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Chapter Text

Natsuki Subaru has been summoned to a parallel world, but it’s a bit more parallel than the one you might be imagining.

“That didn’t convince you to give me a break, by any chance?” Subaru asks, looking at the three thugs who surround him with trepidation. What a way to start his isekai adventure— falling into an alleyway, and then ignored by a purple-haired preteen who had rushed past Subaru’s predicament without pause.

“Actually, it just made us more angry,” the lead thug says. Subaru punches him in the face— wait, wait, that actually worked!? The guy’s falling over, and Subaru’s never hit someone before! Enthused by his success, he kicks the second of three thugs into the alley wall, but stops short and begs for his life when the third one pulls out a knife. He is then mercilessly beaten up. 

“Hold it right there!” a voice shouts; Subaru looks up through darkening vision to see a beautiful girl and a floating cat. His rescuer is here! Unfortunately, he can’t really stay awake long enough to thank her.

His savior, as he learns later, is called Satella. Probably.

“Really?” Puck asks, looking at Satella somewhat disapprovingly after she says her name. He has a glare for Subaru after his non-reaction, as well.

“I think that’s a beautiful name!” Subaru says. 

“You have good taste, at least,” Puck sighs. Satella tilts her head at Subaru, but then shrugs. There are more important things to worry about, like the insignia that has been stolen from her.

“So, that insignia is special somehow?” Subaru tries not to trip as he follows Satella through the cracked streets. He gets that it’s a medieval world, but didn’t Satella say this was the country’s capital? It should be better maintained. Subaru’s gaze trails to the walls that separate the middle area of the city from the top, and those walls seem very well maintained indeed. It was a case of the rich hogging all the wealth, then? And even the disrepair of the middle area was nothing compared to that of the slums, which Subaru sees sprawling far below.

“I don’t really know what the insignia is, but it glows when I touch it. Echidna said I could never lose it, ever, so I need to get it back as soon as possible,” Satella explains. 

“Echidna?” Subaru asks.

“Please be more careful with what you say,” Puck sighs.

“I don’t know anything about what she’s saying!” Subaru defends.

“I’m not sure if that makes me more or less worried,” Puck says.

“Don’t tease him!” Satella chides. “Although you can’t read, you don’t know where you are, and you don’t even recognize the name of the… how odd.”

“I’m not stupid, just broke and completely clueless!” Subaru says.

“Is that really a defence?” Satella asks.

”Yes! Let’s find your insignia! It’s my good deed for the day!” Subaru skips away from Satella to search further down the path, but then scurries back when he remembers he has no idea where he’s going.

“And you don’t… you realize I’m a half-elf, right?” Satella asks.

“That explains it, then,” Subaru says. “Elves in fantasy worlds are always beautiful.” His isekai experience has been lucky so far, really, to have encountered someone so wonderful so quickly! Subaru hasn’t spent a lot of time with Satella, but he can tell she’s kind, even if she acts like she doesn’t want to be. She takes time out of her day to heal someone like him when searching urgently for a jewel, and helps a lost child; she’s shy, but unused to being complimented, suggesting she needs more friends.

“Beautiful?” Satella asks, looking surprised. Subaru reaches over, and holds her hand. Maybe they could be more than friends. 

“Beautiful long silver hair… beautiful purple eyes… beautiful pointy ears,” Subaru says. Satella’s face grows slightly pink. She had saved him from being beaten up, but not only that; she had also saved him from being alone. Truthfully, Subaru couldn’t stand being shut in his room all day— but the idea of going out only scared him more. Now that he had isekaied, though, there was a brand new life ahead of him! He could stop being a disappointment, and make something wonderful out of himself.

“Oh…” Satella says, astonished, and Puck flies out of her hair to give Subaru a friendly punch of approval. It seems things were working out well after all.

Eventually, the two of them come to a building known as the “Loot House;” the sky is darkened, as is what Subaru can see of the building from through the window.

“I’ll go in first. Don’t come in unless I tell you it’s safe, okay?” Subaru asks his new friend. 

