two weeks. If you two want to tell the knight over there why you don't think he's capable of handling himself during a catastrophe, be my guest." Anastasia didn't want to be ugly, but she needed to end this bickering so that they could save the city as soon as possible. Crusch and Emilia were horrified at how Anastasia was making it seem like they thought Subaru was weak and how she was putting Subaru directly into the line of fire unnecessarily. Unless… The camps slowly realized what this could mean, and as they tried to deal with the implications of what Anastasia was arguing. Subaru was surprised to say the least at the change in Anastasia's philosophy from the last loop, but everything she said was reasonable. If I made such a sound argument last time, they definitely would have let me go…

"Now, on to more important things, we need to devise the five groups that will go to deal with these issues separately. I have metias that will allow us to coordinate an attack, but we need to be smart about how we're gonna do this or the whole city will end up underwater." Anastasia quickly took charge, to distract Subaru from his camp's reactions as much as to defend the city swiftly. Then the door opened and a strange knight nobody had seen walked in briskly, stopped, and saluted to Anastasia.

"Lady Anastasia! There have been developments across the city!" He declared.

Priscilla and Lilliana had paused at the door to listen to the announcement, and the Songstress got her first taste of what dealing with the Witch Cult would be like as the streets exploded with people, all running away from the tower they were standing under. Lilliana watched them run, like gazelle escaping a lion, and began to wonder if she should start running as well.

"Remember diva, you must be unshakeable if you are to survive today, no matter what course of action you take. If you wish to run, run. But once you make your choice, you must hold onto it until the very last." Priscilla could tell she was having doubts, and might have cast her aside but something inside her was saying that the small girl would end up being very useful in the coming events. Priscilla kicked open the locked tower door and stepped inside, turning back expectantly to look at Lilliana. Lilliana shook her head, she had already made up her mind. She was going to stand with the heroes of legend and become the greatest singer in Lagunica! Reid had dealt with things much worse than a few cultists, so how could she run away here? Lilliana grinned at Priscilla, and stepped through the threshold of the doorway, signing herself up to be a major player in the coming battle. They walked through this first room of the tower, some sort of lobby that was adorned with tables, chairs and closets full of shoes, but mostly plain. The stone walls and the shade that being indoors provided made it seem much, much cooler than the scorching heat outside to the point of almost being cold. Lilliana shivered a bit at the drastic temperature change, getting the creeps but not nearly being enough to stop her from approaching her destiny. She got the chills not just from the cold, but from the knowledge that this room should be overflowing with guards, and the hunch of what might have happened to all of those soldiers. Priscilla confidently strided through the room, not giving a spare thought to the emptiness of the room, but lamenting the loss of the warm heat. There was a door that led to a set of wooden stairs in the corner, and the duo opened that door to begin their ascent of the tower.

"—ve, muv, e nt? Reathng, ivng, dershaning, AT s muv!" They were able to hear a muffled voice from the second floor above as they climbed, which they both knew to be a Sin Archbishop. Priscilla continued her cautious ascent until she was on the second floor, and the ranting voice was louder, and slowly opened the door. The second floor was a single, large room with two doors in the corners on opposite sides of the room, assumedly leading to bedrooms. The room contained quite the strange sight, twenty or so city guards fully dressed in armor, sitting on the floor sitting with legs crossed, all staring up at a woman fully wrapped in bandages dressed only in a cape with tufts of white hair poking through the gauze near her head. She was holding a small boy, and the guards watched the bandaged woman intently as she stopped her speech to greet the newcomers. Priscilla's divine mind got to work at the sight, clearly the guards were under some kind of mind control, but so far both her and Lilliana were unaffected.

"Ahh~ I'm so sorry for taking your time. Thank you. My name is Sirius Romanee-Conti, Sin Archbishop representing Wrath! I am here to teach and spread LOVE!" Sirius proclaimed her name, proud to share it with her beloved husband.

"Growing up with a sibling, bonding over shared experiences, shared hardship, all those small moments of silent breakfasts and knowing looks, that intimate knowledge of each other's experiences, that is love, no?"

"H-Hey, she doesn't seem so bad? She hasn't hurt anyone, and she's just talking about love! Maybe we can just talk this out, and nobody has to get hurt." Lilliana began to fall to her Authority immediately, and tried to appeal to Priscilla to back down. Priscilla's intense focus and complete lack of empathy allowed her to maintain control, however and she was already theorizing how to beat the Authority, she seemed immune to her because of her divine mind of course, but these peasants couldn't hope to hold their ground. She could probably free the diva with Soul Marriage, but she did not share the same affection for those piggish guards as she did for the young girl who was bursting with potential and dreams. However, that might be all she needs to do, she had witnessed the diva's own unnatural ability to capture the attention and minds of those peasants in the square, so why should this case be any different?

In a just a couple seconds, the cunning princess was able to devise a plan to free the peasants from the Authority to weaken the Archbishop, and moved to act. Lilliana's mind felt free, she felt so… connected with the other people in the room, it felt just like when she performed, and felt as though she could communicate with her spectators on a level that surpasses basic communication like speech and images. As she watched the bandaged woman preach, she imagined that this must be how her spectators felt. She was completely enraptured by the perfect woman's oration and felt as though she was learning the secrets of the universe, she had to keep listening and gaining this knowledge by any means necessary. Just then, she felt a hand on her chin, and jerked back to avoid it and continue her viewing, but the hand was much stronger than her and tilted her head away from the perfect lecture.

She locked eyes with Priscilla, who accompanied her here but since she laid eyes on the bandaged woman, she could frankly care less about the Sun Princess, but something was wrong, Priscilla's eyes were much closer than they should have been. Then Lilliana registered the warm, soft sensation on her lips and understood that her first kiss was being taken by the much older girl. Her mind was spinning from the release of Authority as well as the natural response to a kiss, and melted into the kiss a little before jumping back, now (compared to a moment ago) clear of mind.

"Hey! What are you doing? That was my first kiss you know!" Lilliana forgot her position in her camp, and reprimanded her sternly with a mad blush on her cheeks.

"Good, it is important to stand up for oneself, even in a situation such as this. However, you had fallen under the control of that witch, and I took it upon my divine self to free you." Priscilla smirke at her boldness, and explained herself as the rambling speech continued, the guards completely unaffected. Lilliana registered her words, and realized that she had fallen under some kind of spell, she knew this bandaged woman was an Archbishop and had just trusted her and fallen under her care without a second thought!

That wasn't normal, she may be a bit airheaded, but no way would she make a blunder like that, all kids grew up with a taught fear of the Cult that felt innate, so at the sight of an Archbishop she should have been terrified, but instead she had actually wanted to interact with Wrath more. And now that the Soulwashing had been kicked out of her Od, she realized that she wasn't as scared as she should be, it was an Archbishop after all, but she felt calm, especially standing beside the invincible Sun Princess.

"O-Oh! Im so sorry Priscilla-sama, thank you so much!" Lilliana realized the situation fully now, and felt a incredible sense of gratitude to the lady who had saved her from the demon's spell.

"But, what do we do now?" The singer questioned tentatively, shooting a shaky glance at the Archbishop.

"You may not know it, but my world has blessed you with an ability. It holds the power to override that witch's Authority, and you must use it to free these men and to weaken the Witch, then I will crush that pathetic excuse of a woman myself." Priscilla layed out the plan confidently and without room for guesswork, after all as long as it was her idea the world would take care of the rest.

"W-What!? I think your mistaken, I don't have any ability! You see I am just a humble si—"

"Tread lightly, diva. You insult both me and yourself with your words, do as I say and we will emerge victorious. Your gift is in your song, it has the power to free the minds of these simpletons from her spell." Priscilla cut her off, not allowing the singer's foolish side to continue.

"My… song?" Lilliana mulled over the thought, people had always been enraptured by her song, once she got good enough to perform without failing spectacularly, but that was just because she was a great singer! Right? It would explain how she drew such incredible crowds when she had just arrived in Priestella, and still had inferior skills to the flocks of excellent and more experienced performers.

"When you made your choice earlier, you knew you were putting your life on the line. All you must do is put your hopes and dreams into your song, now do not disappoint me diva." Priscilla interrupted her train of thought and, luckily, it was just what the singer needed to hear. Right, all my life I have been putting everything I have got into my song. If I can't trust my performance, I might as well have died in that forest! I'll put everything I've got into it, it doesn't matter what the circumstances are. Lilliana Masquerade is more than a girl or a person, she is a performer!

"Ah? You despicable woman, why have you released that girl from my love? You must be truly evil, to not succumb to my all encompassing love." Wrath had noticed the conversation that was interrupting her speech, and realized that for the first time, someone had broken free from her love. How dare she? This poor girl, wandering aimlessly through her life was finally gifted true love, but it was snatched away by this wretched woman. All the guards stood up in unison, and Wrath what she had been holding, the young boy who had been dropped clambered to his feet and began glaring daggers at the duo who refused Wrath's love. Sirius pulled a long, heavy steel chain seemingly from nowhere, and brandished it at the princess. Lilliana was standing tall and proud, holding her trademark Lyulyre, it wasn't the best venue she had ever played at, but these people needed her song more than anyone besides Lilliana herself. She strummed a chord and began to play as Priscilla summoned her Yang sword, standing in front of the girl to protect her.

"The new morning paints the sky in crimson-gold

peacefully, as if yesterday's noise had been forgotten." Several things happened simultaneously, Lilliana began singing to match her Lyulyre playing, the guards and young boy began marching toward the two girls, Priscilla stepped forward as Wrath began spinning her chain. Priscilla took a broad sword stroke at the nearest approaching guard to ward him off, and it caught him slightly on his arms. A small cut, but deep enough to bleed heavy opened up on his arm, Priscilla's eyes uncharacteristically widened as she saw the same cut, in the same spot open up on every last one of the guards as well as the young boy. It transmits damage as well? No matter, I need only wait until the Songstress frees them. Priscilla took this new information in stride as she quickly began formulating a new plan, and motioned Lilliana to move back as she sang and circled around what little free room she had left to kite the horde of approaching guards away from the singer.

"Chasing away the night, a new day begins.

Overtaking the crimson-gold dawn,

the true morning finally arrives." Lilliana continued her beautiful song. The music and vocal notes blended into a beautiful symphony no orchestra or band could hope to match. A few of the more strong willed guards began to snap out of the Authority, but the majority continued to approach Priscilla. The princess noticed this and smiled, it was only a matter of time until the guards snapped out of it, and then Wrath would be helpless. The guards who had woken up got their bearings, then turned to the Archbishop and ran away as fast as possible, orders were overtaken by fear.

"Behold, the sky which overtakes the dawn!

No matter what night we face,

No matter what unwanted dreams torment us," Her beautiful song continued. Wrath's expectations were blown out of the water as yet another person was able to break her Authority.

"Ahh, little girl I see you are also blessed with love! I do enjoy seeing this expression of love, but unfortunately my love must take precedence." With her words, she snapped her chain taut and it flew towards the little girl who was sweating now with her eyes closed as she performed, completely lost in the music. Just as the chain swung toward her, it instead wrapped around Priscilla's Yang Sword, she had jumped back toward's the singer to protect her and managed to reach the chain in time. Priscilla quickly unsummoned the Yang Sword as Wrath tried to pull it out of her hands, then resummoned it again as the song continued to play. By this point, most of the guards had snapped out of it and had rushed out of the rom, and the remaining guards were stuck in a daze, brains torn between Lilliana's Divine Protection of Telepathy and Sirius's Authority of Wrath.

"Stop getting in the way, stupid bitch!" Sirius was revealing the reason for her namesake, and swung her chain again at Priscilla who ducked it and stepped in. As the chain wrapped around her back, she quickly grabbed the end Wrath was holding and jerked it toward her. The surprise move managed to catch Sirius off guard, and it allowed Priscilla move forward safely in order to get into melee range with the chain user.

"Nevertheless, morning shall come.

It shall come to everyone, with no exceptions.

Behold, the blue sky which overtakes the dawn!" The inspiring song continued, but as Sirius got angrier, her Authority grew more powerful and the minds of the remaining guards were pulled in two different directions. Luckily, they were more out of the way, simply standing where Priscilla had led them and had not been hit by any crossfire from the battle, but of course Priscilla couldn't care less, she just happened to get lucky. Now in close quarters, Wrath abandoned her chain attacks and threw a punch at Priscilla. The swordswoman recognized that she was at a deficit in strength, speed and fighting technique, but she had something that Wrath didn't. Priscilla burst into flames without being harmed thanks to the unique properties of the Yang Sword, this caused Wrath to abandon her strike attempt and try to escape the searing heat.

"The new morning paints the sky in crimson-gold

Before you know it, the shining stars have quietly faded away,

And the merciless morning shall come." Lilliana could hear the sounds of metal and fire and feel the heat of the battle, but these were barely passing thoughts in her mind as she continued to pour her hopes, dreams and life into her song. Wrath had retreated from the scorching fire, but it was sloppy and the princess now dressed in flames easily kept up. The swordswoman swung her blade, believing that there was an opening in Sirius, who had been kept on her back foot thus far. However, Archbishops were feared for good reason, and Wrath had left an opening intentionally to bait a committal sword swing, and she was able to parry it with her chains and then land a punch that burst into purple-pink flames on impact.

The punch landed squarely in Priscilla's midsection, and both women were burned by flames but Priscilla got the worst of it as Wrath's flames were more concentrated and accompanied by a punch from the physically strongest Archbishop. Wrath smiled cruelly as she landed the blow, there were no humans that could withstand a punch from her like that without blocking, or so she thought. As a one of three beads on Priscilla's necklace burst into pieces, she looked up with a tight frown at the Archbishop, and kicked her. The Archbishop had been expecting Priscilla to crumple or even die, she had not been expecting to receive a hearty kick to her head which blew her into the wall right next to the window.

"Behold, the sky which overtakes the dawn!

Wherever you are, it comes for you.

Before long, the blue sky shall open up above you." Lilliana's mind was flooded with thoughts of her parents, the suffering she encountered until she found her way in Priscilla, Kiritaka, what could come of her and her music as she continued through life and managed to express all of it through her music. Not necessarily through the lyrics, but through a deeper, more meaningful method of communication that isn't available to most. Nearly every guard had snapped out of it now and had escaped, with just a couple unlucky, weak ones left who were in a daze in the corner of the room. Wrath's mind spun as she tried to comprehend what had happened, her devastating punch and searing flames seemed to have no effect, and the swordswoman had kicked her as if nothing had even happened. Before she could collect herself, Priscilla began to drive the Yang Sword toward the Archbishop's midsection, intending to finish it in one strike. But Sirius was not a weak opponent, and she quickly grabbed her chains to block the strike. However, Priscilla foresaw this possibility, and didn't mind. Now she had the Archbishop pinned to the wall, the only thing separating her belly from the legendary Yang Sword was a single chain link. Priscilla began driving the sword into the chain, pressing as hard as she could, but the chain was nothing ordinary, it was the trademark weapon of a Sin Archbishop after all.

"How did you survive that? Sneaky bitch." Wrath grew angrier at the unexplained survival of her strike, but had more important matters to attend to. She swung a fist from her position on the wall toward the princess, who was forced to abandon her advantageous position behind the Yang Sword to dodge the blow.

"Come now, under this sky and upon this earth,

nothing stands in our way.

Go forth, go forth—as the gentle wind guides you." As Lilliana drew her song to a close, the last of the guards managed to snap out of it and, upon realizing what had happened, ran out of the room screaming. The singer finally opened her eyes, taking in the view of the room and saw slightly scorched walls and floor, and witnessed Priscilla boxing Wrath hand to hand near the

windowed wall.

"Diva, you have performed well, now leave immediately." Divine praise from a goddess, Lilliana didn't need to be told twice as fear had already begun to creep into her at the sight of the terrifying foe, and she hurried out of the room. The slight distraction as well as the Archbishops incredible speed allowed her to partially land her attack on the princess. Glancing or not, the punch that Sirius landed on her opponent was powerful enough to throw her off balance. Now in an advantageous position, Sirius kicked off the wall she had been pinned to and had been able to wrap her leg in her chains, then launched a kick with that leg at the unsteady swordswoman. Her leg was wreathed in metal and an odd colored fire, and made direct contact with Priscilla's chest with enough force to topple a building.

However, as the second bead on Priscilla's necklace shattered, the woman stood fast and smiled while looking directly at Sirius, then she kicked the Archbishop in the chest which caused her to fly back into the wall that had been weakened by the earlier attacks and flames. The Archbishop burst through the wall, and fell to the street below, confused as to how Priscilla had been able to take two attacks that had landed squarely with no damage. Priscilla jumped out of the window and considered her position. The Archbishop had been able to break two of the only three objects she had on her person that could be used to avoid lethal damage through Soul Marriage in a short period of time. But no matter, she wished to defeat the Sin Archbishop, and therefore the Sin Archbishop would end up being defeated. By the time Priscilla had gotten down to the ground, Wrath had recovered and had her chains ready, the fight now restarting outside on even ground.

"Two unidentified persons entered the tower, and evidence of a fight was spotted from the second floor window." The guard reported breathlessly after sprinting to deliver the news.

"Welp, that's my cue, good luck with this situation everyone. Thanks for telling me where the Princess is Bro." Al stood up and quickly left the room, anyone who entered a Control Tower after hearing Lust's message had to have been certain of their victory, and there was only one person he could think of who had that amount of confidence. Clapping the nameless guard on his back on his way out, he began running to the West tower as fast as he could, the thought of his lady fighting a Sin Archbishop sending shivers down his spine.

"WHAT? THAT STUPID BITCH" Anastasia yelled uncharacteristically, the Cult had threatened to put the city underwater if their demands weren't met. But now that she thought about it, nothing had happened yet, the gates hadn't even lowered a centimeter. As Anastasia exploded, Al was already out the door after thanking the guard and giving him a clap on the back, he had a one track mind to save his lady and he would not be denied.

"Okay, the other's must not know which means as soon as they find out they'll drop the gates, we need to get groups moving to the other locations as soon as possible. If anyone has a preference about where they will go, say it now before I give everyone assignments and send you off." Anastasia collected herself quickly and found that the only explanation for the city not already being drowned was that the other Archbishop's didn't know yet. Wrath was supposed to contact the other Archbishop's via metia, but she had gotten caught up in the fight and in her anger, had forgotten to contact the others.

"I volunteer myself and Garfiel-dono to go to the North Tower. I believe the Witch Cult is using reanimation and that the eight armed warrior is Eight Armed Kurgan. The corpse warrior will be weaker than the real warrior, and me and Garfiel-dono should be able to handle him and his partner." Wilhelm spoke up immediately, needing to confirm his suspicion about who the slender, cloaked swordsman could be. Garfiel jumped at the mention of his name, and had no complaints at getting the chance to fight a legendary warrior.

"You told us the man with white hair seems to be the strongest based on your reports. I think it makes the most sense for me to head to the East Tower." Reinhardt added, he had seen the invincibility of Greed in the theatre and didn't want anyone to get involved besides himself.

"I volunteer to go to the Sou—"

"I need to fight Glutt—"
"Me and Beako will fight G—" Subaru, Emilia and Crusch spoke up simultaneously, all of them wanting to fight Gluttony for their own reasons. While Emilia wanted to get back at Greed for his part in destroying her village and Mother Fortuna's death, Reinhardt was already handling it and Gluttony had committed a sin of similar magnitude by killing Subaru Od knows how many times. Crusch of course wanted to avenge Subaru, but she had her own agency and had a more personal score she wanted to settle with the Archbishop. And of course, Subaru wanted to kill Gluttony more than anyone when he thought about how Rem was eaten by him.

"Perfect, then all four of ya'll can go deal with him. The Iron Fang group, go to City Hall to distract Lust. Everyone leave as soon as possible, grab a metia on your way out." Anastasia laid down five small, golden circular metias that appeared as if they had a mirror on them. All the warriors stood up, and left as the metias disappeared one by one. Emilia and Crusch were ecstatic to find out that they would be able to keep Subaru safe as the simultaneous battles wore on. Subaru was the first one out, and with his hand that wasn't captured by his spirit, he grabbed a metia and slipped it into his pocket. The groups exited from the building together, wished each other luck with most members being extremely concerned about Subaru given most of them knew he had already died that day. Then they split up, each group going to their designated location as quickly as possible to try to save the city.

Julius, Ricardo and the triplets got to City Hall first out of all the groups as Muse Headquarters was closest and had little difficulty getting there, slaughtering a few demibeasts on the way. Once there, they surveyed the building that showed no obvious signs of conflict or disturbance besides the broken dome on top of the building.

"Alrigh', how do we wanna do this?" Ricardo's gruff voice called out.

"The open ceiling looks appealing, but it could be a trap. I suggest we use that maintenance door on the east side of the building, it likely leads to the basement and we could clear the building from the bottom up. If we find Lust, we should move the battle outside as soon as possible so me and my siblings can provide support more effectively, what do you think Julius?." Tivey responded, usually being the one to lay out the plan before a battle.

"It would be easy to set up an ambush on the highest floor, I agree with your plan." The Knight of Knights steeled himself, pushing thoughts of guilt and remorse he had since the theatre to the back of his head, he was going into battle with one of his best friends and the three kids who he saw as nephews and nieces and he had to be at the top of his game to make sure they were victorious. Of course, they were all capable warriors, but Julius was unmistakably the strongest, and he refused to fail as he once had in a forgotten timeline. The group slowly made their way over to the door that Emilia and the triplets had once gone through in another time, their stealth hindered somewhat by Ricardo's massive stature.

