Chapter Text
“Subaru, you truly are slothful”
Subaru knew who said that, he knew why. He couldn’t save her, he let her die, he killed her. And it wasn’t just her, it was also Rem.
He could’ve done more, he should've done more. Yet he only noticed that too late. Subaru couldn’t deny it. He truly was slothful.
At least he didn’t have to worry too much, he froze to death, he would start over. This time he wouldn’t be so slothful, he’ll work harder and surely save everyone this time. That was his wish.
But wishes don't always get granted, do they?
Opening his eyes he found himself in a familiar sight; in front of the appa salesman.
“Don't look back”
Subaru heard someone whisper in his ear. He quickly turned around but found nothing, just normal people shopping at the stalls.
Even though he knew he wouldn't get answers he still found himself asking questions.
“Weird. Don't look back? What's that supposed to mean? And who said it?”
After not so much thought he decided to brush it off.
“That was probably not meant for me,” he thought.
Then he noticed something weird.
“Where is Rem?”
The cute blue-haired maid would normally be beside him right now while carrying a basket of appas, but now Subaru couldn’t see her. This turned Subaru into panic mode since loops don’t change that much.
“This is bad! Very, very bad. If she's not here then where is she and why isn't she here?” he asked himself.
“Excuse me mister appa salesman guy, but would you know where Rem is?” Subaru asked him in the calmest voice he could ask.
“Huh, who's Rem?” He confusingly responded.
“Are we serious?” Subaru annoyingly thought.
“She is the Blue-haired girl in a maid costume that was with me.”
“Huh, but you came here alone?”
“No, I didn't!”
“Yes, you did!”
“How did he forget her? Is this some sort of cruel joke? No, the confusion in his voice felt genuine so unless he is the world best actor it has to be a different reason. Uhh, this is so annoying!”
Subaru walked away from the appastand and continued to think.
“How could Rem just disappear? And what makes it worse is that I have no idea where she could be!”
Subaru ran around with no particular place in mind. Just thoughts crashing against each other like trains.
“Has Return By Death started to malfunction? Maybe there actually is a death limit. Oh no, if Emilia dies again then I might not be able to save her!!.”
“I need to leave now!!!” Subaru screamed in a stress-filled tone.
Subaru had never been so scared before, well besides that time when he was a child and his parents found out that he stole some candy. But that was in the past and now we think about the present but if bad things continue to happen then he might fear the future.
Subaru ran up to some random carriage.
“Hi, can you drive to Arlam village? I'm in a big hurry.”
The driver of the carriage was an old guy maybe in his 60's who had a mysterious vibe around
“What makes you think that I’ll do that for free?” He responded while looking him in the eyes.
“I'll do anything you want! Just please take me there, please.”
Subaru's voice was filled with sorrow and he was pretty sure he felt tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.
The old man's brown eyes met his and after a solid, slightly awkward moment he opened his mouth again.
“Hmm, boy, you seem to have caught my interest. I'll drive you there on one condition, but I'll tell you later. Now hop on because you said you're in a hurry.”
Subaru jumped on and they began their journey.
<Timeskip>
Subaru was still nervous about what he'll see when he gets there, or how to stop Petelgeuse and Puck.
“Boy, now we are a few hours from the capital and it's time I tell you the condition.”
The old man stopped the carriage and went back to where Subaru was sitting.
Subaru thought of all the worst options
“What if he makes work for him forever or makes me sell my soul!? Well, I'll sell my soul to save everyone, that is my choice.”
“The condition is that I get one drop of your blood.”
“Fuck, I wasn't serious when I said that I would sell my soul!” Subaru internally screamed.
“Done, now the condition is completed.” the old man uttered.
Subaru didn't even notice but the old man had taken out a tiny needle and pricked Subaru's finger and with the blood coated needle the old man put it in his mouth.
“NOOO, this is worse he's a cannibal!”
Subaru thought back to all the choices he should have made instead.
But you can't change the past.
The old man closed his eyes and was completely still for a moment then he stood up again.
“Right as always. The name's Ambrose by the way.”
“Ambrose?”
“Yeah, I know it's unique but it's not a different language.”
“My name is- woah!”
Ambrose made the carriage move again and it surprised Subaru.
“Try to get some sleep. It's at least 3 days until we reach Arlam.”
“Alright, goodnight.”
Subaru fell asleep pretty fast since all that stress tired him up.
<different place, same time>
A figure stood in an alleyway. Their body wrapped in a cloak, hiding their appearance.
“This is not going according to plan… If he was near the mansion he would have died. Reinhard confirmed his death but I can't accept that he's gone. I searched the capital but can't seem to find him there either. And it doesn't help that I lost all my connections.”
The figure bit their lip, breaking the skin and making a small stream of blood go down their chin and drop on the floor.
“My heart can't accept that he's gone. This is the last chance before I give up.”
Suddenly a man entered the alleyway.
“So you have the information?” the cloaked figure asked him.
“Yeah, you got the money? he responded.