“Okay, but I’m coming in if I hear anything strange,” Satella says. Cautiously, Subaru steps into the darkness. From what little moonlight flickers through the window, the place seemed a mess; who would want to buy stolen goods from such an establishment?

“Hello? Anyone here?” Subaru asks. Something squishes under his feet, and Subaru looks down to see a pool of dark liquid. No— it can’t be— “AHH!” Subaru stumbles backwards in horror; lying with wide, terror-filled eyes is the severed head of the young girl who had stolen Satella’s insignia, her braid soaking in a pool of blood.

“Oh, you saw that?” a female voice asks. Subaru glances around frantically, but he can’t see who might have spoken. “Too bad.”

“Subaru, what’s happening?” Satella asks; the door creaks as she enters the room, her beauty illuminated by the rays of the moon.

“Get out of here, it’s dangerous!” Subaru shouts— but too late. Something flickers, blocking Satella from his vision for half a second, and then blood sprays from her neck. “SATELLA!” Heart beating so loud he can hear it in the darkness, he rushes towards Satella’s fallen form in a panic, but she’s motionless. “I’ll save you— I promise— I’ll definitely—“

Subaru feels a burst of pain in his throat, and then absolutely nothing at all.

***

He blinks, and he’s in front of a stand selling apples that he’d seen once before that day, sunlight assaulting his eyes.

“What happened?” he asks. Did he get knocked out, and sent here— Satella! He has to get back to the Loot House, now! Subaru runs as fast as he can, dashing over uneven streets as he makes his way back to the slums. He’s breathing heavily by the time he gets there, but to his despair, the door of the Loot House is locked. Subaru starts banging on it desperately.

“Please, someone!” he yells, and all of a sudden the door swings open. 

“Knocking like that is pretty rude, you know,” the door-opener says; a tall woman with black hair and a dress with an incredibly plunging neckline stands before him.

“Uh,” Subaru says, stunned into silence by the extraordinary sexiness.

“Here for something?” the woman prompts.

“Wha— yeah! I’m here to buy something that’s being sold here!” Subaru decides. He still hasn’t quite figured out what had happened, but if he can get Satella’s insignia back for her, that’s at least one point towards success.

“A customer, then? My name is Elsa Granhiert. Come on in,” Elsa holds the door open for him along with the invitation. Upon entering, Subaru sees that the Loot House is well-lit and all in order. Had he been having a nightmare before, or something? “What is it you’re looking to buy?”

“It’s this little insignia-type thing, with a jewel in the middle that glows. I know someone here stole it,” Subaru explains.

“Hm. Very interesting,” Elsa says. She leans towards Subaru, her face approaching his, and he backs up, sitting down in a chair. Too close, too close! “A competitor, then. We’ve been offered ten holy coins for it, so unless you have more to offer, you’re out of luck.”

“Unfortunately, I’m completely broke!” Subaru announces.

“What did you come here for then, silly?” Elsa teases.

“Well— I’ve got my cellphone.” Subaru says, brandishing the device in question. “It’s definitely one of a kind. Watch!” So saying, Subaru takes a few pictures of Elsa, the camera flash flickering bright into her face. Elsa reacts to this by slamming Subaru to the ground and putting a gigantic knife right up to his stomach.

“What did you do? Why did you attack me?” she hisses. “Answer, or I’ll show us both your bowels.”

“Whoa, calm down! I just took your picture, that’s all, I promise!” Subaru squeaks out, entirely terrified. Elsa’s hand is pressing tightly into his shoulder, but better that than the knife.

“My picture?” Elsa asks, not moving an inch.

“Just— look at the cellphone,” Subaru stammers. Keeping her knife against his stomach, Elsa lets up the pressure on his shoulder to pick up the cellphone, which has landed on the floor. Her eyes widen as she sees the perfect replication of her blinded face. “Cool, isn’t it?” Elsa looks at him suspiciously, and he raises one hand slowly to give her a thumbs up, smiling sheepishly. This baffling display of idiocy makes Elsa sigh before pulling her knife back, and Subaru breathes out in relief.