They made it to the door with Julius in the lead, and he tried the locked door, then called upon In and Nes to enhance his strength and prevent the sound of him breaking down the door from revealing their location. Once the path was cleared, he stepped inside cautiously with a razor sharp focus trying to detect any foreign presence. There was a set of stairs going up on the right, and down on the left and he started toward the left side in accordance with their plan, until his spiritually enhanced senses caught something. Click, click, click. Julius did not need to alert the others, their demihuman senses having picked up on the sound as well. Click, click, click. The rhythmic sound kept a steady pace, and it slowly got louder. Click, click, click. The group of five honed in one the dark stairwell, and they retreated to ready their weapons from outside the door. Click, click, click. Julius had begun to sweat, as the steady footsteps drew ever closer until finally, they were just behind the door and the source stepped out into the open.

"Heeey Julius-kun!" Anastasia Hoshin winked at her knight.

"L-Lady Anastasia?!" Julius's eyes were wide open, no amount of knightly training could have prepared him for this kind of situation. Anastasia said that Lust could shapeshift, but he didn't expect her to be able to do this, and how would Lust even know that the people sent here were related to Anastasia? Questions for later.

"That's not really her, let loose!" Hetaro yelled, being beat to the punch by Julius who was already attacking. Julius ran her through with his sword, and Ricardo was quick to follow up by slicing her skull clean through with his unique serrated greatsword. The body of their mistress fell to the ground, limp and soaked in blood.

"GHAAAAAA!" Ricardo yelled out in pain, the blood from Capella had landed on Julius's clothes, but Ricardo's bare chest was splattered with blood from her brain matter. He fell to the ground, the blood seeping through his skin and entering his body, seemingly sentient as it pulsed and writhed on his skin.

"Mmm, you guys are no fun. I guess I'll get right to it then!" Anastasia spoke with a cruel voice that was not her own, and the holes in her body were filled in with flesh as her body morphed. Her dimensions did not change too much, but her face became twisted into an unnatural, black, ugly mess as it appeared as though her skin had melted and was being mixed around with a spoon until it settled and the blond hair and red eyes that had once been the sign of the Lagunican royal family appeared.

"You meatbags better appreciate being able to lay eyes on this lovely lady." Capella turned to them as her eyeballs finished changing color and she put on a broad smile. She was able to recover from damage of that magnitude? More importantly, Ricardo might be out for good but I refuse to lose.

"Watch out for her blood! It's poison!" Julius yelled out, at the same time Capella's body burst into flames from head to toe as Julius called upon Ia, jumping back when he heard the triplets inhaling. As soon as the flames on Capella's body died down to reveal melting skin and charred flesh, an unstoppable gust of wind tore through her body. Her limbs were torn at odd, unnatural angles as her body was thrown into the building behind her with a sickening crunch. The group of four cautiously watched the pile of mincemeat that was pressed into wall bulge and burst with thick sludge which solidified and got covered with another layer of disgusting black ooze until it resembled the shape of a human, finally filling in with the hair, color, features and clothes of the Archbishop of Lust.

She jumped off the wall toward Julius, morphing her fist into a huge, black and purple cube and swung it in a wide arc toward his head. She was fast, but not fast enough and Julius was able to dodge the unparryable strike. Julius went to counterattack, but was met with her other fist which had also been turned into a monstrous, inhuman object. Capella's ability to change her weight and density made it so that she could attack endlessly without needing to recover her balance. It caught Julius off guard, and he was forced to try to parry the unbelievably powerful punch with his sword and managed to absorb some of the force, but the remaining strength of the blow blew him meters through the air. With Julius removed, Capella turned towards the three siblings, smiling sweetly.

"How wonderful, your in love little girl, aren't you? How sweet of you to voluntarily offer your love to me. The great Capella Emerada Lagunica graciously accepts your pathetic love!" Capella squealed, clasping her hands together and lifting one foot off the ground to her hip, now fully in human form. Julius refused to allow her to be alone with the triplets however, and recovered quickly, kicking off the ground to intercept her path towards the youngsters. He channeled Nes, covering his body in a thin, weak film to separate him from the outside world while he flew towards the Archbishop. Once he was in range, he swung his sword in a wide arc at the distracted enemy, cleaving her in half from the side. As Julius bisected Capella, Mimi created a wind wall separating the Pearlbatons from Julius and Capella. The two halves of the Archbishop erupted in fountains of blood, completely covering Julius while coming to a stop midair on the way to the triplets. Mimi moved her brothers back and dispelled the wall, dropping a puddle of blood onto the ground as Julius also maneuvered away and altered the Yin magic he had been using to stop the blood from hitting his skin, pulling all the blood off of his body and allowing it to drop to the floor.

"How dare you interrupt me you fucking meatbag? Who said you could touch me with your filthy hands?" Capella had no problem pulling her halves back together, and quickly turned her attention back to the knight who had interrupted the disgusting game she loved playing so much. She began morphing, completely abandoning human biology as she contorted and grew into something nobody had ever seen before. The head of a dragon, the torso of a man with a gaping, drooling horizontal mouth across it's chest and the bottom of a horse. Meili might describe it as a dragon from the neck up and a Hungry Horse King from the neck down. The grotesque creature inhaled deeply from it's belly mouth, then the dragon mouth opened up and all four combatants knew what was coming. As they maneuvered to duck and cover, the beast's dragon head began spewing a black fire.

It hit the ground where Julius had just stood, crashing into the ground with enough force and heat to destroy and melt stone. Luckily, Julius activated Iku so that the very ground beneath him propelled him up into the sky, allowing himself to land on top of a ceiling as he watched Hetaro, Mimi and Tivey all use wind platforms to evacuate the street they had been on. Capella grinned internally, rearing her head to draw a line of destruction all across the street and accompanying houses towards the retreating siblings. Julius widened his eyes as he saw the Archbishop redirect her focus from him to his younger companions. The sibling's also weren't ready for the change, standing on top of a roof opposite from Julius. Unprepared for the approaching fire, Mimi stepped into action as she drew up the strongest wind barrier she was capable of.

Hetaro and Tivey watched as Capella turned her fire toward them at breakneck speed, thinking they were watching the last moments of their lives as the column of jet black fire sped towards them, until it stopped just feet from their face. Mimi had conjured up a wind barrier that was just big enough to stop the flames themselves, but all three of them could feel the unbearable, scorching heat. Julius watched with wide eyes from the opposing rooftop, not seeing a way to get to them in time as Mimi drew up her barrier. The knight finally leapt into action, jumping off the roof toward the chimera, activating multiple spirits as he drew his sword. Julius let out an uncharacteristic grunt as he swung his sword at the bottom of the dragon's head, trying to stop the fire as Mimi's barrier trembled. Mimi had brought up the barrier hastily, and was doing everything she could in the face of the monstrous, fiery onslaught.

Her siblings finally caught their senses, and began to jump into action to reinforce her barrier but it was too late. Right as Julius's sword swung clean through the neck of Capella, Mimi's barrier shattered. As a spout of blood spurted out which was blocked from hitting Julius by Nes, the fire was able to reach its target unimpeded by Mimi's barrier. Julius had stopped the source just in time to prevent the dark flames from reaching Tivey and Hetaro who were standing behind Mimi, but unfortunately the young girl was not as lucky. All three siblings cried out in pain as their bond force the suffering inflicted on Mimi to be split up amongst them. The black fire hadn't caught Mimi for very long, but it had been long enough to cause serious damage and by the time it was gone, her body was covered in burns, splotches of red and white drowning out the natural, tanner color of her skin. Her hair was burned and singed, down to the root in some places causing ugly bald patches to sprout all across her head, still smoldering from the ferocious blaze.

She had passed out quickly from bearing the brunt of the pain and the huge damage her body underwent, but her brothers were still conscious and screaming as Capella admired the scene. Julius felt his rage beating against the cages of his skull, begging to be let out. To dissect this Archbishop who had just lit a teenaged girl on fire, and laughed about it. What would Subaru do? To say that Julius respected and admired the knight Subaru Natsuki would be a colossal understatement. He always put his life on the line for the innocent even in the face of insurmountable danger as someone who held very little combat power. How could Julius, who was much more physically capable, not do the same? When he took the oath to become a knight, he promised to protect the innocent whenever possible, then again in the theatre he promised to protect Subaru and everyone important to him from the dangers of the world whenever he could after seeing what could have happened, what did happen several times in the wrong loops.

And now once again, he was too weak. He watched a little girl who was very precious to his heart be roasted right in front of her two brother's because Julius had gotten careless and failed to consider the possibility of the Archbishop switching her focus to the weaker opponents in the heat of battle. Tears welled up in his eyes, he had been more emotional since the theatre, had more trouble sleeping. His ugly, monstrous emotions were sloppily corralled by his knightly code, and where he used to be able to collect himself and carry on, now his emotions began to overwhelm what had always kept him in check. His knuckles turned white as his fingers gripped the blade harshly, this Archbishop would fall here. He refused to lose and force Subaru to use his wicked power to cover for his failures again.

"GHRAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" Ricardo witnessed what had happened, and was forced to sit back and watch as his little girl was lit on fire by Capella. He wouldn't lie down and let it happen though, through the searing pain in his chest and weakness and fatigue he was suffering, he used his Roaring Wind which the little girl had loved so much. Julius watched as the manifestation of mana pierced clean through the tough, magic resistant scales and hide of the black dragon.

"JULIUS, GET YER SHIT TOGETHER" Ricardo ended his technique as all of the energy expenditure caught up with his body, and just before passing out again he managed to get his message to Julius. He saw him standing on top of the headless dragon, and he could see a look in his eyes that nobody was used to seeing on the knight. Ricardo could tell he was clouded by emotions, he wasn't thinking clearly but he needed to step up. Ricardo knew he wouldn't last much longer, Mimi was out and her brother's were dealing with the pain. Julius's thoughts were cut through by the wolfman's words, and it was the push he needed to quash the rage, despair and agony.

Julius knew what his words meant, he was being entrusted with the safety of everyone, Ricardo was trusting him to protect not only himself, but the three teens who he saw as his own children. It was strange, but the familiar feeling of the weight of these lives being put on his back felt so familiar, it was comforting. He was entrusted by Ricardo to handle the situation, just as he had a thousand times before. Having that responsibility felt healthy, it felt right and the thought of handing it over to Subaru by losing here was unthinkable. But he didn't dwell on paying back Subaru or any errant thoughts like that, he just thought that he was a knight, and Subaru had shown him in the theatre that when a knight is needed, they step up to save the day. So he would. This whole exchange between Ricardo and Julius only took a couple moments, but it was enough for the headless, hole filled Archbishop of Lust to begin her next move. Her damaged form lost it's features and faded to black as that familiar ooze took over, her draconic outline was muddled as it changed to that viscous fluid, and then into a more solid form. Features slowly came in as the sticky fluid changed to a matted, soft and solid texture. The ooze solidified into a mass of rats, complete with brown tails and sharp teeth. The huge pillar collapsed, and they began scattering but Julius had been waiting for an opportunity and took it.

"KUA!" Julius called upon his trusted spirit, and the moisture in the air was drawn out and crystallized. The huge mass of rats that had just began to scatter stopped in their tracks. They were frozen where they stood by Julius calling upon water magic, a large cube of ice had formed that encased the rats solid. Capella had a lot of strengths, but magic was not one of them and she was as helpless as anyone else once she had been captured in that cube of ice. Typically she would be able to react to a freeze spell by shifting and avoid major trouble, but the loss of her sense of smell, sound and sight caused by her decapitation made it so she had no idea what was happening to her until she was already frozen solid. Julius got down to the ground and surveyed the battlefield, Ricardo was passed out on the street, Mimi was also unconscious in even worse state up on the rooftop while Hetaro and Tivey tried to take care of her and themselves, Lust was a frozen mass of rats and Julius just stood there, sweaty and with small cuts and fractures bones which would be healed in moments by Kua. He had won, he had stalled out and captured the Sin Archbishop of Lust, but it didn't feel like a victory.

Chapter Text

Re tconned Divine Protection of the Phoenix a bit.

Reinhardt was waiting atop a nearby building at the East Tower, waiting for the signal from his metia that would alert him to begin his attack. He had seen Greed "fight" on the screen, but his attacks seemed to be largely invincible and invisible. Obviously it was an Authority, but the details of how the power worked were completely unknown and it was getting on his nerves. With no knowledge, he didn't have any way to plan for his opponent except to exploit the glaring weakness of the Archbishop's childish mindset. His thoughts were interrupted by a beep from the white cube in his pocket letting him know it was go time.

He picked up the Dragon Sword Reid, and jumped to the roof of the East Control Tower. He tried a window, and finding that it was unlocked, he entered. It could be a trap, but a trap could be set up at any of the entrance points to the building so the odds this particular window held an ambush was low. He peeked into the open window and saw a small study. The walls were lined with books, and in the middle of the room near the window sat a wood desk and chair with papers carelessly lying about. The Sword Saint mentally apologized for infringing on this person's privacy, then entered the room and made his way to the door. He tried the handle and was stopped by the lock, so he unlocked it and made his way into the hall. He entered the large, eloquent hall that seemed to go on forever and found absolutely nothing of importance. It looked exactly how the hallway of a government building should look, fancy rugs, mirrors and desks dotting the corridor and totally devoid of personality.

Reinhardt felt his lips pull upward, spending so much time with his lady was really rubbing off on him, he never would have had such rude thoughts before he met Lady Felt. Thoughts of his Lady's safety creeped into his mind, but he banished them by reminding himself that she was left at Kiritaka Muse's headquarters, probably the safest place in Priestella as of right now given the amount of guards and White Scale's that Kiritaka had left to protect the tactical headquarters before he went to guard the Witch's corpse. The Sword Saint picked up vibrations and spun around and stared down the corridor as a door began to open. He drew his still sword, sheath and all as a beautiful woman strolled into the hall.

She was moving extremely uptight, as if every slight movement and breath was a conscious choice, and she held a cold, faraway demeanor. She wore a white, long sleeved dress that came down to her thighs which was accompanied by thigh high socks and long blonde hair. It was accompanied by a beautiful face and body, and she quite obviously did not belong on the battlefield. She did not have the air of a warrior and Reinhardt could easily tell that this girl posed no threat whatsoever which only served to put the knight more on guard. The woman just stood in the hallway and stared at Reinhardt, her cold, unfeeling eyes boring holes into him. Her expression was completely neutral, but still managed to feel stern as she stared at the Sword Saint in front of her.

"Ma'am? Are you alright?" Reinhardt asked, terribly confused but holding optimism that she was just an unlucky citizen.

"You should leave. Husband-sama will be here soon." The woman replied unflinchingly. Reinhardt's eyes widened at this, Anastasia had reported that where Greed went, a huge gaggle of women wasn't far behind. Was this girl a member of that group? An ally of Greed?

"Husband-sama? Is that the Archbishop of Greed?" Reinhardt questioned anxiously.

"Yes" The girl's gaze continued to pierce him.

"Where is he? I need to find him immediately." Reinhardt still did not know what this woman's intentions were.

"I know that you want to fight Husband-sama. There is no use. Many have tried, all have died. He is invincible. Run away now." The girl advised coldly. Reinhardt's divine protections told him of terrible sadness and grief inside the woman, but her expression never changed.

"Be that as it may, I have been tasked with killing him and he has hurt people very dear to me. Do you think you could point me towards him?" By now Reinhardt decided that she was an innocent third party, and relaxed a bit.

"I would never betray Husband-sama in such a manner. Doing so would be akin to committing suicide." She responded tersely.

"I understand, I would not want you to put yourself in danger, please find somewhere safe to hide until the city is safe." Reinhardt tried to comfort the woman with a smile, but was met with the same stony expression.

"I will not take orders from any man other than Husband-sama. Therefore, I will continue my daily chores until Husband-sama says otherwise. Good day." Without another word, she abruptly turned and reentered the room she had come out of. Reinhardt watched as the door closed and locked, and began to worry that he wouldn't find Greed until it was too late. Time was of the essence, and so he decided to forget about the woman temporarily and focus on his target. He whirled through the many halls, clearing rooms one by one. He occasionally came across beautiful women, dressed similarly to the first one he encountered but he didn't bother stopping to chat and he was moving so quickly none of them noticed he had gone by besides some confusion at noises or slight disturbances.

Reinhardt was on the top floor by the time he stumbled into an office where a white haired man sat, back ramrod straight and dressed in a pristine white suit and pants, a deep blue striped shirt and a bowtie fixed around his neck with styled, snow white hair. Reinhardt entered the room, and upon identifying Greed, wasted no time engaging in battle. Before Regulus knew what was happening or could even open his mouth, he was flung out of the office window and onto the street below. By the time he got his bearings he was lying face up in the road, staring up at the sky, but Reinhardt wasn't finished. He bolted out of the window and pounced on Greed before he could do anything.

The knight pummeled the man beneath him, straddling him and throwing all manner of punches at his head and body. Each of those punches would have torn apart any other foe, but Regulus simply lie under him, unmoving and uncaring. It's not working? How? Is it some kind of shock nullification, or blunt force resistance? Reinhardt had never met an opponent who could shrug off consecutive direct punches like this, and his mind raced to figure out the problem. Then, suddenly, everything went dark. Reinhardt hadn't felt a thing, but he had been embraced by death. Greed had mentally caught up with the situation and grabbed a fistful of dirt from his prone position and threw it at the man on top of him. The small, harmless detritus and soot pierced through the body of the sword saint like a brick being dropped on a paper towel. Greed wiped his suit off even though it was still pristine and threw the red haired man off of him, standing up as he did so.

"Hmm, so disrespectful. To think there are people who are so selfish that they only think of themselves, and have no issue infringing on the rights of another person… truly chilling. But in my infinite mercy, I gave him a quick end." Regulus spoke aloud to himself, closing his eyes and smiling as he impressed even himself with his own benevolence. It had taken a couple moments, but Reinhardt's Divine Protection of the Phoenix had kicked in, bringing him back to life with no damage. He still looked to be in bad shape though, his clothes full of holes and completely soaked in blood. It was a jarring experience, dying like that, having his consciousness completely canceled, then to have it restarted just a few moments later was the most jarring thing he had ever felt.

Subaru… It gave him a new sense of kinship with the other knight that had experienced death. This new feeling of solidarity reminded him that should he fail his mission here, Subaru would die again. He needed to figure out Greed's trick, and fast. He just threw some dirt at me, I didn't even care to dodge. I thought he was wildly flailing, but it was a logical move. He also took no damage from my attacks… What in the world is his Authority? Reinhardt's body had wound up fifty or so meters from where he had been killed, and he scanned his surroundings to find his killer walking back into the control tower in an orderly fashion. He leapt toward the white haired man, slamming the sheathed Dragon Sword Reid into his neck, the power of the blow conjuring gusts of wind around the duo.

"Eh? Your still alive? Even after I had the mercy to grant you a quick end, you continue to spit on my kindness in this fashion? I am the most satisfied man in the world, I desire nothing more and nothing less than I currently have. I am sure that if you tried to approach me reasonably we could have worked something out. As a matter…" Greed continued to drone on as Reinhardt's eyes widened as continuous blows found their mark, only to be met with total indifference. This did not inspire fear in Reinhardt, monsters couldn't feel fear. It was quite worrisome however, if Reinhardt was unable to deal with this himself, Subaru would be forced to step in and solve another problem alone. Greed opened his eyes after finishing his monologue and was quite annoyed to see that the red haired brute continued to swing at him time and time again.

"How quaint, is it not clear to you that your blows cannot affect someone like me?" Greed questioned, his infinite patience running low. He swung his arm to slice Reinhardt in half, but he could only move as fast as a human. Reinhardt dodged it before his aggressor could blink, and switched strategies on dealing with Greed. He grabbed Regulus by the neck and threw him at the river that ran out of the control tower. He leaped over to where the Archbishop would land and waited for his victim. If blunt force won't do the trick, how does drowning sound? Reinhardt thought to himself, hoping for the best from this new strategy. When Greed's prone body caught up to where Reinhardt estimated it would be, he chopped the Archbishop into the ground with a gruesome blow. Oddly enough, upon contact with the water, Regulus stopped moving. He lay there as if it were any solid surface, and just as odd, the man wasn't even wet! Reinhardt couldn't believe it, he had just spiked a man into a canal and not only was he not wet, but he laid on top of the water like it was concrete! Greed gritted his teeth, but couldn't pass up on the opportunity to drone on some more.

"I see now what kind of person you are. A disrespectful, vile man who has no understanding or care for others. The worst kind of monster who is a complete menace for those around him. As a matter of fact, in my endless kindness, I will do all of Lagunica, nay, the whole world a favor by exterminating you!" Greed now stood atop the water, and bent down to grab a fistful of it. It was Reinhardt's turn to grit his teeth as the Archbishop's words landed closer to home than he would have liked. But angry or not, the Astrea had learned from last time, and dodged this attack with ample room, wincing as a row of houses behind him were razed by the oddly destructive liquid. His rage at the Archbishop's words clashed against his cool exterior, and he quickly dashed over to Regulus, quickly taking his back and putting him in a chokehold. No drowning? How about asphyxiation! Reinhardt was unsure of what Regulus could do from his poor positioning, but knew to stay on guard. Wait… He's cold? Reinhardt was tired of being surprised but he couldn't help it as he felt the cold, almost icy feel of the man's skin. As his mind realized this, Greed reached to his attacker's shoulders and tore both arms clean off. Reinhardt screamed with pain as he dropped to his knees, chokehold forgotten. Regulus rubbed the spot on his neck and drank in the scene of the defeated man before him.