The figure grabbed a pouch out of their cloak and extended their three-fingered hand to give a small pouch of coins to the other person.
“Now tell me where he is.”
“I saw him heading out of her some hours ago, although I don’t know where.”
“Are you 100% sure that it’s him?”
“Yeah, I still have the picture you gave me and it’s safe to say that no one else has the same clothes as him.”
“Thanks.”
Not a word later had the figure run away and jump onto the roof of a house.
They lowered down their hood and took off their mask, a set of bloodshot eyes with a large smile filled with determination to pair was revealed.
“I’ll find you… no matter what it costs”.
<back to Subaru>
“Boy, wake up!”
Opening his eyes he felt bright sunlight hit his skin making a familiar sense of warmth wash over him.
“Huh, where am I, why did you wake me up?”
“I felt like I should wake you up since you’ve slept for a full day.”
Upon hearing that information Subaru fully woke up.
“A FULL DAY?!”
“Yeah, or I guess a little less than that, anyways when you were asleep I traded with another merchant heading the other way, I’ll give it to you for free since you fulfilled my condition.”
Subaru looked in front of him and noticed a plate in front of him. He didn’t seem to notice the plate before but if he was just ignorant or he just hadn’t fully woken up Subaru couldn’t tell. On the plate was appas, some meat, and eggs.
“Nice to see that this world at least has eggs, but I still miss mayonnaise, I’m gonna have withdrawal symptoms if this continues.”
Subaru ate the food rather quickly because he was very hungry and it felt nice not having to prepare breakfast.
“That was tasty, I was so hungry that it felt like I could eat a whale… Whale? WHALE?!”
“Soooo, Ambrose, did anything weird happen when I was sleeping, like for example a giant, white, flying whale chasing after you?”
“Couldn’t make it less obvious I guess, but to answer your question…”
Ambrose chuckled a little to himself, then he whispered something to himself which Subaru could only catch the end part.
“...resting.”
“What did you say?”
“Oh, just talking to myself, but to answer your question, nothing special or weird happened while you were sleeping?”
“First Rem is gone and then the white whale is gone, what is happening?!”
“Alright, I can’t let you be a complete freeloader, you see those crates in the back? Those are filled with different colored feathers, which I’m gonna sell. Your job is to sort all the feathers into different sacks based on their color.”
“Alright, I’ll do that.”
Subaru opened one of the crates and began sorting the feathers.
“I guess I can’t complain since Ambrose might be a cannibal so sorting feathers instead of being eaten is actually pretty good.”
And he did, he sorted so much that he didn’t even notice the sun setting behind the horizon and leaving the ground in darkness. He completed four out of the five boxes but before he even opened the fifth box he felt very tired and fell asleep in the fetal position on the hard wooden floor.
<Back to the cloaked figure>
“There is only one place he could’ve gone.”
The cloaked figure walked up to a carriage driver who was about to head off.
“Hello, can you take me to Arlam village?”
“Sorry, but that’s to far ou-”
The cloaked figure handed out a large pouch filled with gold coins.
“Right away, sir!”
Despite getting what they wanted the figure appeared to be slightly annoyed.
“Subaru, I don’t know how or why, but you’re alive. And I swear on my life I’ll find you.”
And so the carriage set out into the darkness of the night heading towards Arlam village which they would reach in 2 days. Their carriage moved faster since money is the best motivator for both humans and land-dragons.
<back to Subaru>
“Boy, we’re here!”
“Oh, thanks so much Ambrose! Hopefully we will meet again.”
“I know we will. Goodbye.”
“Bye!”
With a final goodbye Ambrose set off into another direction leaving Subaru behind in the eerie silence.
“It’s so quiet, normally the kids would be over me right now.”
Subaru entered the village and found something weird. Nothing, he found nothing, no kids, no adults, no one was there to greet him. Only empty houses and the trees rustling from the winds.
Subaru felt his breathing getting heavier and faster, he began running, yelling for someone, anyone to hear him.
But nobody came.
“Where is everyone?”
He went up to a home, tried to open the door, it was unlocked and opened smoothly. Subaru went inside but unsurprisingly it was empty. On the counter lay a big knife.
“...”
Subaru took the knife, who knows what kind of things are here? Subaru went outside and continued towards the mansion, his hand gripping the knife hard.
Subaru started running, and eventually he reached his goal, the mansion.
“Please let Rem and Emilia be okay. Also Roswaal, I guess?”
He opened the mansion but was greeted with silence, Subaru didn’t even need to check every room, he knew what happened.
“I’m too late.”
Then he realized something.
“Is that the condition?”
Subaru pieced together the puzzle. It was a guess but that guess had a 99% accuracy of being right.
“Does all the people I develop an emotional connection with disappear?!"
With that he couldn’t stop the tears, with sorrow overwhelming him he fell to his knees. He could do nothing but cry.
“They are all gone! I’m sorry Emilia. I should've done more for you.”
Tears hit the red carpet making the hit spot turn darker, but both the maids have disappeared.
“I truly am Slothful”