“You aren’t a threat, are you? You’re way too stupid for that,” Elsa says, glancing at the picture from various angles. “Pity. I would have liked to see some warmth tonight. And… this cellphone, it makes instant images? Replicating a moment exactly, immediately… that’s worth twenty holy gold coins at the least.”

“So, you’ll trade it for the insignia?” Subaru asks, pushing himself off the ground. His shoulder is still sore. 

“Not just yet,” Elsa says. “Only if the buyer who originally wanted it doesn’t offer more.”

“A bidding war? Isn’t that a bit greedy?” Subaru asks. He just wants to get the insignia and get out of here— Elsa was terrifying. She wasn’t the one who had killed the young thief that Subaru had seen dead before, was she? Was the thief even dead at all? He isn’t sure what’s real and what’s his imagination anymore.

“I need everything I can get,” Elsa says.

“So you’re not worried about me potentially scamming you?” Subaru points out.

“If you’re a good guy, I don’t have to worry,” Elsa says; she smiles, nails clicking on the handle of her knife. “And if you’re a bad guy, well… I don’t have to worry, either.”

“Right,” Subaru manages. It’s at this point that the door swings open, and Subaru does a doubletake; entering the room is the thief with the purple braid, accompanied by a weird-looking bat flying around her head. What was going on? 

“We have a customer, Meili,” Elsa says.

“You haven’t died recently, have you?” Subaru asks. The image of Meili’s severed head is still strong behind his eyelids.

“What kind of question is that?” Meili asks, her expression narrowing.

“Um, never mind,” Subaru mumbles.

“He wants to trade a metia for that insignia we stole,” Elsa says.

“We?” Meili asks.

“Well, I’m the one who got contracted to steal it.”

“Doesn’t matter!” Meili says, sticking her tongue out at her sister. The weird bat-creature that followed her in lands with a flop in front of Subaru. It’s kind of cute and furry, honestly; he holds out his hand to it, and it immediately chomps on his fingers.

“Ow, ow, ow!” Subaru yelps, trying to shake the nasty beast off of him.

“You’re lucky that’s not an Ulgarm, or you’d be cursed to death right now,” Elsa says. Both girls are looking at him with amused disapproval as he puts a chair in between himself and the little vicious monster. 

“Can I just buy the insignia now?” Subaru asks. 

“I wonder, how did you know I was contracted to steal it?” Elsa asks.

“I didn’t know that! Just that this place is where people go to buy stolen items!” Subaru protests.

“What makes you think we’ll give it to you?” Meili asks.

“He’s offering a powerful metia. It’s worth twenty holy coins at the least,” Elsa says. Meili taps her chin, humming. 

“If Felt offers us more, though…”

“You’re going to start a bidding war? Seriously?” Subaru complains.

“Annoyed you don’t have anything else to offer?” Meili asks, snatching his bag of groceries. “What even is this stuff?”

“It’s food you won’t find anywhere else,” Subaru announces. “Hey, you can’t just eat that!” Meili’s bat-creature has ripped open the corn chip bag, and the two thieves are already crunching away at it.

“Watch your things better, dear,” Elsa advises. 

“So, who’s this Felt that wants the insignia?” Subaru asks. Both girls stare at him.

“You don’t know who Felt is?” Meili asks.

“I had realized you weren’t smart, but this is a whole other level,” Elsa says.

“Maybe he only knows her by Fenrisa Lugnica?” Meili asks. Elsa scoffs.

“Felt has tried to erase that name off the face of the earth. I doubt it,” she says.

“I actually don’t know either of those names,” Subaru says.

“Wow you’re stupid,” Meili says. 

“I have noticed this, yes,” Elsa sighs. Suddenly, the door crashed open; a girl barely older than Meili enters, wearing a fancy yellow dress. Meili steps respectfully out of her way, and Subaru understands the girl must be some kind of big shot.

“Who’re the two of you? I contracted Elsa,” Felt says. 

“Meili is my sister, and this boy is here to bid against you for the insignia,” Elsa says, looking wary of Felt’s arrival. “You’re… early.”