"I don't know what lousy trick you used last time, but it appears that it won't save you now." Greed cracked a wide smile. Od he loved it when things worked out his way, but why wouldn't they? He didn't ask for much after all.

"Ahh, I would like to say that you don't deserve this, but you certainly do. Trampling upon my rights like that, flaunting your disregard for your fellow man… Nay, the whole human race! Frankly this is only a piece of your true punishment, but once again you are saved by my mercy. Therefore, I will only kill a few of your closest friends, to send the message to other evildoers that no one can freely ignore the lives and rights of others like this. Your quite close with the knight's of the other candidate's, yes?" Regulus's ugly smile parted to show his perfect, white teeth as Reinhardt tried to collect himself. He had just blessed himself with a Divine Protection of Pain Tolerance, but his brain was still a mess from the sensory overload even despite his Divine Protection of the Calm Mind. He finally rose to his feet, still armless to be met with a cloud of dirt thrown by the Archbishop. It met it's mark again, killing the Sword Saint instantly as his armless, hole filled body dropped back to the ground.

Greed examined him carefully this time, and was appalled to see that in the blink of an eye, all wounds had healed and even his arms had returned thanks to Divine Protection of the Phoenix: Next, although the amount of blood on him made him appear to still be mortally wounded. Greed yelled as he swiped his hand, sending a clump of air at the Sword Saint to finish the job, but Reinhardt was angry and fast. The body vanished, and Regulus spun around to locate his opponent. After a few frantic moments, he locked eyes with the Sword Saint, covered in blood from head to toe and breathing heavily. Partially from what had just happened, yes, but also in rage at the pain he felt, and the thought of Regulus going after Felix, Julius and especially Subaru because of him. He had quite the scary visage at the moment, one unbefitting a knight much less the Sword Saint as he screamed out in pure fury and fear of what would happen if Greed was to go after Subaru as he promised.

Although he knew that there were a lot of things he needed to be worried about, he couldn't find it in him to not be excited about what was about to come. He was going to go toe to toe with the reanimation of Eight Armed Kurgan, a fight of proportions second only to his failed loop where he "fought" Satella. Subaru had died at least twice, and of course that made Garfiel feel sadness and anger to no end, it also made him feel helpless. After he had promised in the theatre to never let someone kill his Captain again, all of it was just empty words. And as he was spiraling from the consequences of those thoughts, Mimi had been able to keep him afloat, and now he was entrusted by Wilhelm to defeat the legendary hero Eight Armed Kurgan. Wilhelm had grown very dear to Garfiel after the theatre, the old butler had caught the young boy after he had another episode about Elsa. It had been a big problem in the theatre for him, and even the support of Frederica, Otto and Mimi couldn't vanquish the phantom of the Bowel Hunter from visiting him. It wasn't until the retainer of the Crusch camp stepped in that Garfiel was able to beat his own demons. He had come to realize that capitalizing on the mistake of an opponent is what battle is all about, that distractions will happen on the battlefield and a part of combat is being able to carefully manage them. He had defeated Elsa because she was unable to manage battlefield distractions, and that was nothing to be ashamed of and it made his victory no less real. Since Wilhelm had come to this understanding with the boy, Garfiel had begun to see the old man in a new light, and with it came all the respect and admiration that a boy would show his father. And now, he was running alongside the man who helped him to go engage in a legendary battle, a battle that if won, would help Subaru avoid using his ability.

Wilhelm's mind was a whirlwind of memories, thoughts and emotions. He desperately needed to see if Kurgan's accompanying swordsperson could really be Theresia. His own experience in the theatre had shown him how weak and ineffective he had been, and only deepened the embarrassment he felt by the way he acted from Theresia's death until the end of the White Whale Subjugation. What also deepened was the respect, admiration and gratitude he felt for Subaru, the boy who had saved Wilhelm's life and soul by allowing him to play a major role in defeating the White Whale instead of falling to it as he likely would have. It made Wilhelm want to pay Subaru back just as much as he wanted to fix his mistakes with his son and grandson, and he wanted to do that by protecting the boy and letting him live out his life with his loved ones. Once again though, the universe showed Wilhelm how ineffective and weak he was when he was confronted with Subaru's multiple deaths just recently. It had infuriated Wilhelm to no end, it was so frustrating that there was no warning or anything he could remember, he simply found out that Subaru had died. No way to know if Wilhelm was there, or had fought for him or if Subaru had died in a dragon cart collision versus a Sin Archbishop. Then, they found out that there were four Archbishops in the city, and if they didn't execute their plan to take care of it, Subaru would be forced to do it himself just as he had been in Arlem, the mansion, and against the White Whale and Sloth. Wilhelm knew he was weak and generally incapable, but if he could achieve victory in his small part, and trusted his allies to succeed at theirs, if they could somehow repel this attack without forcing Subaru to take the brunt of the responsibility, then Wilhelm would be able to sleep a little easier at night. Beating the Witch Cult on this scale was unprecedented, but it seemed that everything that happened around Subaru was unprecedented so why not try?

But at this exact moment, for the first time since the theatre, Wilhelm was not thinking of Subaru. His mind was entirely consumed by thoughts of his wife, similar but less emotional to the time following her death and if he had enough spare mental capacity to view himself in an objective light, he would feel scared but of course he did not. All he was focused on was getting to the North Tower as fast as possible, and he finally arrived with a blond boy in tow. They arrived, and saw two robed figures waiting for them at the front gates of the tower just standing, waiting. Wilhelm and Garfiel slowed to a walk, and eventually stopped just fifty feet short of the two opponents. They were both cloaked so that all of their features were disguised, but Wilhelm's heart tightened at the sight of a small figure under the cloak. A smile crossed his face and he closed his eyes. My beautiful wife, I must say that I am more excited for our next reunion, and I curse the one who has put you under this wicked spell. I will free you, and the next time we see each other we will both be unburdened by these worries. Wilhelm opened his eyes, and saw Garfiel readying himself for battle.

"Are you ready, Garfiel-dono?"

"Yep, ain't nothin else ta do but whip their ass and get back to tha Cap'n" Garfiel was looking at his hulking opponent up and down, he was obscured by the cloak but Garfiel could tell that he wasn't an average cultist. The two hooded figures had made no move the entire time, but now they moved to put some distance between each other as if they knew who their opponents would be.

Garfiel was the first to move, and began sprinting to rapidly close the distance between him and his eight armed enemy. He leapt forward and threw a punch as the beast of a warrior revealed four of his massive, blue arms. The huge man caught Garfiel's fist in his own, and the demitiger widened his eyes at the feeling of his own blow being completely absorbed by the larger fighter as if he was catching a butterfly. With an arm on the other side, he threw a punch at Garfiel while still grappling his hand so he couldn't get away. Garfiel recovered from the shock of having his punch absorbed, and was able to dodge Kurgan's punch by using their connected fists as a pivot point and swinging himself up and over the huge body so that Kurgan was left swinging at air. However, Garfiel was not strong enough to break the grip, and so Kurgan just took Garfiel and swung him around before releasing his iron grip. Garfiel went flying, and slammed clean through the concrete wall of the Control Tower. He took a moment to get his bearings and administer light healing magic to take care of his bones and tissue as he returned his focus fully to Kurgan.

The blond boy was surprised for the second time now in the span of just a few moments when he saw the cloaked figure doing… nothing. He just stood there, with two pairs of arms crossed over his chest. Garfiel had heard about his legendary Demon Cleavers, but he had decided not to draw them yet. And when he had Garfiel's arm locked in his own fist, he did not take advantage of his position, he merely tossed him through a building, giving up his advantage. It's almost like… he's not trying. Garfiel smiled, if Kurgan elected not to treat him as a worthy opponent then he would force him to take him seriously. Garfiel picked up a huge chunk of rubble bigger than himself that had been blown away from the wall by Kurgan's throw and he lifted the huge piece of stone above his head, and then threw it straight at the blue giant. Kurgan maintained his unchanging stance as the huge brick soared toward him. As it was approaching, he finally cocked one arm back, and timed a punch with the arrival of the rubble. His fist tore clean through it, and smaller chunks of rock went flying everywhere, but more importantly, Garfiel Tinzel had been approaching from behind the stone, concealed from Kurgan's view. The tiger was already throwing his punch by the time Kurgan knew what was happening, and his blow landed true, an uppercut flew through the aid through Kurgan's chin. It was a little awkward as the seven foot giant towered over the five foot three teenager, but it connected all the same. Kurgan stumbled back, lowering his face back to look at the tiger, but he was too late. Garfiel shifted his body's load onto his hands, sweeping both his feet toward Kurgan's own and making contact before the warrior could get his bearings. Garfiel managed to kick the massive left leg in, but Kurgan was far stronger in raw strength and his right leg held fast. The tiger quickly got his feet back in contact with the ground, and activated his Divine Protection, causing the right foot to lose balance as well.

The unsteady behemoth threw a wild punch, trying to ward off the continued flurry in a seemingly foolish decision considering their positions. Garfiel ducked it easily, and prepared to counter by throwing another punch but was alerted to Kurgan swinging his other arm by his demihuman senses. For most fighters, this would leave them completely open but the titan had six other arms in store, so the unorthodox move wasn't a blunder. Garfiel parried this one with his bracer, surprised at just how much strength Kurgan could muster even when on shaky ground. It forced the tiger to stumble back a couple steps, and by then another arm was on it's way which Garfiel tried to duck it, but was met by yet another arm swinging underneath the punch. He hastily put up a two armed guard to try and absorb it, but Kurgan had been able to regain his footing and this punch had all his strength put into it. It connected right on top of Garfiel's bracers, but the impact still sent him flying tens of meters back. Now reset back to neutral, Kurgan resumed his arms crossed, straight back position.

"I'll teach you to treat me like a kid dammit" Garfiel gritted his teeth, beginning to get upset by the behemoth's clear lack of seriousness in this fight. It was the ultimate disrespect for a fighter who was actively laying his life down in a battle, only to be reciprocated by his opponent refusing to do the same. However, it was Garfiel's own weakness that allowed his enemy to act in this manner, and so the tiger turned his anger to himself. The anger and self hatred manifested itself into passion, and Garfiel began grunting as he transformed, gaining several feet in height and hundreds of pounds as he turned into a hulking beast that beat out even Kurgan in size. Kurgan recognized this increase in fighting ability, but he had not yet seen anything that would force him to take this lesser fighter seriously. Garfiel began sprinting toward his enemy now, his forceful steps damaging the very street beneath him as he ran. He arrived at his opponent, already throwing a cocked back punch, Kurgan simply put out an arm to catch the blow as he had earlier. The punch connected with the open palm, but it was not the same punch as last time. This time, the force of the blow was too much for his single arm to handle, and his elbow was the first to give, Garfiel twisted his hips to continue driving force through his arm. The punch grew ever closer to Kurgan's body, but he was a skilled warrior, and grabbed onto the tiger's arm with two of his own, the punch completely stationary now. But Garfiel's bestial form was strong enough to rip his arm out from the three handed grip, and he jumped back to avoid another onslaught of Kurgan's punches. When he stepped back, he expected Kurgan to return to that damn crossed arm pose, but he did something new. He buried his two arms back into his robes, and quickly pulled them back out, now holding his unique Demon Cleavers. Garfiel saw the sharp, odd shaped weapons and smiled at the show of his opponent's seriousness. This is where it really starts, im gonna kick his ass!

Wilhelm watched the young man leap toward his opponent, and turned his full attention toward his wife, who already had her sword drawn. Wilhelm smiled broadly as he drew his own, he knew that the woman standing in front of him was merely a bastardization of his true wife, but the overwhelming emotions he felt made it hard to parse reality from reanimation.

"I will free you from this curse. Now, shall we begin, my love?" Wilhelm asked, eager to interact with his wife's body again, even if her soul was lost. Wilhelm approached to just outside striking distance, pausing so he could glance at her cloaked form. It made it impossible to see her stance, or read her movements outside of her sword and hand so Wilhelm was content to wait for her to make the first move. After all, she always had. The swordswoman obliged, and began with a sharp, noncommittal thrust towards Wilhelm as she stepped in. Wilhelm smiled, that was how she always began duels.

He parried with one of his swords, and countered with a thrust of his own with the other. She twirled under the thrust, her cloak grazing against the sword as she stepped in closer to Wilhelm. She stepped forward again, shoving her shoulder into Wilhelm's chest, breaking his stance as she began a sword strike. It was a tight, horizontal swing which would be difficult to dodge, so Wilhelm caught the blow with both of his swords. Before Wilhelm could act, she retracted her sword, and switched it to the other side of his steel wall and began a slashing attempt on Wilhelm's torso. The Sword Demon turned his wrists that were holding the guard, to quickly spin his swords a hundred and eighty degrees, managing to redirect her thrust away from his body at the last moment. Their swords continued to clash, the couple stepping forward, backward, swords swinging and thrusting precisely.

It was a passionate duel, but anger was not present as the two beautifully whirled around each other and parried each other in a rhythm. The "battle" could be more closely compared to a dance, or even a conversation. Reminding the other of their old tricks, bad habits and new maneuvers as they each adapted around the other, steel grazing past skin and cloth. Finally, Wilhelm caught her off guard with a parry and spun past the block to swing and elbow her in the belly. It was the first significant strike of the conflict, and it stunned the walking corpse so that Wilhelm was able to jab another strike right toward her head. She collected herself at the last moment, her head dodging the steel by millimeters, but her cloak was not so lucky. The sharp, warm steel pierced straight through the cloth, and tore off a large chunk of the hood, finally revealing to Wilhelm what he so longed to see.

His wife's fiery red hair, beautiful face and… something was wrong. No smile, where was the smile? The smile his wife always adorned, through good times and bad, her beautiful smile. Where was it? This enraged Wilhelm to no end as the knowledge that his wife's body had been desecrated in death into the thing he saw before him, and wrath flooded his mind. For most fighters, becoming overwhelmed with emotion was an issue in combat, but the Sword Demon earned his name by always being able to channel his anger into his blade perfectly.

"Come, humor this old man with one last dance." Wilhelm gripped his sword a little tighter than he usually did, his anger already beginning to seep into his blade.

The steady, harsh thump of claws on dirt filled the otherwise silent carriage. Trees in the background flew by quicker than normal on account of the several spells Roswaal had cast to hasten their journey. He would have flown, but it would have required a lot of mana and Rem would attack him before she let him go ahead and it would have been barely faster anyway. His worries about the sanity of the interdimensional knight and political trauma had his mind in a whirlwind. You have too much trust in this boy, Teacher. I fear he is more fragile than you think, another incident like the one with the Great Rabbit or Sloth and I fear he will be of no use to us. Of course Roswaal trusted his Teacher implicitly, and she no doubt knew more than he did. But his teacher had always had the most difficulties understanding humans, and after living alongside them for twelve generations, Roswaal put a lot of trust in his ability to understand and manipulate others and what he saw the boy go through was frightening. Not frightening from the sheer horror of the acts, Roswaal had seen and done worse, but frightening because of the thought that Subaru could simply break and go mad. His mind finally shattered to pieces after one too many deaths, and he would become useless in aiding Roswaal's quest to revive his Teacher. Without the Gospel or Subaru, it was truly pointless, so now the wizard was forced to put all his stock in the young knight and even worse, he wasn't allowed to draw up any plans at the expense of others.

The young woman next to him could sense his nervousness, but she made no move to soothe it. Ram still loved him of course, she couldn't deny it but she thought the magician did deserve to spiral a bit after seeing what he arranged to happen to Subaru. Even if he didn't know how the ability was activated, he was still guilty of plenty of sins, and people who do evil should be punished. She also had a lot of pent up emotions at the state of her sisterly relationship that was easy to take out on her master. They hadn't talked the entire carriage ride, and Rem had even shut off her Synesthesia, forcing Ram to wonder exactly what she was feeling or thinking that she didn't want her sister to know. It was very nerve wracking, throughout her whole life, that Synesthesia had been in the background, a constant, warm reminder that she wasn't alone.

That was gone now because of her decision to stand with her master and the man that she loved. Rem had turned it off a little after Ram told her that Roswaal was joining them, and Ram could barely take it. The sisterly relationship wasn't gone of course, as a matter of fact Rem had seeked comfort in the arms of her sister several times during and even after the theatre. But her emotions had calmed now and it seemed that she had made her decision, until a resolution was found the rift that separated them would continue, and maybe even after a conclusion was reached depending on how it was handled. It made Ram a nervous wreck, she was usually unshakable because she knew that she wouldn't lose anything truly important to her, that being Rem and Roswaal. But now with both of those things at risk and the future being so uncertain, she was downright terrified at what the future would look like if she didn't handle it well.

These feelings were compounded by the knowledge and guilt that she had been unknowingly separated from her sister all this time, and now they sat mere feet from each other and neither said a word. She was so happy when her memories of her sister returned in the theatre, she promised she would never let Rem slip out of her grasp again but that's exactly what happened. She was forced to choose between Roswaal and Rem, and had to cut Roswaal off entirely to keep Rem happy or face Rem's ire as she stood beside her master. One way, she would lose her love forever and the other, her relationship with her sister was damaged, but not destroyed. Her guilt and nervousness was compounded even further by the knowledge that she watched Subaru's torture, and eventually became his executioner. Besides all of this she knew she would have to figure out a way to reestablish her relationship with Subaru with her newfound knowledge, but she also knew that he was a hopelessly forgiving man, and would no doubt let her back into his life. That thought angered her, that he would so carelessly forgive someone who killed him, but she was also endlessly grateful because it meant that she was guaranteed a spot in Subaru's, and therefore Rem's future.

But however hard being the murderer of Subaru Natsuki was on Ram, it was much, much harder on Rem. She was still sitting up front with Petra, both girls refusing to interact with the magician in the back more than absolutely necessary. Both of them had abandoned their maid clothes back at the mansion, and Petra wore a yellow dress she held onto from Arlam and Rem had to pull a dusty old green smock she had from years ago that had been altered to fit her now. But the ex-maid did not pay too much attention to her dark or nonexistent past. She had spent enough time dwelling on that in the theatre, now she distracted herself with delicate whispers about how she would soon see her love, and once she got ahold of him she would never let go again. She knew things would likely be more complicated than that, but it did little to change her attitude about keeping Subaru close to her and safe. Her worries for her beloved ran rampant as she knew that the ability he had to attract trouble defied logic.

The little girl next to her had a slightly different point of view. Her hero was in one of the biggest cities in Lagunica, and was staying in the same establishment as the Sword Saint! She had spent the trip thinking of how she could be useful to Subaru and what she would say to him after seeing all his pain. It frustrated her to no end that she couldn't just be straight with him and tell him that she saw everything, and that she understood. That's what he deserved, someone to understand him and not just selfishly fight for his attention like everyone did that whole time in the theatre. It infuriated her how all these grown-ups who are supposed to be more mature than her acted so greedy and childish in response to watching Subaru's journey. They all just wanted him for their own interests whether it was material or personal interests. Petra would show him that she didn't need anything from him, she would just be a shoulder for him to lean on and someone who could empathize with him if such a thing was possible after his treatment. While she wasn't worried about physical threats, she was really hoping that the other camps didn't lure him away before she got a chance to speak with him. Either way, she was gonna stick with Subaru from now on whether Frederica liked it or not.

Speaking of, the demi human sat in the back, and she also followed the popular trend of being terribly scared of the uncertain future. Frederica was trying to appear strong for the sake of her pupil, but inside her mind she was barely hanging on. She had led a quiet, simple life. Grew up happily enough with her brother and mother until her mom left for good when Garf was still young, never to return. Then she worked as a maid for a respectable master who promised her an area to move the Sanctuary residents in the future, then settle down and live the rest of her life in peace and quiet, ideally with her half brother and non-blood related family from the Sanctuary. That future which had been so certain had been ripped away by the theatre they had all been transported to, but she couldn't exactly say she was mad about it.

That's not true, she was mad. But that was a gross oversimplification, she was also sympathetic, glad, disgusted and deeply, deeply grateful. Subaru had done so much for her and Garfiel, she felt like she had to repay him somehow. The very least of which would be to resign from Roswaal's employ, but the deal to save the Sanctuary's inhabitants had not technically been taken off the table, but she couldn't continue to work for that wizard in good conscience. She had been putting off the decision as long as she could, but with all the time that had passed in the carriage with nothing to do, all she had done was think. And her thoughts eventually dragged her back to the same thing, she needed to resign as a maid.

To save her honor as much as ensuring Petra's continued safety and maybe as a small token of appreciation to Subaru as well, even if he didn't know it. Frederica knew her beloved pupil planned on sticking with Subaru as much as she could, and trouble never left him alone for long. Then and there in the carriage, she decided to resign from the Mathers family effective immediately, and would speak with Subaru and Emilia about their next steps before she made any further decisions. As much as the theatre changed things, one thing remained the same. Petra was still her top priority, which placed her firmly in support of Subaru Natsuki. Frederica glanced up from her lap, and saw the downcast eyes of a certain maid. Frederica loved her two original pupils even after everything, and it broke her heart to see their sisterly bond in tatters. She knew it would hurt Subaru too, to see two girls he loved so much at odds with each other. Not to mention that if this continued, he would certainly catch on to something being wrong. Frederica decided that if she wanted to pay him back, she could start by trying to mend the broken relationship between sisters.