“I’m Natsuki Subaru! Pleased to meet you!” Subaru says, holding out his hand.

“Bid against me? That’s brave. Who do you work for?” Felt asks, sitting at the table across from Subaru and ignoring his extended hand.

“I’m entirely unemployed!” Subaru announces. Felt does not appear impressed.

“Hm. Show me the insignia, so I know you stole the right thing,” Felt orders. Meili produces a jewel from her pocket.

“Isn’t that supposed to glow?” Subaru asks, remembering what Satella had said. Felt narrows her eyes.

“Now, how would you know about that little detail?” she asks; reaching out, Felt takes the insignia between her fingertips, and the jewel begins to glow at her touch. It stops glowing when she sets it down on the table. Why did the insignia glow for Satella and Felt, but not Meili? Curious, Subaru reaches out and pokes the jewel himself, but no glow appears.

“Why does it only shine for some people?” he asks.

“You knew it glows, but you didn’t know that much? Weird,” Felt says. “Well, whatever. How much were you gonna pay to buy it?”

“One metia worth twenty holy coins,” Subaru says, brandishing the cellphone. 

“And you came unprepared to bargain with me, too,” Felt says. “Who are you? You’re really strange. It’s bothering me. Tell me, what do you want the insignia for?”

“Just to give it back to its owner,” Subaru says. There’s a crashing sound; Meili has dropped a cup onto the floor.

“You really are stupid,” Elsa says, softly. 

“So, she anticipated me, and sent ahead someone to do her bidding,” Felt says. “Smarter than I expected, but I should’ve known better than to underestimate Satella’s vessel.”

“What?” Subaru asks, confused. 

“I didn’t steal her insignia for the insignia, y’see. I stole it so that she’d chase after the thief to somewhere nice and out of the way where we could have a… conversation. But if she sent a patsy after it— well,” Felt stands to her feet, and raises a hand in the air; Subaru notices, all of a sudden, how tense the air has gotten. Elsa flips two knives out of her pockets, and stalks in between Felt and Meili, menacing like a snake— but her caution does not save her.

Subaru blinks, and Elsa is lying dead on the floor, head and hands severed. Standing above the corpse is a young man in a white coat with red hair, piercing blue eyes, and absolutely no emotion whatsoever. What— where had he even come from!?

“ELSA!” Meili shrieks.

“Kill her too,” Felt says, and Subaru doesn’t even perceive the man moving before Meili is beheaded, too. Her head rolls across the floor, dead eyes wide with horror, and Subaru experiences a terrible case of deja-vu. He falls out of his chair, stumbling backwards and barely able to process the sight.

“Wh— what? Why?” Subaru yells, staring up at Felt; he can barely process what has just occurred, his heart thumping wildly in his chest.

“Because I can,” Felt sneers. All of a sudden, Elsa leaps off the floor once more, fully reformed despite the blood that trails like pearls from her body. She slashes out at Felt once again, but the man with red hair kills her once more in an instant, bare handedly. Not a single drop of crimson touches his pristine clothes, and he does not even bother to reach towards the giant sword strapped across his hips. “Why did she get back up, Sword Saint?”

“My apologies, Felt-sama. This strange resurrection… it must mean that this woman is a vampire,” the Sword Saint says. He holds up his hand, and a bottle of alcohol flies from the shelf of the Loot House into his grasp; he smashes it over Elsa as she begins to rise again, and with a snap of his fingers the alcohol ignites with flames. She starts screaming, and the Sword Saint watches impassively.

“They can only be killed with fire, huh?” Felt asks.

“NO!” Subaru shouts, scrambling towards Elsa— he can’t see someone else die in front of him, he can’t, he was already so worried about Satella— he starts trying desperately to put the fire out, and his hands hurt and it’s hopeless but he has to try.

“Run,” Elsa hisses, kicking him across the room; her strength, though fading, launches him right out the Loot House window. Glass shatters around him, and he scrambles to his feet, conflicted— she’d used her last moments to try and save his life, he couldn’t waste that, but he didn’t want to leave her either, but could he really fight that Sword Saint that moved faster than he could even see, what should he do—

The Sword Saint in question suddenly appears in front of Subaru, and with a quick swipe of his hand, Subaru’s dilemma becomes entirely moot.

***

Once again, Subaru finds himself in broad daylight, standing on a cracked street. The brief burst of pain he’d felt has vanished as though it had never been. Why did the Sword Saint keep teleporting him back here? It had been him the first time as well, hadn’t it? But why had the Sword Saint teleported him when he’d killed both the others? Trying to make sense of what he’d experienced, Subaru’s hand tightens around his grocery bag. Wait. Carefully, because he barely believes what he’s seeing, he lifts up the flimsy plastic; resting within, unopened, are the chips that Meili and her bat-creature had devoured. And— the bite on Subaru’s fingers from the beast was gone, too. What in the… ? He has no idea what’s going on anymore.

“Stop, thief!” a voice shouts out, and Subaru turns his head. Meili leaps onto a rooftop, fleeing from ice spikes shot by Satella. They’re both alive! Subaru rushes towards them, gratified. Meili is already gone, but Satella is still in the middle of the road, trying to get through the crowd while chasing her insignia.

“Wait!” Subaru shouts, but she doesn’t seem to hear him. “SATELLA!”

Everything seems to just— stop. The milling crowd, Satella’s pursuit of Meili, the wind itself; even the sounds of dragon carriages rolling in the distance feel as though they have been silenced.

“I’m sorry. I tried to find you at the Loot House, but—“ knives, fire, bat-creature, the cold eyes of the Sword Saint, what had even happened at all? “I guess I just didn’t do well enough. But I’m glad you’re okay.” Subaru says; looking into Satella’s eyes, he sees that they are wide with a strange astonishment. She seems to have no idea what to say for a moment before gathering herself.

“How dare you,” Satella says, voice wavering. “How dare you call me the name of the Witch of Envy!”

“What?” Subaru asks. “But that’s— wait!” He holds out his hand, but everyone surrounding is staring at him in disdain, and the girl turns around and leaves without a second glance. Satella wasn’t her name? Then why had she—

“Come with us,” a voice hisses, and Subaru feels a hand on his shoulder. There is something very sharp up against Subaru’s neck, as well; he freezes, and without any recourse, he lets himself be led into a dark alleyway. He didn’t understand! What did he do wrong? When Subaru is released and allowed to turn around, he’s surprised to find himself looking down upon glancing for a sight of his attacker; a teenager with long hair and aurora-green eyes points a wrist-knife at Subaru’s chest. He smiles, showing a mouth of inhumanely sharp teeth. “What kind of interaction are you hoping for, by calling a half-elf with silver hair Satella in broad daylight? What feelings do you wish to taste, to serve to others, what kind of gluttony drives your actions?”  

“I just wanted to find her again. I wanted her to be safe,” Subaru says. “I have no idea what’s going on, and— I wanted to help Satella. I didn’t know that wasn’t her name. I swear— OH NO!”

“What?” the strange boy asks. 

“She’s going to chase after Meili to the Loot House— but it’s a setup! There’s this girl called Felt, she brought the Sword Saint, and he— he—“ Subaru chokes on his words, unable to vocalize what exactly he had seen. Meili had died twice, and yet she was alive. Elsa had died, but she had regenerated back to life until she’d been doused with flames. Subaru had— what had happened to Subaru? Why had time started over again? 

“Felt and the Sword Saint. Where is this Loot House?” the strange boy asks.

“You believe me?” Subaru asks, confused.

“Why would we not? It is clear you are a fellow believer in love. Tell us your name, tell us, tell us! Let us taste it!”

“Oh— I’m Natsuki Subaru. Completely lost, and completely broke!” 

“We are Lye Batenkaitos, the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, the Gourmet! We will savor meeting you very much, Natsuki Subaru, if you become someone worth taken— but first we must prevent other feasts from being taken from us. Lead us to this Loot House, for only afterwards can we devour you in full!” the boy says; he holds his hands out and laughs uproariously.