Ram eventually met her gaze, and as soon as it happened Frederica quietly stood, crossed the cabin and tapped Petra on the shoulder, motioning her to come back. Petra gave an unsure look, but relented and hopped the boundary before taking a seat next to Frederica. Rem turned as she noticed the movement, then returned her gaze to the road as she noticed Ram slipping into Petra's seat. In the back, Petra met Roswaal with a hard glare that he failed to respond to and continued to stare straight ahead with an empty look. In the front, Ram mentally sighed as she prepared for a conversation with her sister. She didn't appreciate Frederica meddling like this, but it was true that something had to be done before they met Subaru, so she took the opportunity.

"Rem"

"Ram" Rem replied drily, not averting her gaze from the road. The two sat in silence for a while, Rem's new pride keeping her silent while Ram tried to find the right string of words to fix their broken bond. Petra and Frederica pretended like they weren't openly eavesdropping. Roswaal tried to convince himself that he didn't care.

"Ram understands that you aren't happy with my decision to continue serving Roswaal, sister. Ram understands, and will make no more arguments to try and defend him." Ram understood now that she had been approaching the topic in the wrong way. She needed to accept that Rem would never see Roswaal in a redeemable light, but that doesn't mean that Rem would never see Ram in a positive light again either. Rem remained silent at her words, but her interest was piqued at the lack of excuses for that incorrigible man.

"But can't you see that you don't need to cast away everything for Subaru? Ram knows she still means something to you, and Subaru has also agreed to continue to work with Roswaal, is it so bad that Ram does the same?" Ram was fully turned to her sister, gazing pleadingly at her turned head.

"The difference is that Subaru works with Roswaal because he has to, you do it because you want to redeem the man who did so many terrible things to him." Rem spoke loudly without flinching, not caring that the magician she spoke of was mere feet behind her.

"Rem, that screen showed us just how far Subaru is willing to forgive. If he can forgive us, sister, then he can forgive anything. It is his greatest weakness and his greatest strength." Ram finally tore her gaze from her sister and hung her head, her mind flooded with memories of one of the worst loops she had seen in the theatre.

"UGH! Every time Rem speaks on how terrible the things that man did was, you always feel the need to mention that loop. Rem wishes she could take it back, it drives Rem crazy! It makes Rem want to scream, cry, tear her hair out, attack someone, curl up into a ball. Even now, Rem can't close her eyes without seeing her precious Subaru laying on the floor, bleeding out as Rem tortures him! Rem would do anything to take it back, but she can't! She has to live with it. But if that man had another chance, he would do everything exactly the same!" Rem exploded, dropping the reins and yelling at her sister, face red and spit flying as tears quickly leaked out of her eyes. The situation was at the height of its tension, and Ram knew her next words could remove Rem from her life forever. Petra hardened her glare at Rosaal in the backseat as she listened to Rem's words.

"Okay, Ram apologizes. She knows how much it hurts you to remember that. But still, Ram is just as important to Rem as Rem is to Ram, and not only do we know it, but Subaru knows it as well. It would kill him to find out that we're not on speaking terms, and you know it's true. Please Rem, I'm not asking you to forgive me, but don't shut me out… please…" Ram ended her speech with a desperate plea, tears streaming down her face now as she slipped into first person speech. She forced her feelings through their closed Synesthesia, and Rem could feel a tidal wave of heavy feelings beating down on her like a hefty knock on a wooden door. Rem was unable to respond verbally, her face now covered in tears and snot, but she did relent. She retook the reins, directed her gaze to the road, and opened her Synesthesia. Ram's heart flooded with hope and relief at this, and Rem knew it.

"Thank you. Sister." Ram tried to act professional after seeing Rem's still cold gaze, speaking through tears and a lump in her throat.

"Your welcome… sister" For the first time in what felt like years, Rem referred to Ram with a more familiar term, not quite what it used to be, but an improvement. Their relationship wasn't what it used to be either, but it was much better than it had been that morning, and that was enough for Ram. For now.

Crusch and Emilia ran alongside Subaru and his partner, all three of them determined to ensure Subaru's safety at all costs. They ran through the scorching city, the only sounds between the four of them the slap of shoes on concrete. Emilia was wearing her typical white and purple dress, not having enough time to change and Crusch had taken off her suit top and cape to reveal a plain black shirt with her suit pants that were more oriented for combat. Subaru and Beatrice were wearing the same clothes they always did, although Subaru's tracksuit was now stained and damp from sweat and grime accumulated from his two mad dashes through the city. They arrived at the South tower, and after having received the ping from their metia telling them to make their move, now only a few hundred meters from the tower. They slowed their approach to a walk as the tower came into sight, steadying their breathing and focusing on their environment. They came to a complete stop, sharpening their senses to check for signs of an ambush or react to a surprise attack. Once it was abundantly apparent that there was no immediate danger, Subaru opened his mouth to begin speaking.

"EL SHAMAK" Beatrice was the first to catch something moving so quickly it was a blur, casting a spell to freeze whatever it was. The other three turned quickly, to see a young boy with dark skin and intense green eyes wearing something that Subaru would describe as a green cheongsam. He looked as if someone had paused time during a hundred meter dash, arms mid pump, one leg on the ground and the other one hoisted up although he was entirely unmoving. Crusch was the first to move, swinging her sword to take the boy's head clean off, but at the same time the boy's proportions began to alter, too late for Crusch to change the path of her swing. The dark skinned boy who had been frozen was now a much smaller girl, not much older than seven or eight. The shift made Crusch's slice cut straight through air.

The Archbishop was not worried however, he had just eaten someone recently that would fix this problem splendidly. He channelled Lunar Eclipse to channel Gabriel and Martha Fletcher, a 3 month old boy born to a merchant family that Roy had devoured earlier that day and his mother. Gabriel and his mother both possessed an odd resistance to Yin magic. Neither of them ever knew this due to being far from combat their whole lives, but by channeling both Gabriel and his mother, the accumulated resistance was enough to allow Roy to move. While this exchange occurred, Subaru's mind was whirring at the sight of this "Archbishop of Gluttony". He looked… different, I know he can change forms but why would he change to one that looks so similar to his default, yet with minor differences? The other three who had been in the theatre also got a sense something was wrong, the boy they had seen in the metia looked different, but their mind was occupied by trying to kill him by any means necessary. The boy changed back to his form with the cheongsam, not wanting to use Solar Eclipse longer than he has to.

"Impressive, We are Roy Alphard, Archbishop of Gluttony representing Bizarre Eating-tsu!" Roy typically tried to take advantage of his opponents to win by any means necessary. However, his element of surprise had been stolen by Beatrice, so he tried to bait them into revealing their names, but his attention was drawn to the green haired woman who had tried to cut him.

"You… What is your name? You seem so familiar. Are you sure we haven't eaten you yet?" Roy asked quizzically, his own memories trying to search for the girl that had been removed by The Warden. It was a jarring sensation, for the first time he experienced what many of his victim's friends and families did. He knew there should be memories and experiences there, but it just came up blank and felt like an extremely disorienting version of deja vu. Roy… Didn't he say his name was Lye last time? Subaru's eyes snapped open as he realized the implications of this Archbishop's name.

"There's more than one Archbishop of Gluttony?" Instantly, the confusion the other three had felt earlier got cleared up, but that didn't change much unless there was also a difference between Lye and Roy's abilities. More importantly, if Roy is here alone, where the hell is Lye? A thought that sent shivers down Subaru's spine, thinking about what destruction Lye could wreak if left unchecked. But, there was an equally large problem right in front of him that needed his immediate attention. Roy saw that none of them were foolish enough to take the bait, but it was really bugging him every time he crossed eyes with Crusch. Crusch recognized that she was not facing the same person who stole her memories, but her feelings toward him did not change. All the people he assuredly ate, all the families broken and lives lost just as her own life was irreparably changed.

Roy had recovered from his confusion at Crusch, and moved to resume the battle. He leaped toward them, brandishing two gleaming daggers. He feinted at Crusch's stomach, then made another slash toward her head. Crusch was the weakest of the group besides Subaru, but was still a accomplished fighter in her own right. She reacted to the feint and managed to dodge the true strike, but was off balance. Roy reacted quickly to her unsteady stance, and jumped into the air and twisted his body sideways, dodging a blow from Emilia's massive ice hammer she had formed moments earlier. He planted his feet on the ice hammer, and used it as a surface to leap over Emilia and Crusch with his eyes laser focused on Subaru, the only name he knew out of the group thanks to the Gospel. During his freefall, Beatrice quickly created and propelled time crystals using Minya.

In midair, he activated Lunar Eclipse to channel Alfred Vance, a slave from Vollachia who possessed the Divine Protection of Stoneskin. His skin was impossible to pierce, but he had no protection from blunt force damage and with no offensive capabilities, he fell to the bottom of the Vollachian warrior hierarchy. However, it was just what Roy needed as tens of gems rammed into his body which all broke on impact. He licked his palm and reached out to place his arm on Subaru's shoulder, thinking that eating the knight might help him resolve his confusion about the green haired girl if nothing else.

"NO!" Emilia yelled, her face was a picture of terror as her voice cracked. She leapt into action as soon as she saw the Archbishop reach out his hand, her ice hammer forgotten. She jumped towards the duo that was nearly touching now, knocking over Crusch in the process and delivered a powerful kick to the ribcage of Roy and broke several bones. The Archbishop didn't have time to register the pain in his side as he flew tens of meters and crashed through a nearby house.

"SUBARU! Are you okay? Did he touch you?" Emilia scrambled to regain her balance and took Subaru's face in her hands, examining him for anything irregular as Beatrice began fussing over him as well.

"Guys, I'm fine! We need to focus on Gluttony." Subaru was touched by the care she showed him, but also annoyed that she would use her precious attention to coddle him like a baby mid fight against an Archbishop. The group conveniently shaped themselves so that there was a vanguard at the front protecting Subaru in the back, making it extremely difficult to use his whip without hitting an ally which also annoyed him.

"Sword Technique: One Strike, One Hundred Felled!" Crusch was also snapped out of a fear inspired stupor at seeing Roy so close to eating Subaru, and began using her trademark combination of wind magic and her Divine Protection several times, launching projectiles that cut into the house Roy had flown into. Roy walked out of the hole in the house, the lime green projectiles making direct contact with his body over and over, dissipating on impact thanks to his Stoneskin. The two groups were now approximately a hundred feet away which was the effective distance of one of his favorite abilities, the Leaper. He took a couple more paces, and then stood still with a smile on his face.

"Subaru Natsuki!" He yelled out, prefiring the name of the knight as he activated Lunar Eclipse to channel Dorkell. The boy vanished in front of their faces, reappearing behind them all, and right next to Subaru. He reached out his hand to touch Subaru's shoulder as Emilia and Crusch's eyes went wide, neither of them being fast enough to cross the distance in time. Images of Subaru flashed through their minds as they both tried their hardest to remember him before his memories were ripped away from there. It was particularly brutal for Crusch, who had been eaten once before. Luckily for both of the girls, their unending torment would be short lived and unnecessary for the time being.

"AL VITA" Beatrice screamed, her eyes wide with terror as she saw her contractor millimeters away from being taken forever. The hand that was about to touch the knight hesitated in place for a moment, then the entire body it was attached to was brought down with such force, it appeared to be teleportation. Using the Al spell was a bad move, a foolish overreaction inspired by sheer terror at the memory of the loneliness she suffered for four hundred years. It drained her mana significantly and would put her in a bind for the rest of the fight, but for these few moments it worked splendidly.

It was the first time she used Al Vita in hundreds of years and it broke most of Roy's bones on impact, shattering the street below them and forming a deep bowl that he lay in the center of. Crusch and Emilia nearly squealed in delight, momentarily forgetting their position as Subaru leaped into action. He knew he couldn't do much, but he had to try something as he drew his whip and pelted the prone Archbishop with blow after blow, forming large, red welts that would have leaked blood profusely if not for the boy's Stoneskin. The two ladies realized themselves, and jumped into action as well, Crusch redrawing her sword bef-

"STOP! Beatrice you keep going!" Emilia cried out, prompting Subaru and Crusch to halt their attacks as Beatrice just continued to hold up Al Vita. The two looked at her quizzically as she closed her eyes and began to focus her breathing as the mana in the air began to crystallize. It coalesced around the Archbishop, small blue clumps drifting toward him and solidifying into deep blue ice at an incredible rate. In a matter of moments, the Archbishop was frozen solid and the whole group stared hesitantly at the encased Archbishop, panting heavily.

"It's… over?" Crusch cast an uncertain glance at her comrades.

"I-Is he dead?" Subaru wondered aloud, mentally kicking himself for raising a flag.

"No, I can feel his life force, he's still alive and it'll stay that way as long as the ice is there" Emilia explained.

"This is your magic so I will ask you, Lady Emilia. Is there any way to dispose of this trash without dispelling the ice?" Crusch asked with her same stoic demeanor.

"Wait! We've got a Archbishop completely trapped! We're sitting on a goldmine of information on the Cult and you just want to throw it away?" Subaru cried out, roughly interjecting. Crusch opened her mouth to refute his point, but Beatrice beat her to it.

"Foolish contractor. He is one of the most despicable and horrible mass murderers alive today! He tried to eat you and your memories several times already, Betty won't forgive that." Betty panted, exhausted after her stint with Al Vita but energetic enough to clench her fists at the memory of how a different version of Gluttony certainly killed Subaru in the last twenty four hours.

"I'm not asking you to forgive him Beako, but think about the information he had on the Cult, this could change everything!" Subaru thrust his hands up, desperately making his point.

"I fear it would all be pointless. Many Cultists have been captured and even when subjected to… unsavory practices, not a single one has ever given a piece of reliable information." Crusch cut in, frowning at recollections of what she had found Ferris doing to captured Cultists.

"But those were just Cultists! Were dealing with an Archbishop, it's an entirely different game. This would be the biggest blow dealt to the Cult since Sloth!" Subaru fought back ferociously, his hatred for the Witch Cult driving him.

"Actually… I agree with Subaru. How much harm can it do to keep him in captivity rather than ending it here?" Emilia spoke for the first time since the start, backing up her knight. By this point they were having a full blown argument in the middle of the square near the Control Tower, but they had moved away from the creepy figure frozen in ice for the sake of their minds.

"Exactly! Look at him! What harm could he possibly do like th-?" Subaru flung his arms toward the block of ice to emphasize his point, the group turned their glances toward where he pointed after he suddenly stopped speaking and the entire group went silent. Sitting in a hemisphere a few feet deep in the street lay a thick prism of ice that had fully encased the Archbishop. But it now lay empty, with a humanoid shaped hole right where their foe used to be. Roy Alphard had escaped.

Chapter Text

“Shit. Ok. We have to find him, he could have gone anywhere, so we have to predict where he’d go.” Subaru’s legs were shaking, but his voice sounded calm and commanding. His companions were just as devastated by the revelation, but their worries were softened somewhat by the knowledge that Subaru didn't know where Gluttony was going, and therefore hadn’t died yet.

“That scoundrel is likely headed toward a shelter to terrorize civilians.” Crusch spoke out, she knew enough about Gluttony’s nasty personality to make a guess about what he would do, regardless of Roy and Lye being different people. 

At Crusch’s words, he sat down in the street and raked his hands down his face. The thought that Gluttony could be wreaking havoc on hordes of terrified civilians because he wanted to interrogate the Archbishop, it was enough to make him sick. The rest of the group exchanged worried glances when they saw this, and Emilia immediately moved next to him and began rubbing his back gently as Crusch kicked herself for not thinking of it first but glad he was getting comfort. 

“What if he got new orders from his Gospel, I suppose?” Beatrice asked, moving to hold her contractor’s hand.

“There’s no way to know if he did, but his orders would likely have been to guard the tower and stand ready to open the floodgate. Seeing as how he left the square and the gate hasn’t opened yet, we can assume that he’s acting freely now.” Crusch responded, using logic to defend her point.

“Or he’s waiting for us to lower our guard to launch another surprise attack like he did when we first arrived, in fact.” Beatrice brought up another reasonable course of action that the Archbishop could take.

“That is more likely, but if he wanted to take advantage of us, he would have done so when we were still arguing and unaware of his escape.” Crusch continued to deconstruct Beatrice’s counterpoints. Beatrice huffed, the duchess was right, but she didn’t like how Subaru was oddly silent throughout it all.

“Wait!” Subaru cried, his head shooting up as Emilia stopped rubbing him in shock.

“It’s even worse than that… He said he represents ‘Bizarre Eating’ so he’ll want to eat the most peculiar individual available if he isn’t acting under orders from his Gospel.” Subaru began to stand, realizing the gravity of the situation.

“We need to get moving now to warn him I suppose.“ Beatrice moved over to Subaru and began casting Journa on her and Subaru, preparing for their third dash through the city that day.

“W-Wait! What’s going on? You're making me reeeeeally worried guys.” Emilia interjected, confused and scared at how Subaru and Beatrice were acting.

“He’s going to go to the East Tower to try and eat Reinhardt.” Subaru responded gravely.

“Shouldn’t the Sword Saint be the least of our worries? He can handle himself.” Crusch saw the reasoning to be worried about his fellow knight, but didn’t understand why it was a big deal. Reinhardt losing his memories or becoming a Sleeping Beauty would be bad, but that was only if Gluttony was able to actually eat him. The chances of that were so low, the risk/reward of the situation didn’t merit a serious response.

“You don’t understand. When Gluttony eats someone, Roy and Lye gain not only their memories, but their abilities, fighting prowess and the ability to shapeshift into them.” Subaru shared the finalized theory he had been cobbling together from bits of information over the last couple days. At these words, all three of their eyes went wide, if Reinhardt became an adversary, Subaru was doomed to die until he was able to win. It would be more difficult than everything else he had overcome combined and it would no doubt take countless Returns to solve. The actual chance Gluttony could compromise Reinhardt enough to eat him was still extremely low, but the risk/reward was now heavily in favor of defending the Sword Saint.

“If that’s the case, we should get to the East Tower immediately to warn him. However, that would mean that we must barge into the fight between the Sword Saint and Greed.” Crusch wanted to get moving, but the thought of the battle they had to head into was enough to make her cautious. Beatrice narrowed her eyes at the thought of Subaru and the rest of them getting so close to such a dangerous battle, it would take all their effort just to not get killed by stray attacks from such powerful opponents. Emilia clenched her fists at the thought of Greed, what he did to her and Mother Fortuna in those woods all that time ago.

“We need to go in with a plan I suppose. Recklessly charging in will only get us killed in fact.” Beatrice got to work as Subaru tried to steady his shaking hands.

“Can’t make a plan without information, we should get moving.” Subaru argued and continued heading what direction he thought was East, disregarding the implications of his words. All three girls he was with froze up, fearing he was just recklessly sacrificing his life for information. No, have some faith in your knight. He’s better than that! He’s strong. But I can’t just expect him to be strong enough to handle everything without my help. I need to show him that he can rely on me and not on that darn ability… 

“Subaru, we can do this” Emilia smiled at her dear knight. “We’re not gonna let anything happen to anyone.”

“Uhh… Yeah Emilia-tan, absolutely!” Subaru was confused initially, but liked the spirit his mistress was showing. Entirely unaware of the connotation the three girls had picked up on, he genuinely just wanted more information before planning. He had to prioritize his life to keep his promises, and he was far past the stage of shamelessly throwing away his life for information or to cover a slight mistake.

“We shall not allow any harm to befall you, Subaru Natsuki-dono.” Crusch didn’t fail to make an attempt to better the mood of the knight. 

“Aren’t I supposed to be protecting you guys?” Subaru muttered, a little upset about how he was being treated. He had no idea they were doing their very best to avoid a loved one fall into the hands of Satella, he honestly didn’t know why they were being so overprotective and his self confidence issues began to step in. It’s because they can’t trust me, I’m not capable enough. He clenched his fists and stood up to begin walking away from the group with an obvious dark cloud over his head, retreating into his mind. Crusch nervously shifted her eyes from Emilia to Beatrice, and began walking behind Subaru. 

“What did we do wrong?” Emilia whispered with a downcast gaze, not wanting to let Subaru catch on what they knew as her and Beatrice fell in line with Crusch. Subaru began jogging quickly, and his companions had no trouble keeping up. As negative as Subaru was from the comments from the girls, he was beginning to shift his focus to the possibility of Reinhardt turning into an enemy. Subaru began breathing heavily after jogging for a while, and Beatrice quickly upcast Journa to allow him to keep his pace, which he silently thanked her for. He couldn’t stay mad at the girls, but it really frustrated him when they treated him like some weakling who can’t be trusted. 

It was a brutal scene in the large square. A red haired man resembled a demon, blood soaked clothes riddled with holes loosely draped his frame, half naked he screamed and raged against his opponent. The Sword Saint screamed so loud it threatened to shatter windows, his white haired opponent appeared unbothered as he continued to rant on and on about how unjust the situation was and how he would take it upon himself to correct it. Reinhardt dashed toward Regulus and lifted him into the air by his neck which Greed met with his continued speech as his airway was cut off.

The crazed knight abandoned the grappling attempt, and rapidly began throwing punches of all manner at Regulus, who continued his oration as if they were just breezes of wind. He had noticed that Reinhardt seemed to care an awful lot for this “Subaru Natsuki” fellow, and so he had been talking in great detail about what he was going to do once he got his hands on the lad. It worked better than he expected, and the usually steadfast and perfect knight quickly devolved to a raging madman, wailing wildly on Greed’s invincible skin. Regulus couldn’t help but snort at how easy it had been to provoke the redhead though, just a torture threat or three had gotten him in a completely manic state, although the repeated deaths Regulus administered certainly didn’t help things.
Greed twisted his face in disgust even further, as he saw another undesirable companion creeping into the southern tip of the plaza. What a pathetic existence, tied to those measly base instincts I have been able to transcend. Greed finally drew his verbal assault to a close as Reinhardt was now focused on driving his sheathed Dragon Reid sword into Greed’s chest repeatedly, to no avail of course. Greed had been somewhat annoyed by Reinhardt’s repeated refusals to die, but his orders were to stall, which was easy enough. The Gospel never mentioned sinking the city, that blond floozy does whatever she wants as always.