“I don’t really like that phrasing! But let’s do it anyway; let’s save Satella! Er, wait—“

”You burn, you run, you cry out from your hunger for her name!” Lye shouts, gesturing to Subaru to follow him, and the two of them go running down the streets, searching for hope. “But every good meal must be prepared, and there is much ahead of you before you can truly experience that banquet.”

“I know,” Subaru says. This time, he’ll do things right. This time he’ll save them all. This time— because time had turned back each time the Sword Saint had divested Subaru from his head.

Return by Death, Subaru thinks, having finally understood his power— the hours were turned back when he was struck a final blow, and he was the only one who remembered. The repetition of events and things lost that had been restored clearly indicated as such. But what an annoying power to be isekaied with— to only gain knowledge through dying! He won’t think about it any more than he has to. He doesn’t want to think about dying at all.

Subaru and Lye skid to a stop in front of the Loot House; the sun is still bright in the sky. Subaru knocks on the door calmly. He can’t have the girls thinking he’s an idiot— not if he wants to save them. Not-Satella isn’t the only person in danger; Meili and Elsa could be killed by Felt and the Sword Saint, as well. Had been killed, in timelines now lost.

“Password?” Elsa’s voice asks, from the other side of the door. 

“Look, there’s no time for any of that nonsense! Felt is going to kill you!” Subaru says. The door swings open, and Elsa’s knife is suddenly pointed right up against his belly. Subaru flinches; if she sliced him open, it would be a death far slower than the ones the Sword Saint had given him.

“Explain,” Elsa says. Meili looks out from behind her curiously.

“The insignia you were sent to steal— Felt doesn’t want to buy it, she wants to lure the girl who owned it to somewhere she can be killed,” Subaru says, breathing heavily from his run; he can feel Elsa’s knife pressing against his tracksuit. “And she’s going to kill both of you, too.”

“I see,” Elsa says. Her expression is a calm resignation.

“You believe him?” Meili asks.

“Do you know how many lives Felt’s living weapons have taken? I won’t let you be added to that number,” Elsa says, whirling on her sister. “I wish I could cross blades with the Sword Saint, however… that would be an incredible experience.”

“You can! And you should, actually!” Meili says. 

“What? No, she shouldn’t!” Subaru protests, remembering Elsa burning up underneath his hands.

“Felt only contracted with Big Sis, so she only knows about her. If she arrives, and there’s no one, do you really think she won’t hunt us all down?” Meili asks.

“And if the Sword Saint is able to kill me once…” Elsa says, trailing off, and Subaru understands.

“Whoa, you can’t just let yourself be killed! Even if it’s temporary! Dying really sucks!”

“If it will save my sister from the Lion Princess and her weapon, I will do anything,” Elsa says. “And dying isn’t that bad… the pain feels so nice sometimes. And to be killed by the Sword Saint himself? That’s a blessing.”

“You’re crazy,” Subaru sighs. Also, a Princess!? What had he gotten himself into?

“Lye!” a voice like silver bells calls out, and Subaru turns to see Not-Satella walking down the path, Puck floating alongside her. “And— oh! It’s you!” Subaru tries and fails to hide behind Lye, because this was really awkward.

“Um,” Subaru says.

“Give me back my insignia!” Not-Satella demands. Elsa turns to Meili and holds her hand out; the girl sheepishly passes it over.

“It’s not worth the trouble it’s brought,” Elsa says, tossing the jewel over Subaru’s head; it lights up when Not-Satella catches it.

“Trouble?” she asks.

“What’s happened, Lye?” Puck asks.

“Felt and her Sword Saint wish you dead,” Lye says.

“Will she leave if her target never shows up, though?” Subaru asks. “There are only two of them, and way more of us, so maybe we can—“

“Fighting the Sword Saint? None of us stand a hollow of a chance,” Puck says. Looking around, Subaru sees the solemnity on everyone’s faces, and sighs. The guy had been really fast, so that made sense, but running away from an enemy made Subaru feel like a coward.