Regulus caught the Dragon Sword, and flung it aside as he flourished his hand toward the unarmed Sword Saint, sending deadly particles of air at his opponent. They slammed into the body of the knight, causing massive damage and even more destruction to the clothes that hung off his body like rags, tearing them completely off. Now fully naked, panting, sweaty and completely enraged, his body was overcome with unbearable pain yet again. He collapsed to the ground as blood rushed out of his body, cascading in pools down his torso and onto his neck and waist. 

Just a few moments later, his cursed soul was brought back again into his body. Od Laguna was doing everything it could to keep Reinhardt alive and thriving, but the mental strain and guilt of contemplating Subaru’s torture at the hands of Regulus as well as the several times Reinhardt’s soul had been ripped out and shoved back into his body, his mind was at it’s breaking point. As soon as his body turned back on thanks to Divine Protection of the Phoenix: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next activating, Reinhardt jumped back to his feet and leaped at his pristine white opponent again with a deranged look.

His eyelids seemed like they were pulled back by an unnatural force, allowing a gross amount of his sclera to be visible, his sky blue pupils shaking dangerously in place. Reinhardt sucked in a huge amount of air before letting out a thunderous, ear-piercing scream that he could barely hear through the blood pounding in his ears. His vision was going spotty in places, all sounds felt far away and even his sense of touch seemed to be drifting in and out, not that he noticed. His entire consciousness was dedicated toward attacking Greed, exterminating Greed, killing Greed, destroying Greed, crushing Greed, brutalizing Greed. He leapt at Regulus again with no plan in mind, gripping him around the neck with one hand and grabbing a clump of his hair in another.

“Exactly what are you doing here?” Greed found he could not ignore his fellow Archbishop any longer, and spoke out without looking at the little boy, completely ignoring the Sword Saint’s attacks. Roy mentally facepalmed, his cover blown as he began to quickly close the distance between him and his prey. He couldn’t hear what Regulus had said, but the two were making direct eye contact so he had to mvoe quickly. Luckily for him, Reinhardt had been screaming so loud he couldn’t hear what Regulus said either. Regardless, Roy quickly ran up behind Reinhardt who was so focused on his new life goal of eradicating the white haired man.

“Reinhardt van Astrea!” Roy happily licked his hand, and countless Divine Protections began ringing alarm bells in Reinhardt’s body, most of which he ignored. It proved to be too much of a distraction though, and he eventually turned around and swiped blindly at what his blessings told him was approaching. Reinhardt was in terrible shape indeed, but he was still the strongest existence in the whole world. He whirled around in a fraction of a second, his arm sinking into Roy’s shoulder and tearing Roy in half.

However it wasn’t all good news, Roy had been reaching out with his hand toward the shoulder of the Sword Saint, and when he whipped around it allowed Roy to make the briefest contact with his chest. With all the prerequisites for the Authority of Gluttony met, it activated and the Sword Saint was devoured by Roy Alphard. The newest victim of the Sleeping Beauty disease fell to the ground, unconscious as the dying Archbishop quickly activated Solar Eclipse, trying to restore his bodily functions before he died. The boy screamed out in pain as his shape began to change, elongating and shifting to match the appearance of the nameless man who lay before him.

“Ahhhh, thanks so much-tsu! You were delicious.” Roy licked his lips after the delicious feast which was sweetened by the pain of being torn in half. Finally! No more taking orders from that stuck up bitch anymore. Roy smirked, thinking of all the ways he could take revenge on “Mama” for what she had done to him over the years. With this new form, he was unstoppable. Just at the other end of the plaza, a group of four arrived sweaty and panting who took shelter behind a pop up shop. They saw the scene, a naked Sword Saint lying in piles of blood in the street, and another, fully clothed Sword Saint standing above him right beside the Archbishop of Greed.

“Is that Gluttony? Did he just… eat someone?” Crusch managed to stop the fear from reaching her voice, but it took control of her words. The thought that this red-haired boy unconscious on the ground could be someone she knew until moments ago, it sickened her. She quickly turned toward Subaru, who had a horrified look on his face, watching the naked, comatose body of one of his best friends accompanied by Gluttony, who was savagely taking his form without a care in the world.

“ROOOOOOOOOY” Subaru roared, running out into the plaza, infuriated at the defiled state of his close friend. Crusch, Emilia and Beatrice were now just as emotional as Subaru, as they watched him sprint out to take on two Archbishops alone. It hit them all at the same time as they cried out after him, he had no intention of staying alive.

“SUBARU NO” Emilia and Crusch screamed out as they watched the knight recklessly charge forward. They quickly moved to stop him, but Regulus was already acting.

“How disrespectful, to intrude on my conversation with this simpleton. He may be as dumb as an animal, but he still has his rights, as well as mine of course.” Regulus flippantly swiped his long arm toward the strange man who had just entered the square, sending a wave of gaseous death towards him and the three girls trailing behind. Crusch and Emilia were wholly focused on getting Subaru out of danger, and Emilia’s ridiculous physical capability allowed her to get there first. Beatrice was also acting however, and she conjured a magic barrier in front of Subaru in an effort to defend against whatever attack Regulus had just thrown. 

The invisible attack hit the barrier, and broke straight through as his Authority overpowered Beatrice’s magic. Beatrice’s jaw dropped at the unseeable attack breaking clean through her shield, and heading straight for her contractor. Luckily, Emilia had gotten to Subaru and scooped him into her arms, quickly leaping vertically in an effort to dodge the projectile. She and Subaru barely managed to make it out, the attack missing Emilia’s feet by a few inches. Unfortunately, Crusch wasn’t nearly as quick as the half-elf. Crusch also began to leap out of the way once she saw Subaru’s safety being guaranteed by the half-elf, but it was too late. The Authority of Greed tore through her body, ripping a diagonal section of her torso from her shoulder to her waist clean through. Her bisected body fell to the ground, drawing her dying breaths as her body fruitlessly attempted to pump blood to her lower half. Subaru, laying in Emilia’s arms craned his neck at the sight, and he was able to catch the sight of the green haired duchess getting eviscerated.

“C-Crusch…” Watching the execution of one of the girls fighting for his heart snapped him out of his enraged stupor, although he knew there was only one way to fix this. He had to Return. He began mentally preparing, to be reset to the cafe with Beatrice or perhaps some new point and his eyes hardened as he tried to plan for his coming death. Even if Crusch wasn’t dead, Reinhardt being eaten was an instant game over and would require a restart. Emilia and Beatrice also saw what had happened, and knew that Subaru would likely want to Return. They were both shocked and saddened by the loss of the proud duchess, an honorable woman who would always do what was right regardless of what it meant for her personally. Someone Emilia hoped to be able to call a friend, or at the very least a rival in love. Subaru squirmed in her arms now, desperately wanting to kill himself to reset the terrible sight and not caring what it looked like to either of his companions. 

“S-Subaru! What are you doing?” Emilia asked, her mind trying to fight against what she knew to be true. Her mind was split between tending to her knight, and trying to keep them both alive as she landed and dodged another one of Greed’s attacks thanks to a Murak assist by Beatrice.

“-hk. Why? Why did she do that? She would have been fine if she just left me alone…” Subaru whispered in Emilia’s arms, having abandoned his attempts to get free and end his life at the hand of the Archbishop’s. The answer to the question was so obvious to Emilia, it hurt her a little. 

“Because she cares about you Subaru. She wants you to keep living, and she was willing to risk her life to keep you alive and safe. So am I.” Emilia smiled down at him. This would probably end up as a forgotten timeline, a sequence of events remembered only by Subaru. But she could offer him some comfort in this moment, let him know that people love him and care for him and need him.

“WHY? ALL ANYONE DOES IS PUT THEMSELVES IN DANGER FOR ME. THEY CAN’T TRUST ME BECAUSE IM TOO WEAK. I wish I could get mad at you, all of you for treating me like a little kid but I can’t. Because you're right! I am the weakest one here, but for me to be such a liability that other people have to DIE for me? Because I can’t be trusted to handle myself? MAYBE YOUR RIGHT, BUT I'M A KNIGHT! I'M SUPPOSED TO PROTECT AND DEFEND INNOCENTS. I'M SUPPOSED TO LAY MY LIFE ON THE LINE FOR OTHERS. ” Her words had the opposite effect, hot tears streamed down Subaru’s face as he looked up at her. Feeling all the more emasculated by the way he was being princess carried, he looked up at Emilia with shame and anger in his eyes.

“O-Subaru. Subaru im so sorr—”

“LOOK OUT” She was cut off by Beatrice’s screams, who warned the distracted couple about the impending danger. But it was too little, too late as small chunks of rock Regulus had picked up tore through mistress and knight alike. Their blood splattered over each other and continued to flow our of the new holes in their body, the warm liquid mixing with each other. Subaru reached out a hand to touch her cheek, to say he was sorry, that his feelings were real but he didn’t want her last moments to be filled with his anger. But he never made it. Subaru Natsuki was dead before he could lift his hand.

By the time Subaru knew what was happening, he was already slumped over, his body desperately trying to keep him alive. He had no physical injuries, but his mind was convinced that he had just sustained a lethal attack. The phantom pain faded, and his mind came to realize that there was no immediate danger, and it allowed him to relax somewhat. His heartbeat slowed, his muscles relaxed and he allowed himself to open his eyes. 

One eye was in complete darkness and the other was centimeters away from a small, light yellow object that smelled fantastic. He was back in that damn bakery, collapsed on the table for the second time that day. He righted himself in his chair, and tried to flash a smile at his adorable spirit who was sitting across from him. She of course knew what had just happened, and had cast El Shanti on herself in order to appear regular to Subaru, but her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions.

“Beako. Am I strong?” Subaru asked, the question that had been troubling him spilling out of his lips. It startled his spirit out of her chaotic mind, and she quickly focused herself.

“Of course Betty’s contractor is strong. You fight even when you are facing something bigger than yourself, whether it be a Mabeast or a Archbishop or a human. You always find a way to win and never give up, you became a legendary folk hero within a few months of being in Lagunica. Betty is wholly convinced her contractor could take over the entire world if he so chose, but he has no interest in such things.” Beatrice wasn’t sure what had killed him or why he seemed so dejected, but it was clear to her that he was feeling self conscious about his abilities.

“Then why does everyone seem so intent on treating me like a defenseless little kid?” Subaru asked, the question that had haunted his last life being spoken to life anew. Beatrice met his gaze and stared into his eyes, he had a complicated look. There was anger, but not directed at her, there was confusion, shame, doubt, stress and terror. She wanted to give him what he needed, to help him like how he helped her. To save him how he saved her when he was obviously in such turmoil, but she had no idea how.

“W-What do you mean?” Beatrice asked, trying to figure out what exactly was wrong with her contractor.

“Everyone just treats me like I can’t be trusted to take care of myself. Emilia always puts me first in a dangerous situation. You refuse to leave my side even for small stuff. Reinhardt looks at me like I'm some fragile doll who he owes everything to and he needs to step on eggshells to make sure he doesn’t hurt me. Wilhelm too. Otto takes care of all these issues without me, he basically runs the camp singlehandedly. Rem would always run ahead and throw herself into danger to try and protect me. Plus Ram never forgets to let me know just how pathetic and useless I am. It feels like I'm just an item to be looked after by everyone.” Subaru bit back several comments about how Crusch and others had acted in forgotten loops, but his point still stood. Beatrice opened her mouth to respond, biting back some harsh remarks about a pink maid before she was cut off.

“Khahahahahaha! Greetings meatbags!” A voice that was all too familiar by now to Subaru cut through every conversation happening in the city. The message continued as always, ignored by Subaru who was wallowing in his own misery. Beatrice watched her contractor, smoke nearly coming out of her ears by trying to comprehend her contractor’s death, his emotions, this new Witch Cult threat in the city at the same time were too much for one person to handle. But she wasn’t just a person, she was the smartest spirit in the world! She would defend against the Witch Cult, protect her contractor’s life and all the while she would make him feel better as well. She didn’t know how she would do it quite yet, but she was confident that she could get it done regardless of what might have happened in past loops. She smiled even amidst the horror of the situation, she couldn’t help but be amused. Spending all that time with my foolish contractor really made him rub off on me.    

“Subaru. You know Betty loves you, right?” Beatrice asked in an empty bakery after Lust had finished speaking.

“Yeah.” He sighed, not moving his gaze from the table. His spirit’s kind words did little to help his mental state.

“Betty doesn’t think people treat you like a kid. They are protective of you because they care about you and love you, just like how you would never allow harm to befall Betty, Betty refuses to allow harm to befall you. Betty knows fate is too cruel to her contractor, so we don’t have time to deal with this right now. We will get everyone together when this is over and have a nice long talk until you're satisfied with how you're being treated. But right now, Betty’s contractor needs to stand up and save the city. It isn’t fair to put everything on you, but without you there’s no way the city can withstand this attack. Betty loves you, and we will fix the way you're being treated but right now everyone in the city is in danger, including Emilia.” Beatrice felt terrible for various things she said from making it seem like he had a responsibility to save the city (which he technically did as a knight) to delaying the resolution of a problem that was very important to invoking Emilia’s name. 

She didn’t know what had happened in past loops and she could very easily step on a tripwire to totally set her contractor off but she had decided she would risk it to get Subaru back to a fighting state during this catastrophe. Even if Subaru would end up resenting her for putting the responsibility on him, if it meant he could stand and make this loop the true one, Beatrice was willing to live with that. Beatrice also didn’t like the idea of Subaru trying to save the city to begin with, but she knew that he wouldn’t settle for anything less. Greedy contractor…  

Subaru bit a hasty, angry response back to think about her words. He didn’t like the way his concerns were being pushed aside, but his spirit was right. There would be more than enough time to figure it out when everyone was safe, right now he needed to make sure that the future where everyone could freely speak would actually come to pass. 

This time he would defeat Gluttony with Crusch, Emilia and his spirit, they would end him permanently, then they would make sure the rest of the Archbishops were repelled and then, finally, he would get to the bottom of why people kept sacrificing themselves for him. When it was just Rem, he could understand, and Emilia too. But now Crusch? 

A dark side of his mind argued that it was clearly because he couldn’t handle himself in a fight and his companions had to put themselves in danger to save him, much the same way an adult would put a child on a lifeboat before boarding themself. Another part of his mind knew that it didn’t seem quite right. He was strong, right? Maybe it was only because of his Authority, but to an outside viewer he had an incredible track record against strong opponents. In fact, he had never lost outside of Julius. The feelings of something being off from earlier that he had brushed off came back stronger now. He recalled how Beatrice acted before he killed himself earlier as well, it just wasn’t making sense. After… I’ll figure everything out afterwards when everyone is safe.

“You know, I don’t like it, but you're right Beako. Let’s deal with these guys and then we can do whatever we please.” Subaru couldn’t find it in himself to smile after what he just saw and he knew he didn’t have to pretend in front of his spirit. Beatrice did crack a smile after seeing how her words had their intended effect.

“Thank you for trusting Betty, Subaru.”

“Of course Beako, always” When he said this, Beatrice had to hide tears at how undeserving she was to have such an incredible contractor even after all those times she abandoned him and let him die.

“Come on. We need to head to Muse HQ, but first I need to check on something. Is there any way to check what is going on at the West Tower?” Subaru began thinking of logistics and how the warriors should be split. He didn’t know the status of the West/North towers or City Hall, but his group won at the South but Reinhardt looked to be in bad shape before Gluttony showed up in the East. I have to trust Julius and Wilhelm’s group did well, I trust their judgement and abilities. The West tower is completely unknown because I don’t know anything about the opponents there… Priscilla went there by herself early on the last loop, I wanna see if that holds up. Subaru cursed his lack of information about his adversaries, but was still determined to make it through with zero casualties.

“Someone matching Priscilla’s description was seen entering the West Tower with a small child.” Beatrice responded quickly.

“How did you do that?” Subaru questioned how she knew with an open jaw. Beatrice stared back and basked in the clear amazement of her contractor

“There’s a lot of simple spirits around, so there’s enough Yin spirits to form a chain across the city to the West Tower. I just gave one a message to pass down to the West end of the city, and the reply of what the spirits saw got passed back over here. They can’t help but obey me, all those kids know who I am.” Beatrice replied snootily.

“COULD YOU ALWAYS DO THAT?” Subaru accidentally yelled as he was overcome with all the times that such an ability would have been useful. 

“Y-Yes, Betty is sorry Subaru, Betty should have told you sooner but she didn’t know it was so important.” Beatrice’s smug attitude was immediately replaced by guilt at the thought that Subaru might have needed her and she couldn’t deliver just because he didn’t know her capabilities.

“Fine. It’s fine. I didn’t mean to get excited, I'm sorry Beako.” Subaru let out a deep sigh before getting up to head towards Muse HQ. It was very useful information, in the last loop if she went to the West Tower around when Lust made her announcement, she must have survived for a long time given the amount of time that passed between Lust’s message and the knight who delivered the news about the Sun Princess. In that case, she should survive long enough to send Al there. Something tells me he’s stronger than he lets on.  

“Anyways, let’s get moving” Subaru prompted his spirit who was still a little ashamed, but the two were soon moving toward Muse HQ. 

Subaru burst into the war room Anastasia was using for what felt like the hundredth time that day. His conversation at the start of the loop slowed his arrival time down a bit, but he was still earlier than most. Already present were the Anastasia and Felt camps (plus Al), who all knew he had died at least once. Anastasia was about to get up and greet him with her information spiel but Subaru cut her off, he had heard it one too many times that day.

“We got confirmation from Beako that Priscilla went to the West Tower, and judging by the city not being underwater yet I think we should be safe for the time being.” Subaru started, Al being out of the room as soon as he heard his words. Good luck man, you need it to be able to deal with that lady. Subaru mentally laughed as Al dashed out, turning back to Anastasia who was undergoing a flurry of emotion. She wanted to lash out in rage at the impulsive Sun Princess, but the city hadn’t been sunk yet. That raised the question of why. Did they not want to damage the Witch’s remains or kill Subaru? Or maybe Priscilla had locked her in combat and she couldn’t alert the others to sink the city? 

“Regardless, we need to send out the other parties as soon as possible. Where the hell are Emilia and Crusch?” Anastasia started, trying to get as much of Subaru’s impossible knowledge as she could.

“Don’t worry about it, they should be here soon. In the meantime, I have some thoughts about who is going to fight where.” Subaru was acting extremely confident, which Beatrice liked. In reality, he just wanted to deal with this threat so that he could talk with his loved ones and resolve some issues. In his haste, his self doubt was momentarily forgotten as he issued orders like a seasoned veteran. Anastasia had seen him go into this mode enough times on the screen to know that when Subaru got like this, it worked out best if everyone else sat down and listened.

“Garf and Wilhelm go North. Me, Crusch and Emilia go South, Reinhardt goes East and the Iron Fang group goes to City Hall. My group will deal with Gluttony and then go help Rein. I'm not sure if it’ll work, but it seems like the best plan.” Subaru gave out his instructions on repelling the threat. Julius watched with a stony face as he laid out his plan, how many times did Subaru have to die to get here? In time past Julius would be confused, but smile at the confident aura of the knight, but now it brought him sadness knowing that the confidence was brought only by having more knowledge than his opponent. Knowledge that he had to sacrifice his life to gain, over and over.

Ricardo was shocked by how obvious he was as he flaunted his temporal knowledge. Someone would have to be completely clueless not to know something was up. But on that screen, he had acted like this as he tried to pull together a fighting force against the White Whale, and all he got was some fleeting doubts.

“Why are we sending a group to City Hall? We only need to beat the Archbishops right?” Mimi tugged on the end of her mistress’s dress, a little browbeaten at the elephant in the room.

“Well there is one Archbishop at City Hall, and if she finds out that the Control Towers are being attacked, she might try to go help the other Archbishops, so we need to stall her there.” Anastasia answered for Subaru. Subaru was lost in thought about why the Cult had never sunk the city in any of his loops. Just what kind of game are they trying to play here? Just then, the door erupted as the entire Emilia and Crusch camps came in, minus Felix and Otto. Huh, together this time? Not that it matters. Unknown to him, they had been informed of Subaru’s death at the door by a written message from Anastasia that had been delivered.

“SUBARU!” Emilia yelled when she saw her knight, throwing herself at him and embracing him in a hug as she blinked tears back from her eyes. The hug failed to warm Subaru, his thoughts soured by the thought of the childish treatment. 

“S-Subaru?” Emilia pulled back, looking at him confusedly at his failure to return her hug.

“Eh, sorry Emilia-tan, I'm just focused on the Cult right now.” Subaru replied sheepishly, his anger flaring under the surface at being forced to act as if nothing was wrong while Emilia coddled him.

“Right! Sorry, I don’t know what came over me.” Emilia flattened her clothes against her legs, trying to play off her embarrassment. Crusch winced at the scene and was extremely confused at why Subaru was acting this way. Falling over himself for Emilia was his typical state, and while that annoyed Crusch somewhat, seeing the young boy not act like himself, especially knowing that he had died Od knows how many times, it was scary. The rest of the Emilia and Crusch camps were also weirded out at the sight, but picking up that they probably shouldn’t talk to Subaru right now.

“Anastasia can you fill them in?” Subaru asked the merchant as he strolled over to the corner of the room and took a chair and stared out the window onto the street. The next few hours would be extremely tiring, physically as well as mentally so he should take some rest where he can get it. Anastasia droned on in the background as Subaru stared out onto the street which was thankfully empty of Demibeasts as Beatrice watched him worriedly. She had gotten him to stand up confidently to repel the Cult, but watching him cast aside Emilia like he had, that was definitely something new. Shortly after, all parties were brought up to speed and were ready to head out, equipped with metias to coordinate an attack. These are probably useless considering the Cult won’t drown the city, but I have no evidence to argue otherwise Subaru thought as he slipped one into his pocket. His group was the first one out of the building, Subaru standing shoulder to shoulder with his spirit, love and suitor. His companions could still feel the strange aura around Subaru, but only Beatrice knew why. 

“Before we really get moving, you guys should be warned. Once we get within about two hundred meters of the tower, Gluttony will probably try to launch a surprise attack, targeting me.” His companions mentally froze at the thought of Subaru walking into an ambush, but once again calmed themselves with the knowledge that he didn’t carelessly sacrifice his lives. Plus, him telling them meant he trusted them to defend him and he wouldn’t attempt to handle it all on his own.

“And Emilia, I know I have been acting strange. After everything is over we need to talk, all of us.” Subaru added cryptically. These words set off alarm bells in the heads of Emilia and Crusch. Did he know something he shouldn’t? Had he been able to crack their secret? What should they say if he asked a question they couldn’t answer? What could they say? This whirlwind of thoughts was cut off by Subaru and Beatrice beginning to run toward the South tower, forcing the two girls to follow suit. Their thoughts were clouded as they ran, a muddled storm of curiosity, anxiety, worry, fear and self-doubt. But they tried to push it away to focus on the upcoming battle and failed terribly, just like Subaru did. 

Sweat poured down the face of Subaru and Crusch, Beatrice’s spirit biology and Emilia’s fire magic keeping them from the heat. Subaru cursed the weather that day as he had to keep reliving the scorching heat as he sprinted around the city, dying and restarting. The four ran through the city for a few more minutes, feeling far longer than it had any right to until they were a few blocks from the South tower when Subaru began slowing to a walk, his companions following suit.

“Okay, just a little further now and he should ambush us, if I had to guess it would be near that intersection just before that tatoe stand.” Subaru informed comrades while breathing heavily. There was no response to his words, but the three girls next to him each readied attacks to throw at the first threat available. They slowly approached the tatoe stand, trying to look as unassuming and off guard as a small, specialized group that had lethal intent could look. As their feet clopped over white stone, Subaru eyed every passing window, alleyway and anywhere else a small Archbishop could come from. Emilia, Crusch and Beatrice were doing the same, scanning every nook and cranny that could be advantageous for an ambush. They crossed the intersection, approaching the vegetable stand Subaru had named, the group was unable to hide their nervousness with all the distractions and stress of the situation. They crossed the intersection with no issue, then continued walking past the vegetable stand. Crusch and Emilia raised at an eyebrow at each other. Then they walked all the way down the block, then down another, approaching the Control Tower without a single sign of life, not even a Demibeast or Cultist around. Subaru’s embarrassment crawled up his arms and back like hot ants. Where is he? There shouldn’t be anything different this time, I guess I'm a couple minutes later than last time, but nothing to warrant this kind of change.

“I don’t know what’s going on, we need to be careful.” Subaru warned in a low voice, nearly a whisper. The girls were surprised to hear these words, but not unhappy to know that Subaru didn’t know what was coming next. They continued moving, so slowly it ached. The group entered the plaza in front of the South Tower, and made their way across it. The huge, shining tower stood tall amongst the smaller wood and stone shops and restaurants. The sharp, pointed tip was regal, and draped off of it was a huge purple and red flag to represent the Witch Cult’s authority in the city. They made their way across the pristine, empty square and got right up to the enormous wooden gate that served as the main entryway.

“How kind of her~. Not giving us a assignment allows us to freely eat as much as we want! Gluttonous drinking! Gluttony-tsu!” The small dark skinned boy licked his lips as he eyed up the huge building he was stalking. All the other Archbishops had received orders on where to station for the attack on Priestella, and although Lye had been summoned to the city, he had yet to receive a single instruction while Roy had been ordered to take over a tower. It made no difference to Lye though, it allowed him to act openly and eat whomever he pleased. He decided that the best meals (outside of the control towers) would be found at the headquarters of Kiritaka Muse, Lye understood he was something of a shadow mayor, manipulating the city from the shadows. That meant there were bound to be some valuable, vulnerable people holed up that could prove to be delicious meals. He crept along an alleyway, peeking out just enough to get a full view of the grand building and had to stop himself from drooling at the thought of what might be inside. Probably not any strong warriors, but even weak folks could lead extraordinary lives. After circling the whole building, he had identified eight different points where guards had been set up. They were called the White Scales, and they were certainly no match for Lye, but the issue was if he wasn’t careful, they could alert the high value inhabitants of the headquarters and they would try to run which would complicate things. The White Scales were smart, and every guard had a partner, and every duo was within eyesight of at least one other duo, if not more. It would prove somewhat troublesome, but Lye was confident in his abilities and speed. He used El Chalaki, a rare form of Yin magic that was developed by a monastery hidden in the mountains of Gusteko. Lye had come across it on his travels, and wiped them out completely. Chalaki allowed the user to manipulate the senses of the target, in this case Lye changed the sight of nearby guards to not notice the sight of him sprinting over and slicing the throats of the two White Scale guards who were completely helpless at the hands of the Archbishop. He continued to cast and maintain Chalaki, making his way around the building until the outside was entirely defenseless. He used his superhuman strength and speed to quickly drag the bodies into a nearby house and made his way up to a first floor window, finding it locked. He didn’t want to alert anyone prematurely, but he didn’t want to check every window and get seen either. He thought for a moment about how to best sneak in without being seen before cracking a wide grin at the sight of the huge front gates of Muse Headquarters. 

“Sometimes the best solution is the simplest” Gluttony chuckled as he walked over as he walked over and channeled Solar Eclipse.

A week ago, Felt would have been pissed being locked up in an ivory tower during an emergency. Growing up in the slums relatively untouched thanks to Uncle Rom gave her a bit of a sense of invincibility, something that got shattered watching Elsa kill her and her grandfather several times. Now, instead of making her feel constricted, the guards stationed all around the building made her feel safe. She knew it was a false sense of security though, the threats in Priestella were on a scale entirely unmanageable by the White Scales and city guard. The feeling of immense danger combined with the intense boredom of just sitting around for hours on end gave her a lot of pent up stress, so she decided to take a walk through the mansion. After all, if there was a threat in the mansion, nowhere in the city was safe. Felt went out into the hall with a red, carpeted floor that had intricate designs and beautiful, soft yellow marble walls dotted with impressive paintings. Anastasia was commanding troops and divisions throughout the city from the top floor, so as Felt walked through the halls she kept passing guards and Scales. Reinhardt had gotten her there and put her with some Scales and by the time she managed to find where Rein had squirreled off to, everyone was gone but Anastasia! Her mind had been running rampant with visions of Subaru and her other friends getting killed in new and creative ways at the hands of the FOUR Archbishops in the city. She had gotten a lot closer with Crusch and Anastasia thanks to them working together to monitor Subaru, and while she disagreed often with them, she knew they were good people and didn’t want to see anything bad happen to them or their subordinates. Then there was the Emilia camp. Felt cared deeply for Emilia and Subaru even before the theatre, and had bonded with other members (particularly Garfiel) in the theatre and of course didn’t want anything bad to happen. It pissed her off how Subaru was always running ahead and taking care of everything on his own, but she reminded herself that if he didn’t, Rom and herself would both have died a long time ago without ever even meeting Reinhardt. Even without Returning, he introduced her to Reinhardt which put her forever in his debt, and she would never say it out loud, but Rein was one of the best things to ever happen to her. Even if he did try to squeeze her into cutesy dresses and boring lessons. By now her errant thoughts and legs had taken to the penultimate floor and she stopped to look out the window, sending out a prayer that everyone would be ok without a Return and cursing her own weakness. Just then, she saw someone strolling up to the gates of Muse Headquarters. Soldiers were reporting periodically, but he wasn’t dressed like a soldier. His all green outfit and peculiar hat had no place on a battlefield, and Felt broke out into a smile at his appearance. She began running downstairs to try to meet him at the gates. She got to the bottom, and fifteen or so Scales had opened the door for him, granting him access.

“How’d they let you in?” Felt asked, confused as to how they just let the merchant stroll in.

“I am the head of internal affairs for one of the camps in line to become Queen you know?” Otto asked her grumpily.

“Oh! Right.” Felt sheepishly scratched her head.

“Anyway! What were ya doin out there? A weakling like you has got no business out there.” The merchant bit back a remark about how she was as much of a weakling as him.

“I had business in the city this morning, and when Lust made her announcement I began making my way here, assuming that it would be the base of operations for a resistance effort. I see that I was correct, but on my way here I met several groups of strange, striped beasts that tried to kill me so I kept getting delayed.” Otto shivered at the thought of those terrifying Demibeasts Capella had made, and Felt finally noticed his fraught condition, from his ripped clothes to the layer of grime that caked his body to the hair that was matted to his forehead with half dried sweat. 

“Anyway, what are we doing to repel the invasion? Where’s Natsuki-san?” Otto got straight to the point.

“Well right after the announcement, all the camps had a meeti- Oh right you don’t know, Priscilla is in town, she got involved with things right around when Lust made her announcement. Regardless, all the combatants met up and they split into five groups, one for each Control Tower and one to distract Lust at City Hall. Subaru is… out with the group fighting Gluttony.” Felt finished her speech with a downcast glance.

“HES WHAT? AGAINST WHO? HE SHOULD BE KEPT SAFE HERE, NOT FIGHTING OUT THERE. AND GLUTTONY IS THE WORST POSSIBLE OPPONENT, IF HES EATEN HELL BE GONE FOREVER, RETURN O-“ Otto’s explosion was cut short when Felt slapped a hand over his mouth, casting a glance at the nearby guards who had been exiting the room until now, and were casting strange glances at them.

“Rein visited me before he left to fight Greed to update me. It’s most likely that we tried to keep him here… once. But he had to Return and go out there himself.” Felt whispered quietly, trying to calm the enraged merchant. Otto’s eyes blazed dangerously, but he knew he couldn’t speak openly in front of the city guard and Scales.

“Take me somewhere private. Now.” He whispered back with eyes narrowed. Felt turned and began walking from where she came, passing the group of frozen guards without a second glance with Otto following close behind. Felt lead him through the building and into her private room, closing the door behind Otto.

“Okay EVEN IF we have to send Natsuki out, why the hell is it against Gluttony? That’s the one opponent who can permanently erase Natsuki, bypassing his power entirely!” Otto whisper-screamed at the blonde girl.

“Dude, you need to chill. I wasn’t in the room where the plans got made, and if you ask me, Subaru was probably the one who assigned people to the Archbishops so it was his decision.” Felt tried to placate the raging merchant.

“I don’t care if Volcanica came down here herself, Natsuki is absolutely NOT allowed to be anywhere close to that villain.” Otto raked his fingers through his hair roughly, the stress of knowing Subaru could be eaten at any moment was taking a toll on his mind.

“Listen to me. Subaru is strong, he can handle himself. He knows better than to carelessly throw his life away, we saw that in the Sanctuary. Now you need to trust him to handle himself, especially now that he has knowledge that neither of us do. I don’t like the idea either, but it’s the best choice.” Felt grabbed the merchant’s collar as she reprimanded him, trying to get the message through his thick skull.

“Okay, your right. But dammit, I just feel so powerless.” Otto sighed as he sat down on a chair.

“Tell me about it.” Felt snorted.

“I mean, not to brag but I feel more capable than many of the guards here. I heard several guards losing to the Demibeasts and I was able to make it here unharmed!” Otto complained.

“Unharmed?” Felt asked with a smile, eying a still oozing gash on his forearm. 

“Shut up, I got here in one piece didn’t I?” Otto rolled his eyes.

“And do you know what happened to Garf?” Otto asked, concern for his little brother leaking through.

“Yeah they sent that dumbass to the North Tower with Wilhelm.” Felt had met with Anastasia and got a basic rundown of how things had gone.

“It’s a good thing my hair is already gray” Otto sighed and slumped over in his chair. He knew Garfiel would be sent out to fight and at least it wouldn’t be against an Archbishop, but it stressed Otto out nonetheless. Felt eyed the merchant and could feel his negative emotions and worries leaking out and infecting the room.

“Come on, we’re going for a walk.” Felt stood up abruptly and grabbed his hand, leading him out of the room and down the ornate hall.

“Where are we going?” 

“I dunno, just couldn’t stand that cramped room anymore.”

“Me too.” Otto smiled. After a couple more minutes, they found themselves on the ground floor.

“Hey, you guys aren’t supposed to be down here, go back upstairs.” A White Scale reprimanded their carefree attitude.

“So your telling me that if a Archbishop busted in here you would singlehandedly deal with em for us?” Felt asked with a cocked eyebrow.

“You're not supposed to be here.” The Scale repeated firmly, his fear of the Sword Saint overpowering his embarrassment at the girl’s question. Before he had left, Reinhardt had assembled the guards and Scales in the building and gave them an extremely stern talk about keeping his mistress safe.

“Whateva we’ll leave.” Felt spun and left, Otto close behind. They walked over to the stairs they had came down when Felt tilted her head, saw nobody was following and instead looped back to the main entryway, although now peeking from behind a wall.

“What are we doing?” Otto felt a little old to be sneaking around the house like this.

“Just shaddup, I'm bored.” Felt turned back, only to instantly jump back behind the wall and pull Otto with her.

“There’s some guards stationed at the doors.” Felt whispered. Otto rolled his eyes. Just then, three large clops echoed through the hallways. Felt got tempted, and peeked out into the foyer to see the six stationed knights to now be near the door.

“Someone’s here, probably some more knights. Whew! I was worried.” Felt smiled as she pulled back around the corner.

“Greetings Marshal, Scale Hearthwell reporting with urgent news for Lady Anastasia!” A scratchy, serious voice echoed through.

“Hearthwell? I don’t think there is a Scale named Hearthwell, is there?” The first voice was deep and faint, like rock on dirt.

“No sir.” Two tight, formal voices responded.

“I am Scale Hearthwell! Serving under Head Asta sir!” The high voice returned.

“Hmm, Asta is in charge of the Scales here, maybe I misremembered the list. Better be safe than sorry though. Kirkman, go check on Asta and see if he has a Scale named Hearthwell. Scale Hearthwell… I hope you don’t mind waiting a couple moments.” The Marshal’s gruff voice hardly sounded apologetic.

“Sorry sir, this news is urgent and must be shared with Lady Anastasia imme—” Felt and Otto looked at each other as they heard a wet squelching that had become all too familiar to them in the last few days. They popped back out from their hiding, to see a guard had rammed a spear through the open door, and through the Scale standing in the open doorway at a upwards angle. To the shock of the blonde and gray duo, the Scale smiled and began climbing up the stake through his chest with his hands on the spear, before losing his balance and tumbling to the floor when the hidden guard yanked his spear out of his body.

“Yahaha! What a splendid reaction! Splendid! Splendid! We hope you can sate our hunger! Splendid hunger, splendid food. What splendor!” The Scale angrily ranted as he rapidly melting, coalescing into a smaller, darker form.

“We are the Sin Arc—” His introduction was cut off by the Marshal swinging his sword down on the prone Archbishop, who had quickly realized himself and dodged the swing.

“Ahhh, so eager to get to eating aren’t we? You must prepare the meal first silly, but because you don’t know that we will teach it to you. We will teach you as the Archbishop of Gluttony, Lye Batenkaitos representing Gourmet-tsu!” Lye began his fights as he often liked to, by baiting his opponents to reveal their name. He knew both their names due to Felt’s notoriety and a merchant in the Hoshin company that had dealt with Otto before being eaten by Roy, he also knew all of the other’s names thanks to eating several officers and Scales. The Archbishop licked his lips and jumped past the guards toward Felt. 

He was on his way to his target when it was suddenly stolen from him, having been tackled to the floor by Otto Suwen. Lye was just about to devour the merchant when he was interrupted by the Marshal charging in with a sword swipe. The dark skinned boy caught the sword in his teeth and chomped down hard, his teeth tearing through the steel thanks to Beli Hainelga’s Carnivorous Beast. The Marshal widened his eyes in surprise, and managed to catch the shorter boy with a knee to his stomach because of Gluttony’s awkward positioning. Steel fell from the boy’s mouth along with saliva and blood as Lye tumbled to the floor. 

“You need to run.” Otto ordered Felt in a shaky voice.

“You need to run too asshole, Big Bro won’t let your death slide!” Felt whispered back, not taking her eyes off Lye.

The guard next to the Marshal moved to stab the boy with his spear, making direct contact with the prone Archbishop, but his spearhead shattered on impact. 

“These guards won’t hold out very long.” Otto watched the ongoing conflict, fingering his bag of firestones and trying to think of a plan.

“Yer right, but the Marshal sent that one guard off, probably to go bring backup. There’s a old weapon that Rein brought to the city, I'm not sure how to use it but that’s our best bet. You’d better not die till I get back!” Felt was already heading off before she had finished speaking. Rein told her that they were traveling with a ancient metia that was an extremely powerful weapon. Rein said that it could even damage himself! Anything that could affect Reinhardt would have to destroy an Archbishop. Right?

Chapter Text

Canon Divergences: Tweaked the Authority of Gluttony I think. Also some pretty serious LN spoiler’s about Al this chapter.

“Let’s use one of the open windows, it has to be safer than the front door.” Subaru began heading over to an open window without waiting for a response. Subaru is acting reaaaaaly weird, what does he want to talk about after? What happened to him? Emilia knew she needed to be wholly focused on protecting herself and her knight, but she couldn’t help but wonder the cause of Subaru’s strange behavior. What if he got trapped in a death loop? There are four Archbishops, he could have died hundreds of times. He could be an entirely different person! Emilia tried to snap herself out of her spiraling thoughts by pinching her side hard, and then clambered through the window as she realized she was the only one outside. She pulled herself through the chest high window and into a bathroom. It was rather large, with eight open stalls and six sinks accompanied by a large mirror that ran on top of them. Her companions had already made their way over to the exit, but had paused near the door, worried about what could be on the other side.

“Subaru-dono, allow me.” Crusch stepped in front of the knight, cutting him off from exiting the bathroom and gingerly opening the door. Subaru fumed behind her at his treatment as Beatrice watched worriedly. His anger went unnoticed by Emilia who he was facing away from, but Beatrice could feel his frustration and shame through their bond. The group made it out of the bathroom, and moved into the grand lobby of the tower. It was a large, stone room that was plain but adorned with tables, chairs and simple light fixtures. The cool stone walls gave it a serious, militaristic feel but the lack of guards or any sign of life made the room feel eerie.

“What now?” Emilia asked.

“Gluttony is around here somewhere, we should clear every floor as we move u—” Crusch stopped speaking as she drew her sword, Emilia simultaneously generating ice crystals which were both launched at the target above them. As Subaru looked up, he saw Roy laying flat on his stomach on a wall Beatrice had created. Beatrice removed the wall as Crusch and Emilia’s projectiles approached rapidly, meant to skewer and kill the interrupted Archbishop. Shit, I didn’t notice him at all, they really saved me… No wonder nobody trusts me on my own. Subaru sunk lower into his emotional pit as he realized how outmatched he was on his own.

“Lunar Eclipse!” Roy channeled Dorkell, the Leaper to teleport from his compromised position and onto the ground, a few meters from the group.

“Very good-tsu! You four seem veeeery interesting~. We are Roy Alphard, Archbishop of Gluttony representing Bizarre Eating-tsu!” Roy proceeded with his typical bait after his initial ambush to eat Subaru had failed. Of course, he knew the names of all four of them, but it was something the Archbishop did without thinking. Subaru had found himself behind Crusch, Emilia and Beatrice. I don’t like how I'm positioned, but I might as well use it to my advantage. Subaru readied his whip from behind the girls and sent the tip arcing towards Gluttony from an awkward angle so he wouldn’t see it coming. It snapped across the Archbishop’s cheek, making a loud snap and forcing the boy to look away from the group. As soon as that happened, Crusch dashed forward while Emilia began forming her mana into ice. The swordswoman slashed at the boy, who dodged under it and threw a low kick at her. Crusch checked the kick and thrust toward his chest, he ducked under it again and tried to circle to her left, but was interrupted in the form of an enormous block of ice that took up most of Crusch’s field of view. Gluttony had been slammed into the stone wall by one of Emilia’s trademark ice hammer’s, a nauseating crunch echoing out. Emilia waited a beat, then dispelled her blue ice hammer to check on the Archbishop. As soon as the ice burst into thin air, Crusch stepped forward, intending to strike the Archbishop with a blow as soon as she could. Roy survived Emilia’s attack by channeling Carnivorous Beast, but he still took heavy damage and knew he would have to use Solar Eclipse to restore himself to maximum fighting capacity, but for the time being he was still a small injured boy. He felt the vast pressure that was forcing him into the wall disappear, and he quickly realized that the green duchess was charging toward him. He had caught her eye since the start, she felt peculiarly familiar. He knew she was Crusch Karsten, candidate for the throne but she was really throwing him off. Looking at her made Roy feel oddly empty, as if he were missing something, something that would be restored if she was eaten. His first priority was the knight, due to the emphasis The Gospel put on him, but she was a close second.