“Don’t worry. There’s a way I can stop them from chasing me,” Not-Satella says, looking at Lye. 

“Are you sure?” Lye asks.

“It’s only temporary, it’ll be fine,” Not-Satella says.

“Even those who have known hunger do not truly know of starvation until they have experienced it,” Lye says. “We will carry out your wish, but do not forget the pain of it.” 

After a short period of time, Subaru, Puck and Meili are waiting in a building across from the Loot House; the girl has with her a collected bag of personal items, and the bat-creature chitters on her shoulder. Lye, Elsa and Not-Satella were awaiting their doom— they’d reassured Subaru and Meili that they’d be fine and there was a plan, but he was still worried.

“Who are you, anyway?” Meili asks.

“I’m Subaru,” He introduces himself, once again. Man, that was the worst part of these timeloops, even beyond dying— everyone forgetting him. He’d have to become friends with Not-Satella again, and this time their relationship had started off terribly. He’d do his best to fix it, though— Natsuki Subaru never gave up! Especially not for a girl that beautiful— she had saved him, he had saved her in return (well, if the plan worked, anyway) and then he could finally learn her name. 

“You’re brave, but kind of an idiot,” Puck says.

“Hey!” Subaru complains. He hadn’t even done anything stupid this time! “I am not!”

“Need I remind you what you called my niece in broad daylight?” Puck asks. Subaru wilts.

“I’m sorry. That was just— what I was told to call her.”

“Hm,” Puck says. “I don’t doubt that, but you must be new.”

“New to what?” Subaru asks. 

“What are you talking about, kitty cat?” Meili asks, watching him fly around curiously.

“I would explain, but I have the caution that Subaru lacks. So I won’t,” Puck says, crossing his arms.

“Please? I really don’t understand anything that’s going on. I just got isekaied today!” Subaru says.

“Isekaied?” Meili asks. Puck sighs.

“Have you heard of the Witch Cult?” he asks.

“Yeah, of course!” Meili says.

“Nope,” Subaru says. He receives two extremely unimpressed stares.

“Well, that explains much,” Puck says. 

“They’re the bad guys!” Meili says.

“Four hundred years ago, the Witch of Envy ate half the world, and the dragon Volcanica sealed her away,” Puck says.

“And the Witch Cult wants to let her out so that she eats the rest of the world!” Meili says.

“That, I’m afraid, is where you’re mistaken,” Puck corrects.

“Huh?” Meili asks.

“Shush. They’re here,” Puck says. On the other side of the street, Felt and the terrifying Sword Saint are entering the Loot House. Subaru hears muffled talking, some crashing sounds, and a few moments later, the two enemies leave. Felt looks very dissatisfied, and the Sword Saint’s face is blank; Subaru waits until the two are far, far away before the hiding trio returns to the loot house, where Elsa is waiting for them. Blood is spattered on the floor, but she looks none the worse for wear.

“We have to leave, now, before they figure us out and come back. Where are Lye and, uh—“ Subaru hesitates, because he does not know Not-Satella’s name.

“Who’s Lye?” Puck asks.

“What?” Subaru asks, confused. Something crashes, again, and Subaru looks over to see Lye and Not-Satella coming out from underneath an overturned boat. “There you guys are!”

“Do you know those two, Subaru?” Puck asks. Elsa has her knives out, pointing towards the two, and Meili looks defensive as well.

“What?” Subaru asks.

“Very interesting,” Lye says. Then, he spits on the floor, and everyone jolts in surprise. Elsa folds away her knives, and Puck floats over to Not-Satella.

“That’s always so very strange,” Puck mutters.

“Seriously, what just happened?” Subaru asks.

“The Lion Princess will not search for her target if she doesn't know her target exists. We find it very interesting that Natsuki Subaru is not affected by the feast,” Lye says.

“You remembered me… that’s really odd. Who is he, Lye?” Not-Satella asks.

“I am Natsuki Subaru. And I’d love to know your real name,” Subaru says, stepping forwards.

“My name’s Emilia,” the girl says. ”Just Emilia.”