“Crusch Karsten!” Gluttony licked his lips, then his hand as she closed the distance between them in an instant, swinging her sword as she approached. Gluttony stuck out his right hand and managed to make contact with her shoulder as the sword buried itself in his left side, slicing deep into his ribcage. Yes! One down! But I really need to heal now.

“CRUSCH NO” Subaru yelled as his heart broke again, realizing he would have to kill himself again and redo everything once more. Emilia was devastated to lose a good friend and the implications it could have for Subaru and Beatrice was even more distressed as she felt Subaru’s emotions change for the worse through their bond.

“Lunar Ecli-E-E-B-BLERCH” Gluttony fell to his knees as he vomited, still changing shape. What happened? What is this feeling? What is going on? Is this from the girl? The boy lay on the floor, changing into a tall, fair skinned man with flowing blonde hair and dressed in leather armor that was finished with a red and gold cape. The once iconic appearance of Gustav Wakefield, although the regal image was ruined somewhat by the pile of vomit directly next to him. 

“CRUSCH!” Subaru screamed as he ran over, not understanding what was happening but ever grateful. He was running over to Crusch Karsten, who was standing over the woozy Archbishop and entirely unsure why she wasn’t unconscious. His annoyance at her taking the lead in the bathroom was forgotten and the knight threw his arms around her as he grabbed a fistful of her hair and clothes in his hands, his feelings of relief from her safety doubled by knowing he wouldn’t have to kill himself. Emilia watched the hug with a heavy stomach which was made even worse by how Subaru had been treating her since meeting up in the war room, although she was also greatly relieved that Crusch was somehow safe and sound.

“What happened?” Subaru questioned into her ear, being so relieved he almost didn’t want to know why.

“Now’s not the time! Minya!” Beatrice yelled over the couple and began firing time crystals at Roy who was trying to recover to his feet. He tried to activate Dorkell again, but his stomach felt like it was full of fire, and his Authority failed to activate. He sloppily rolled out of the flying shards and caught a couple in his side as he tried to evade.

“W-Whats happening. You bitch, what did you do to me?” Roy gasped as he staggered to his feet, glaring at Crusch who had been released by Subaru. Crusch stared at Roy and his pile of vomit when a theory formed in her head about exactly what had happened.

“Gluttonous fiend, I take it that you cannot eat that which you have already eaten?” Crusch smiled proudly, becoming more confident in her idea as she spoke.

“What? We don’t know, how could we eat something twice? Does that mean that we ate…” Roy’s eyes went wide as he realized what she was getting at. How do we not remember eating her? If we ate her, how does she still have her memories and her name? What is going on??? The bleeding Archbishop channeled Solar Eclipse again, leaping away from the group as he did so. His skin color and build changed little, but red tribal tattoos formed over half his body as his hair was pinned back in a bun. His clothes melted down into themselves, leaving his torso exposed as his leather armor gave way to linen pants. Roy was glad to be rid of the Minya injuries, but was still heavily impaired from failing to eat Crusch. His opponents knew what he was doing and refused to let him heal freely and as soon as his transformation was complete, he found himself surrounded by the three girls, one on each side with one open side. The first to move was Emilia, who had conjured up a new hammer and brought the huge thing down onto his body, he evaded it by rolling over which did allow him to escape the hammer, but he rolled right into Crusch’s grasp. She was waiting with her sword drawn, and stabbed at the vulnerable Archbishop. He quickly activated Solar Eclipse to activate Stoneskin, causing her blade to bruise him but not cut through his skin. Crusch blanked as her blade got stuck in his skin, but refused to go deeper, allowing the Archbishop to escape as he sprang to his feet and jumped away from the group. Unfortunately for him, he had missed that Subaru was covering the “open side”. Typically, Subaru wouldn’t be able to touch an Archbishop but with an overwhelming amount of advantage including Roy facing completely away from Subaru, it allowed him to land a side kick which pushed the Archbishop back into the center of the four fighters. All the quick motion combined with the sickness of eating Crusch was weighing heavily on the Archbishop, and he sluggishly tried to jump over Beatrice to escape the trap he found himself in. He was nowhere close to his top speed, and it easily allowed Beatrice to create a magical barrier in his path, causing him to splat against the invisible wall like a bird on a window. Roy began to tumble down, terror setting in as he realized how bad of a position he was in. He hit the floor on shaky feet, trying to think of a way out of this inescapable trap. Naturally, he tried to bust through the weakest side. He jumped toward Subaru, intending to blow by him with his superior physical ability. Subaru saw him coming, and shifted his weight as he readied his whip. It’s obvious that he’s heavily injured despite looking fine, but he can still kill me at the drop of a hat. I don’t know if he’ll kill me or just try to get by, but I can’t falter here, I might not get another chance like this, especially with the girls in such good positioning. Subaru flicked his whip at the approaching Archbishop, a low strike that was meant to wrap around Gluttony’s legs and immobilize him. Roy saw it coming this time, and easily jumped over the whip. Yes! Almost there, a few more meters and Dorkell will be able to get me outside of the Tower walls. Then I can disappear into the city and get revenge on them. However, the airborne Archbishop was not able to keep watch behind him, where Beatrice, Crusch and Emilia were waiting for him to make a break for it. The three already had projectiles readied, and when Gluttony left the ground it was the perfect moment to let loose. Subaru smiled as the situation proceeded exactly as he desired, the airborne Archbishop skewered tens of times over by time crystals, wind magic and ice crystals. It tore his body to shreds, blood and viscera flying tens of meters away as the projectiles ripped through his body and buried themselves in walls. Subaru dropped to his knees, breathing heavily as the adrenaline caught up to him.

“Oh my god. Oh my god.” Subaru repeated blankly.

“Are you okay, Subaru-dono?” Crusch asked, shifting her gaze to meet eyes with Beatrice and Emilia apprehensively.

“My contractor is probably thinking that if Roy was killed, it is possible that Rem’s name and memories have returned.” Beatrice filled in for her contractor, who seemed completely despondent. However, he snapped his neck over to her when she said the word “Rem”. The three girls watched him worriedly as tears began streaming down his face freely.

“Rem. Rem. Rem Rem Rem Remremremremremremrem.” Subaru said her name once, slowly. As if it were ceremony, then again, then again and again. It was like a dam that broke and it couldn’t be stopped, his head collapsed into his lap as he continued to cry and repeat her name while the girls looked on worriedly. He stopped after a few moments, and lay in his position without a word, which made his companions even more nervous. Beatrice walked over and cradled his head to her chest, applying some light healing magic. Crusch and Emilia looked on silently out of respect, albeit confused on what to do. Nobody could see Subaru’s face, and could only guess at what was running through the dark-haired knight’s mind. Subaru’s mind was also being influenced by the new Authority he had absorbed from Roy, although he wasn’t able to recognize it through the overwhelming emotion he was experiencing. The feeling was odd, like a massive worm burying itself in his mind, although it was not as invasive as it typically would be thanks to the distractions Subaru had on his mind. The uncomfortable feeling quickly faded, and if Subaru calmed down and focused, he would be able to feel the new power coursing within him.

“WAIT! We need to go NOW!” Subaru cried, eyes wide. In his relief from beating Gluttony and the theory that Rem was safe, he had forgotten about the next step in the plan.

“Wait! Subaru, explain what’s happening.” Beatrice slowed her contractor down as he tried to scramble out from the tower.

“Uh, I just mean we should really go and help Reinhardt… Sorry for acting strange.” Subaru realized himself, and tried to cover himself from any questions. It was quite a flimsy defense, but it would go unneeded as his companions did not say a word about it. Remember you have to stay focused or you’ll have to restart again, and now you're closer to Rem than ever.

“No need to apologize Subaru-dono, your bond with Rem is strong and would produce equally strong emotions no doubt.” Crusch was still breathing heavily as she sheathed her blade, the close encounter with the Archbishop shaking her more than she would like to admit, and her jealousy over Rem was a mere afterthought. Stupid, how could you get caught like that, if you weren’t lucky, Subaru would have killed himself for you.  

“Right! It’s no problem Subaru, let’s go.” Emilia was in relatively low spirits considering they had just killed an Archbishop due to the depressing mood Subaru had caused and of course a heavy twinge of jealousy over how desperately Subaru wanted to see Rem again. Not that she blamed him. At least Rem helped him instead of being a maiden who needed saving over and over. The group got moving out of the gates of the South Control Tower, the place where they defeated and killed Roy Alphard, Archbishop of Gluttony.

Shit shit shit. Otto had no idea how he found himself in this situation. Fighting a losing battle against a Archbishop of Sin alongside elite guards and members of the White Scales was not what he had in mind when he became a merchant. Natsuki-san never asked to fight Mabeasts and Archbishops either. Otto steeled himself as he wracked his brain, watching the Scales and guards slowly lose to the Archbishop, although he was clearly just toying with them. He surveyed his surroundings, looking for anything that could be useful in a pinch. Reinforcements were on the way, but with the way it looked it wouldn’t matter besides stalling the Archbishop for a couple extra minutes. Otto’s eyes scanned the room, slowly moving up until he found something that caught his eye. Hmm… That could work. But I really hope Felt hurries up. 

At that particular moment, the blonde girl was in the middle of darting through the floors of the building. Reinhardt had told her before he left that he would leave the metia in the war room with Anastasia. Unfortunately, Anastasia herself would be useless in a fight but the weapon should be all they would need to blow that Gluttony bastard sky high. But it worried Felt, if Gluttony was there , what did that mean for Subaru’s group, who had gone to fight Gluttony at the South Tower? Had they already lost and now Gluttony was running rampant in the city? But if Subaru was dead, then shouldn’t the world reset? Or would he simply be transported to a different world and the rest of them would continue living in a Subaru-less world? It wasn’t like he got eaten because Felt still remembered him. She tried to shake off these thoughts as she bounded up a flight of stairs six at a time, clearing the steps in a couple seconds. She continued running on the third floor now, her Divine Protection working overtime as she flew toward her destination. Before she knew it, she was rapidly approaching the war room. She saw the guards posted outside and thought about sending them to provide backup, but it would probably take too long and Anastasia needed some kind of protection too, even if it wouldn’t do much. She blew by the guards, tumbling into the room and causing Anastasia to jump, who was standing over a map of the city with circles, lines and text drawn on it.

“Gluttony is here, I need something Rein left me. It’s our only hope.” Felt haphazardly explained as she walked over to a large mirror on the wall closest to the head of the table and took it off. Revealing a compartment built into the wall that was a foot high, a meter deep and three meters long. Inside it lay a long white bundle of plain wrapping paper that was taped up, which Felt took out and plopped onto the table on top of Anastasia’s map. She tore off the tape and wrapping, revealing a long, white staff that appeared spear-like but which ended with two shining yellow branches that met to create a circle at the end.

“Mmm, looks powerful. How d’ya use it?” Anastasia asked, eyeing her rival suspiciously.

“Dunno.” Felt replied nonchalantly as she picked it up and turned to head out of the room.

“Good gracious, yer gonna need some help.” Anastasia sighed as she joined Felt on her way out of the room.

“You're coming? You're not a combatant!” Felt whipped around, shocked at the merchant’s willingness to join in on the battle even with her civilian level battle ability.

“Neither are ya. Plus this gal aint scared to get her hands dirty.” Anastasia walked straight past her and out into the hall.

“Well if we lose you’ll die anyway, but we gotta hurry because Otto is waitin on us.” Felt accepted the surprise, eager to get moving.

“Lady Anastasia, we urge you to stay safe in the war room! We cannot allow you to leave if there is a threat in the building.” One of the Scales outside spoke up, a young, handsome man with obscured facial features thanks to the white hood. His voice was light and airy, but he sounded deathly serious.

“If you two think yer gonna protect me from an Archbishop by yourselves, you're as stupid as you are cute. You two should get outta here if ya got anythin important back home.” Anastasia paid no more attention to the guards, and began running away alongside Felt.

“Didn’t know that was your type.” Felt commented as they ran.

“A gal has her secrets.” Anastasia replied mysteriously.

“I’ve got a wife…” The other, shorter Scale glanced at his companion, having already made up his mind about what he would do. The handsome Scale looked back, feeling the burning shame crawling up his back as he realized that he was too scared to follow the two candidates.

Otto stood at the far end of the room, knees shaking as the Archbishop turned his attention to him. In the last couple minutes, the remaining Scales and guards had been cut down or eaten by Gluttony and then reinforcements had arrived to continue the fight. Otto had been able to coordinate with the new wave of fighters, and they had been able to help lure Lye into the trap. The guards armed with spears had poked at Lye from out of range and when he approached, they made a quick retreat straight across the room toward Otto. He had fashioned a small tool out of rubble from the fight, a Y-shaped device typically used by tailors to fit clothes that had a ribbon tied around the top end of the Y. Subaru would describe it as a slingshot, typically a harmless children’s toy. But most children didn’t load it with a fire stone. Otto had used a couple of the small rocks on his way to Muse HQ to defend against Demibeasts, but had made sure to keep several on hand. Lye was interrupted from his dash by two Scales who brandished their swords at him. As Lye made quick work of his new opponents, Otto stretched the ribbon until it nearly broke, then released the band, propelling the fire stone high into the air. It hit the ceiling as Lye was nearly halfway through the lobby, the huge explosion sending vibrations through the building, but most importantly, it destroyed the chunk of roof that an enormous chandelier was attached to. Lye looked up at the source of the smoke and rubble just in time to be hit by a huge chandelier as the Scales he was fighting narrowly dodged thanks to their foreknowledge of the trap. The chandelier was a massive, crystal object that was eight feet wide and five feet tall, and very clearly an extremely expensive item. I'm sorry Kiritaka-san, I hope you’ll forgive me. Otto thought, but he knew there was no such thing as a free favor among merchants. When the chandelier crashed onto the Archbishop, it kicked up more rubble and smoke, momentarily obscuring Lye from view. The room watched with bated breath as the smoke cleared, and were shocked to find that Lye lay underneath the chandelier with blood pooling around him.

“I’ll admit, that was… wasn’t bad.” Lye coughed, panting heavily as he tried to maneuver himself out from under the huge glass object. But his opponents refused to let up, with Gluttony finding himself quickly surrounded by guards and Scales. Just when the first guard thrust his spear, Lye channeled Solar Eclipse to activate Dorkell the Leaper, teleporting out of the sticky situation and shape changing to avoid the damage he had suffered.

“Nice try-tsu. You might be Gourmet, merchant!” The wrinkled, dark-skinned old man smiled widely with sharp teeth and a glint in his eyes, peering at Otto. But the men who had sprung the trap were trained warriors, and were adapting to the Archbishop’s more commonly used abilities, dispersing around the room to make it more difficult for Lye to find a safe spot to teleport to. The downside of this strategy was that it left less warriors to fight Gluttony at once. Presently, there were three Scales and a guard around Lye, and Otto continued to watch the losing battle, looking for an opening. 

“NOW” Otto yelled. At his word, all four combatants jumped away from the Archbishop, and Otto loosed a fire stone he had in his slingshot, which went flying towards Lye.

“You're not gonna get me with the same trick twice-tsu. Come on, show us that your Gourmet.” Otto felt a whisper in his ear as the room shook from the explosion. He whipped his head around to find the Archbishop, and by the time his eyes found his target, Lye had found his own quarry. Otto felt his breathing constrict as a hand tightened around his neck, not meant to kill but trap and he knew it was time for a last resort. Otto brought out his bag of remaining fire stones, the small brown felt sack with a piece of twine running through small loops at the top, although it was undone. The bag was emitting a faint, warm glow accompanied by a dull humming sound, enough to make everyone in the room realize that the bag was capable of bringing the whole building down.

“Ow aout it?” Otto choked out, his throat still constricted by the Archbishop who proceeded to loosen his grip.

“I have no issue killing everyone in this building if it means that you die. You can kill me or cut off my arm in the blink of an eye, but are you sure that I won’t be quick enough to crush this bag? I’ve seen your blunt force resistance myself, but I'm willing to bet that even you can’t survive an explosion of this magnitude.” Otto lied through his teeth while glaring at Lye sharply. Otto knew that if he died, Subaru was likely to kill himself to bring him back, which was something he couldn’t let happen. Lye relinquished his grip on Otto’s throat, and stepped back while growling fiercely. He knew most citizens would hesitate to sacrifice themselves, but the merchant's fierce glare showed that he had no issue offering his life in exchange for Lye’s. Outwitted by a common merchant, how humiliating .

“Y’know, you really are Gourmet, i’ll definitely come back to eat you after I find out your name-tsu. Please take care of yourself for me!” Lye licked his lips with his long, pink tongue, and Leaped out of the building given that he was still in Dorkell’s form. Otto and the other fighters stood still for a moment, wary of a trap or ambush, but after a few seconds they relaxed. Although Otto continued to keep a tight hold on his fire stone sack. He was snapped out of his focused stupor by a loud, boisterous laugh, and he turned his head to see a huge guard doubled over in laughter.

“Ya got stones o’ steel boy! Just who are ya, outsmarting an Archbishop like that?” The guard took off his helmet to reveal a big, puffy brown beard and twinkling eyes that held back joyful tears.

“Apologies, but this is no time to be handing out names.” Otto let out a tired chuckle himself, but still kept his guard up. 

“Come get a piece of this you damn bastard!” Felt yelled as she broke into the room, holding a strange staff arranged horizontally at her hip.

“It’s ok, we’re safe… I think.” Otto walked over to the wall and allowed himself to sit down, hand still clamped over the fire stones like they were the most precious thing in the world.

“Hm? How’d ya manage that, Otto-kun?” Anastasia popped out behind Felt, and stared at Otto curiously.

“Please refrain from using my name for the time being, Candidate-sama.” Otto glared at Anastasia.

“Oh come on, it’s not like I said yer full name or anythin ’. But seriously, how’d ya manage to fend off a Archbishop of Sin?” Anastasia covered her mouth with a palm to cover a giggle that didn’t reach her eyes.

“Th’ boy bluffed the Archbishop with a sack o’ rocks! He bet that the Archbishop would prioritize ‘is own skin over killing us!” The guard from earlier returned with an uproarious laugh.

“You should have killed him.” A younger guard said quietly, still donning his helmet.

“C’mon boy, don’t be so glum. There’s TWO royal candidate’s in the building ya know, it’s our job to protect them, not kill th’ Archbishops.” The older guard walked over and slapped him on the back of the helmet.

“But now he’s out there, and he can finish the job whenever he pleases now that we can’t see him coming.” The younger guard glared at his senior through his helmet.

“I appreciate ya not blowing my colleague’s building to Gusteko. And if we can successfully defend against an attack from four Archbishop’s, this gal thinks their reign of terror might just be over.” Anastasia giggled again, this time allowing herself to relax fully.

“Wow man, that’s pretty impressive stuff!” Felt walked over to the merchant and offered a hand up, which he took.

“Yeah merchant-kun, that’s the kind of work that we highly value over at the Hoshin company.” Anastasia cast a suggestive look over at the silver-haired man. During her time in the theatre, multiple members of the Emilia camp had caught her eye and with the future of the turbulent group so uncertain, Anastasia wanted to gather as many members as she could.

“Im very flattered, Candidate-san, but I happen to be employed exactly where I belong.” Otto blushed at the praise from his senior in business, but knew that he belonged right behind Subaru and Emilia, protecting them from the clown. 

“Well, if that’s all, I need to go back to the war room. Mind joinin’ me, merchant-kun?” Anastasia asked, knowing that Otto’s intellect would be useful for controlling the ongoing situation.

“Are you sure, Candidate-sama? What if Gluttony returns?” He asked, still shaking at the prospect of the Archbishop.

“If I had ta guess, I’d say he’s gonna be out of our hair for a while. You must have given him quite the scare, even if he does come back just give the bag to one of the guards and let them threaten to pull the trigger.” Anastasia had already turned and began heading back from where she came. Otto walked over to where the guards had gathered and hesitated before handing the brown bag over to the older, bearded guard.

“Thanks lad, we’re all alive thanks ta ye.” The man accepted the bag gingerly, and slipped it behind his breastplate in a shirt pocket. Otto just nodded in response, and left the room where Anastasia had gone. Felt also went back upstairs to return to her room, having had enough excitement for the day.

Subaru and his group were sprinting through the city at an unnatural pace, supported by El Journa to allow them to maintain the breakneck speed over a long distance. They had gotten quite close to the East Tower by now, and Subaru only got more nervous, praying that Reinhardt wasn’t in the same state he had been in last time. They were much earlier than last loop, and had also killed Roy but when he had arrived last time, Reinhardt had been soaked in his own blood and completely naked. As they got closer, they began to hear dull thuds and slams that only got louder as they approached. They could occasionally catch a glimpse of rubble or dust over the rooftops, but they couldn’t make sense of what was happening. As they were running, Subaru felt some dark thing writhing inside him.

“STOP” He cried, halting the group just before an intersection. His companions obeyed immediately, and eyed him questioningly.

“I just… have a really bad feeling.” Subaru said, trying to understand what the squirming feeling inside him meant. Emilia and Crusch eyed Beatrice suspiciously, feeling as though Subaru had just come back from a Return, but she shook her head, much to the relief of the two girls. In the silence following Subaru’s words, they heard a low growl from around the corner of the intersection, the source of the noise hidden by buildings. It was no doubt the sound of a Demibeast, something Subaru had come into contact with many times over the course of his loops that day, but it felt different this time. The growl was no longer an animalistic grunt, but a more sophisticated thing, a sound intended to transfer meaning. Subaru then realized that the sound the Demibeast had not differed from any other, but rather he was able to perceive meaning where he was previously unable to. 

It was a submissive sound, meant to tell Subaru that the beast meant no harm. He did not know why, but he was absolutely certain that this Demibeast meant no harm, even though every other time he ran into one it seemed like a simple minded killing machine that desired only death and violence. He stepped out into the intersection, his companions momentarily forgotten, and turned to face the beast. It was a huge, rotund thing with purple and black stripes and had six long skinny legs supporting itself as well as the everpresent gaping, drooling mouth complete with several rows of teeth. 

Unlike every other encounter with a Demibeast, it made no move to attack Subaru. It simply sat there, and stared at him, unmoving and docile. Subaru was snapped out of his curious stupor by the demolition of the beast, courtesy of the Ice Princess. Several ice shards had torn through it’s body and left it’s corpse and viscera laying about the street.

“Subaru! What are you doing?” Emilia asked in a panicked tone. To her it looked as if he just approached the hungry monster with no care for his own life. Maybe he’s died one too many times today. Maybe he’s… broken? No! Not with me right beside him, if he really is in a pit of despair, I'll make sure to pull him out!  

“Eh, sorry Emilia-tan, something seemed different this time.” Subaru responded offhandedly, his mind still stuck on the interaction with the Demibeast. 

“Different?” Crusch asked, also worried about how the knight was acting.

“Yeah it seemed… peaceful?” Subaru said, unsure of his own words.

“Subaru-dono, surely you can’t be serious?” Crusch asked, now doubting the boy’s sanity somewhat.

“Betty’s contractor is right in fact. The beast made no move to attack Subaru, I suppose.” Beatrice cut in in defense of her contractor.

“Whatever, we can’t get distracted. We need to get to Reinhardt as soon as possible.” Subaru tried to divert his attention from the encounter with his own words, but his mind wasn’t obeying.

“Subaru, are you sure you're alright?” Emilia grabbed his hands with her own, and peered deep into his eyes, trying to check on the true emotions of her love.

“Yes, I'm fine. We need to get moving now.” Subaru lied in frustration, completely done with the feeling of being coddled. He took his hands out of Emilia’s and continued moving toward the East Tower, where explosions and loud blasts could still be heard. Emilia was crushed when she peered into his eyes and did not find despair, apathy or panic, but annoyance. Annoyance at her . He had been like this the whole day. She had been brushed off, ignored or treated as an acquaintance, not as his beloved. What had she done wrong? She knew she did not deserve Subaru’s love, she knew that he was only able to love her due to his near infinite mercy and ability to forgive, but had she hit the limit? Had she been so useless and tiresome that he had finally outgrown his feelings for her? But he had told her that he loved her, and always would! He promised! She just needed to trust him, right? Emilia’s own greed and selfishness overwhelmed her, she wanted Subaru’s love so badly, but she knew she wasn’t worthy of it. By the time her brain caught up with her body, she realized she was shambling along with the group as they continued their path toward Reinhardt, nearly at the tower now. After a couple moments, Subaru slowed to a walk as they came up on the square in front of the tower, and Subaru creeped up to the building at the end of the block to peer out at the scene. 

“REINHARDT” He cried, forgetting the stealth he needed to maintain as he witnessed the Sword Saint be ripped to shred by the Archbishop, hundreds of holes forming in his friend’s body that began gushing blood. Reinhardt fell to the ground limp, already dead as Greed turned to face Subaru. Reinhardt was in a similar state to last time, red head to toe and nearly completely naked, the terrible sight of his friend would no doubt haunt Subaru for many nights to come.

“Hmm, another one deigns to infringe on my rights? I’ll have you know, this man savagely attacked me out of nowhere. The Sword Saint should be a bastion of peace and justice, not a proprietor of vengeance and violence. What kind of a role model can he play to Lagunica if he goes around attacking people at random? No, this world deserves better than that. I deserve better than that. To have my right to personal space, freedom of expression, freedom of choice, bodily autonomy, to act as I please as long as it does not infringe on another, right to safety and basic human decency have all been violated by this fiend! I shall remove him from this world, but not for myself. Nay, I do not desire anything more than I currently have, but in my infinite benevolence, I shall rid the world of him so that his future innocent victims may yet lead happy lives.” Greed launched into a rant as soon as he saw new, living ears. Subaru began marching across the square toward Regulus, not caring if he died because he would have to restart anyway when he was interrupted.

“SUBARU” Reinhardt yelled, so loud that Subaru felt his ears pop and could barely make out the syllables. Subaru focused his eyes on Reinhardt who was covered in blood and should be dead by all means, yet the red-haired man was conscious, with working eyes and mouth.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? LEAVE NOW!” Reinhardt yelled again, slightly quieter this time.

“You're alive?” Subaru asked, completely dumbfounded now. Reinhardt was terrified, this was his worst nightmare. To watch Subaru walk in on his failure and then be forced to pay with his life for it, he felt every agony from the theatre return as he watched Greed lock on to the dark-haired knight with a smile. Reinhardt decided the time for words was long gone, and so he sprung into action, jumping over to Subaru, picking him up, and then jumping out of the square. Landing somewhere outside the city limits. Now in a lush grass field with a road a couple hundred meters away, Reinhardt laid Subaru down on the ground, both of them panting from adrenaline.

“What the hell just happened?” Subaru asked incredulously.

“My Divine Protection of the Pheonix revives me every time I die.” Reinhardt said solemnly, not making an attempt to preserve his dignity as he looked down at Subaru, now smeared with his own blood.

“Rein… has that guy been killing you. Over and over?” Subaru asked after a silent moment, meeting the Sword Saint’s sky blue eyes with his own amber ones, brimming with emotion.

“Yes.” Reinhardt stated plainly, hiding a grimace from memories Regulus had given him that he would never forget. 

When he heard this, Subaru bit his cheek so hard that it oozed blood. He was supposed to be the only one that had to die, now that he knew that one of his closest friends was dying again and again for their happy ending, Subaru felt a new, unique sense of kinship with the Sword Saint. Subaru was shocked for the hundredth time that day when Reinhardt disappeared again, then came back, then disappeared again and did so a total of three times. By the time Subaru had got his bearings, he realized that he was joined in the field by his three companions from earlier, all four of them now stained with the blood of Reinhardt.

“Apologies for my unsightly state, but you four have no need to interfere with my battle. I will handle Greed myself.” Reinhardt said in a voice that was sharp like ice. Subaru walked up right in front of the Sword Saint, pulled his arms back, and wrapped the naked man in a tight hug.

“You don’t have to do this by yourself, Reinhardt. Let me help.” Subaru whispered into his ear in a fragile voice.

“That almost makes me want to laugh, coming from you Subaru. Regardless, I cannot allow you to get hurt on my behalf.” Reinhardt did not return the hug, he simply stood there, unflinching, unmoving, just like how a weapon should. Subaru pulled back and looked at his friend with a fierce glare now, at his wit’s end.

“You too? Ugh, I really can’t stand this.” Subaru closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands. That old familiar shame was returning, like hot water being poured down his back.

“But I won’t let you suffer alone either.” Subaru dropped his hands and looked up into the determined, soulless eyes of the Sword Saint.
“I will do this by myself” Reinhardt still hadn’t moved an inch.

“Okay, what’s your plan then?” Subaru asked, cocking an eyebrow. Reinhardt remained silent.

“See? Let me help, I'm a knight of the kingdom too.” Subaru said, trying to crack a smile despite how he was feeling, his smile looked awkward and pained, closer to a grimace than the genuine article.

“Yes! Let us help you Reinhardt! We can help you think of a plan.” Emilia added from behind Subaru.

“Plus, it appears as though you might need some rest, Reinhardt-dono” Crusch eyed the tall man’s naked body, covered head to toe in blood.

“Fine, I understand.” Reinhardt lowered his head shamefully. All the power in the world and you still need Subaru to save you? But I guess I already knew that.

Beatrice showed compassion in her own way by using her magic to clean Reinhardt up and clothing him in linen pants and a simple tunic.

“Regulus’s offensive capabilities are impressive, but more importantly are his defensive capabilities. No matter what I do to him, it just seems like it doesn’t affect him. Any attacks stop at his skin, I can’t move him from where he stands, I can’t even get his cloak dirty!” Reinhardt vented exasperatedly. 

“Regulus?” Subaru asked, dumbfounded to hear another Archbishop with a native name.

“Yes..?” Reinhardt responded, unsure of what Subaru was shocked by.

“That’s the name of a constellation from my homeland. Means ‘Little King’ or ‘Heart of a Lion’” Subaru crossed his arms with squinted eyes, his mind whirring to find meaning among curious clues. His companions were also shocked to hear this, they had learned in the theatre that Petelgeuse was a star cluster from Subaru’s home world as well. Why must the Cult be inextricably linked to Subaru’s homeworld? It bodes very poorly for the theory that Subaru was summoned to complete The Ordeal and return Satella to the world.

“Sorry guys, I have no idea what it might mean.” Subaru finally cracked, and dropped his arms with a downcast gaze.

“Then we should consolidate all knowledge we have on this man, then leaf through it to find a potential plan of attack.” Crusch’s logical militaristic nature reared its head.

“For his personality, he’s childish, egotistical, immature, arrogant and stupid. His fighting style is rough and unrefined, and consists of throwing things at me which inexplicably cannot be stopped, and will always kill when they reach their target.” Reinhardt closed his eyes, trying to lock his deaths away where they could no longer hurt him.

“Apologies for making you recall that, Reinhardt-dono. Make no mistake, he will fall today.” Crusch put a hand on the man’s shoulder as a show of support in her fierce but restrained voice.

“Someone also mentioned he always has a harem around him?” Emilia cocked her head, desperately trying to add something useful to the conversation.

“A harem? Is that why he’s the ‘Little King’?” Subaru wondered aloud “And his power is invincibility? I have no idea what being a king and being invincible have to do with each other, but his Authority links them. If we sever that connection, we win, right?” Subaru looked around at his companions after announcing his plan so vague it could barely be called an idea.

“But why would he always keep his harem close? Just to impress them with victory?” Crusch asked.

“Unlikely, they were not present for my battle and I had met a couple of them previous to meeting Greed, it seems as though every last one of them hates the man, and are simply being forced to comply with his will.” Reinhardt did not pick his eyes up off the ground. Emilia gritted her teeth when she heard this, her deteriorating relationship with Subaru forgotten for a brief moment as she recalled how Regulus wanted to make Mother Fortuna his wife. It made her blood boil to think of how Mother Fortuna, as a true blooded elf, would be forced to spend centuries or even millenia in service to that disgusting man.

“He’s the Little King of his harem, and the Little King is invincible, unmovable, untouchable by outside forces and can make any attack deadly I suppose?” Beatrice stated what they knew about Greed so far besides his personality, and even she was bewildered by how random and powerful it sounded. It was like a little kid playing pretend and making the most OP character possible! In her centuries of life, she had never heard of one with such abilities, this man sounds like he could pose a threat even to the Divine Dragon.

“So if his power is Little King, and it’s fueled by his harem, can we disable his power by cutting the connection to his harem?” Subaru suggested.

“But how would we destroy that connection? Divorce?” Reinhardt was finally able to lift his eyes, feeling more hopeful now that they had a somewhat logical idea in motion.

“Well Anastasia said that his harem is always nearby, right? What if his power relies on physical distance? If it didn’t it would be more advantageous to keep them locked up in a basement somewhere.” Subaru’s voice beamed with hope.

“So all I need to do is separate his wives from him and he’ll be powerless?” Reinhardt didn’t want to believe that it could be so easy. 

“It’s worth a shot buddy.” Subaru gave him a thumbs up and smiled broadly for what felt like the first time in a long time. The chance to show how capable he was without having to Return made his chest feel bubbly. 

“Then I shall go test our theory, wish me luck, friends.” The thought that his battle was nearing its end was enough to make Reinhardt don a smile as well, even after all he had been through against Regulus.

“Good luck Reinhardt-dono, I have no doubt that you shall overcome this demon.” Crusch, feeling the energy of the beautiful field, encouraged the friend of her knight.

“Yes, please return to us safely Reinhardt!” Even if Emilia was worried about how Subaru felt about her, seeing him happy was enough to lift her spirits. 

“If you enact my contractor’s plan effectively, there’s no way you’ll lose.” Beatrice encouraged him in a very Subaru-centric manner.

Reinhardt took a deep breath, soaking in the encouragement from his companions, and prepared to go transport the wives outside. He jumped through the air, back into the city, his new clothing billowing in the air as he flew. He landed atop the East Tower, and bore witness to the destruction his battle with Greed had caused. What surprised him most was the sheer amount of blood that littered the square. Literal pools of it in craters caused by the battle, as well as puddles all over the place on solid ground. He grimaced as memories of his numerous deaths returned to him, which he tried to shake off to focus on the mission. The square was devoid of life, as all the nearby Demibeasts had been killed by stray fire and Regulus had returned to the Tower. I need to get all the wives out of the tower, but there are at least fifty. I’d really like to avoid dying again if possible, and he definitely won’t be able to catch me. But he could take one of the wives hostage, I doubt that man has the slightest care for anyone but himself. I need to be really careful about this. Reinhardt took a seat on the very top of the tower, and set out making a plan to get all the wives out of the Tower without Regulus knowing.

Across the city, some battles drew to a close as some others wore on. The City Hall group had not fared as well as they had once in another timeline. Last loop, Julius was able to decapitate Lust, then freeze her as she tried to evade further punishment, fully capturing the Archbishop. Ricardo and Mimi sustained serious, life threatening injuries if not treated properly, but Kua would be able to sustain them until they got to Felix. Now, Ricardo sprints over the silent battleground, marred by deep cuts, burns and huge amounts of inky liquid. The wolfman squarely focused on the three, tiny bodies that lay in a heap across from him, Lust not occupying a single thought in his mind. He passed the bloodied body of one of his closest friends, in order to make it to the unconscious triplets. He dropped to his knees in front of Mimi, who’s skin was now a gruesome patchwork of regular skin and wrinkled, pulsating black. Julius and Ricardo had been sucessfully tag teaming the Archbishop with backup from the Pearlbatons, and the battle had actually seemed to be going in their favor. They had learned of the effect’s of her Dragon’s Blood as a result of a minor incident with Ricardo, but it wasn’t serious enough to take him out. Ricardo’s brute physical characteristics combined with Julius’s technique and spirit arts had been enough to keep Capella on the back foot, particularly with the triplet’s covering any mistakes. As the strenuous battle wore on, the Archbishop suddenly got new orders from her book, and lamented the fact that she couldn’t kill them before she had to leave. She had grown annoyed of the demihuman’s Roaring Wind, and decided that this group would be particularly fun to play with. She split herself into three Capella’s, and had one continue to fight as the other two moved unseen. She waited for a chance, and knew it had come when Ricardo overcommitted to a swing. Her first body moved to punish him swiftly, causing the Pearlbaton’s to use Roaring Wind to interrupt her. Right when they activated the Wind Magic, the second body jumped out behind them, and cut off her own head, aiming to douse the triplets in her Dragon’s Blood. Mimi had recognized this at the last second, and canceled her Roaring Wind, transferring the Wind Magic to blow her siblings and herself away from the poisonous blood. And she had been quick enough to save her siblings from most of it, but not herself as a solid amount of blood caught her torso, legs, arms and face. After the Roaring Wind was interrupted, Julius moved to stab the Archbishop who had been hit by the Wind magic, but not heavily enough to stop her attack. He ran her through with his blade, but was stabbed himself by the third Capella who anticipated that move as well. After the damage had been done, the Archishop said her goodbyes and left Ricardo among his allies. He glanced at Hetaro and Tivey, who had dark patches on their torsos, but seemed in much better shape than Mimi. He turned around, carrying Mimi to inspect Julius, who had stopped losing blood thanks to independent action by Kua. He was in bad shape, but he would certainly live and Ricardo wasn’t so sure about his little girl. Gathering the other two kids, he began heading to the field hospital as fast as he could, praying that his favorite daughter would be alright. If anyone can fix this, it’s Blue. Or the kid… Ricardo tried to fight off grim thoughts, but the crushing reality of his situation made his mind work in unsavory ways.

Priscilla jumped up, dodging the purple flame wreathed chains that were swung at her. She was sweating now and breathing heavily, the battle with the Archbishop taking its toll on the Sun Princess. Wrath, upon seeing Priscilla’s vulnerable, airborne state, abandoned the chain attack and dashed forward toward her. As Priscilla began falling to the ground, Wrath moved to intercept her with a strike, but the Bloody Bride was not so easy to defeat. She caught the punch head on with the flat side of her Yang Sword, absorbing the blow but not dissipating the force. It was enough to send her flying, tens of meters into the air and gave her a birds eye view of the square, complete with the roofs of the surrounding buildings. As she began to reach the top of her arc, she flung a palm out, orienting herself so that her back was facing the closest building.

“Jiwald!” Priscilla’s commanding tone rang out, heard by none. A hot, white cylinder beamed out of her palm, flashing over the city as her spell wore on. The force of the manifested mana was enough to push Priscilla back, just enough to put her over a roof, now falling a few meters onto a ceiling as opposed to over the ground. Priscilla canceled Jiwald and landed on her feet, watching Wrath with bored eyes.

“YOU BITCH! YOU FUCKING BITCH, HOW DARE YOU? I'M GONNA TEAR THOSE PRETTY ARMS OFF.” Wrath shouted, preparing to jump toward the roof she had landed on.

“Oi! I’d appreciate it if you didn’t talk like that to the Princess.” A surprisingly nonchalant voice sounded out.

“I’LL KILL YOU TOO, BUCKETHEAD” Wrath spun around to find Priscilla’s knight casually walking toward her.

“Genius, I've never heard that one before.” Al wished he wasn’t wearing a helmet just so she could see him roll his eyes as he activated his Authority, randomly receiving the role of Aggressor. Wrath screamed in response, purple flames bursting out of her body as her anger manifested. 

Man, being the Aggressor is so much better than the victim! Al thought cheerily, watching the Archbishop in front of him who had collapsed to the ground. Just as she collapsed, she began screaming. A loud and terrible wail, so intense that one could feel the vibrations echoing through their very body. It was not a sound motivated by anger, sadness or despair, but rather pure insanity. Not the kind of motivated insanity that could be used to accomplish goals, or the kind that allowed the madman to deceive themselves into thinking they were logical. 

It was the kind of insanity that could only be achieved by a complete breaking of the mind, the kind of insanity that reduced her mental state to something closer to a bug than a mentally ill person. Potentially even lower than a bug, as Wrath had lost all sense of self preservation or connection to the world. A bug still knew to run from danger, and to eat when it was hungry, the existence laying on the ground was not even capable of feeling things like thirst and fear. She was screaming quite loudly, and making no move to attack Al or his mistress. Al looked up at Priscilla, and used Earth Magic to propel himself on top of the building. She began walking away, her ears already tired of the incessant wailing of the Archbishop, jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

“How is Schult?” Priscilla asked, missing having the cute boy by her side after his absence from the theatre.

“I got ‘im somewhere safe ‘n sound.” Al assured her, smiling under his mask at his mistress’s softer side.

“Aldebaran, why is that wretch behaving this way?” Priscilla asked once they were far away enough from Sirius to hear each other. She was quite upset, she had taken the time to beat the Archbishop, but as soon as Al came rushing into the square, Wrath collapsed on her own!

“Dunno Princess, what’d you do to her?” Al asked, ecstatic to see that Priscilla was safe and he didn’t have to die countless times to ensure it. Rather he did, but the only memory of it existed in the shattered remnants of the Archbishop’s mind.

“Once again you feel the need to conceal things from me. Luckily for you, that wench holds no interest.” Priscilla turned from him, and jumped down to the street, heading away from the West Tower.

“Geez Princess, at least thank me for showing up.” Al muttered under his mask, whispering words that none would hear. Not that he would have it any other way.

“Oi Princess, where are ya goin anyway?” Al called out as he jumped down to the street, bracing his fall with Dona.

“To find something more entertaining than a beaten dog and a madwoman. Perhaps that minstrel from earlier.” Priscilla didn’t break her stride as she walked away from Al.

“Minstrel? Like the Songstress?” Al began following her, and was clueless as to what she was talking about.

“Yes I believe that is what she calls herself. She has joined our camp for as long as we are in the city.” Priscilla was surprised to learn that even one as uninformed as her clown knew who the singer was. Maybe her dream isn’t as far-fetched as I thought… A smirk came over Priscilla’s face, she really did love when someone reached for a goal greater than themselves.

“Wha? You got the Songstress to become a member of the camp? Good on ya, Princess.” Al hadn’t known about the newest addition, but wasn’t surprised as he knew about his Lady’s ability to draw people in.

“Do you think I care for the praises of a dog? Make yourself useful and find that black-haied fool.” Priscilla considered beating the cripple, but decided it wasn’t worth the effort.

“About that Princess, what exactly do you want with Pal?” Al asked, curious about what his mistress wanted him for.

“Ho, assuming that you could understand the brain of a goddess? Whatever you did to that reprobate earlier has certainly got your spirit high.” Priscilla stopped walking, turning around just so she could hit Al with her fan. He barely registered what was happening before he was flying, and was embedded in a stone wall by the time he regained his senses. She always gets touchy when I ask about Pal…