“Emilia,” Subaru says. “Thank you.” Somehow, finding out her true name seems to have made all the trouble almost worth it.

“You weren’t affected by Lye’s Authority,”  Emilia muses. “Are you… ?”

“Wait, wait, an Authority?” Meili asks.

“That’s Witch Cult!” Elsa says. The knives are out again.

“Lia,” Puck sighs, exasperated.

“He has the Authority of Envy! The Gospel has spoken the truth!” Lye announces.

“I have what?” Subaru asks. He’s taken aback when Emilia grabs his hands.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” she says, earnestly. “The Witch Church isn’t thought of very well, you see— if you call me Satella where everyone can hear, I have to pretend that’s a bad thing! But for someone to call me by the name of the hero so bravely, and then arrive with the knowledge to save everyone here— thank you!”

“You’re welcome,” Subaru says. He’s still immensely confused, but Emilia is holding his hands and smiling at him, and he knows her name. At the end of the day, all's well that ends well.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill all of you right now,” Elsa says.

“They did save our lives, and they didn’t even have to,” Meili points out.

“It’s a trick. It has to be,” Elsa says.

“Elsa Granhiert. Meili Portroute. By whom have you been deceived, all your life?” Lye asks. “And who has saved you from the kingdom? Both now, and before?”

“How do you know about that?” Elsa hisses.

“Do you trust in the words of others, or do you trust in actions?” Puck asks. 

“You have a point,” Elsa concedes. 

“We can’t talk here. Now that Lye has reversed his Authority, Felt and the Sword Saint will remember Emilia’s existence,” Puck says. “Come with us, or stay here— and understand that if you follow, you’ll learn things that will change everything you once knew.” 

Chapter Text

“The Witch Church— everyone calls us a cult, but we’re really not— we don’t hurt people,” Emilia says. “It’s the nobility that does.” 

“I can’t deny what the nobility has done. To us, and to everyone,” Elsa says; almost as if to accentuate her words, she thrusts an arm out towards the dilapidated slums that the group is traveling through. “But what the Witch Cult has done is just as bad— they are murderers with the ultimate goal of ending the world.”

“We get blamed for everything,” Lye says. 

“Most people know the White Whale as the reason for why travel is so dangerous, but truthfully, it’s one of the few safe ways to travel that still remain. It has an ability much like the one you just saw Lye utilise— temporary erasure of itself and any passengers from the collective memory of the world, cutting off any pursuers for as long as the Whale is in the sky. And with the constant combat that this world has fallen into, since the nobility cares nothing for who dies as they seek their goal… well, no one remembers the White Whale, so it is often blamed when there is a disaster without a known cause,” Puck says.

“I don’t believe you,” Meili says.

“With Felt and the Sword Saint after us, we don’t have anywhere to go. Might as well follow those who are offering us grace. And… if they are murderers, we won’t be all that much out of place, now will we?” Elsa asks. Her hand moves slightly, and Subaru wonders exactly how and where she keeps those huge knives.

“I don’t like killing people,” Meili complains.

“I know. Me neither. But it does have its charms,” Elsa says.

“Are you guys, like, okay?” Subaru asks. He thinks he has a handle on Emilia’s deal, now— the misunderstood heroine!— but he can’t figure out where Elsa and Meili might stand in the usual isekai tropes. Never mind where Lye would be categorized. Subaru had no clue what was up with him.

“No,” Elsa says.

“Don’t worry, we can help you! The Witch Church does its best to help others, always, we’ve been there for Lugnica as much as we can, even though few realize our efforts,” Emilia says. “Everything we do is worth it— everyone saved is worth it, even if we’re only ever seen as evil.”

“So this Witch Church, you’re like rebels against the evil empire? Trying to keep the world together while it’s all against you?” Subaru asks.

“You make it sound really dramatic. We’re just doing our best,” Emilia says.

The group comes to a stop in front of a dragon carriage, parked in an out-of-the-way place, it looks very unassuming.

“Are you staying, or are you leaving with us?” Lye asks, leaping into the driver’s seat.

“Can I come?” Subaru asks. Emilia is the only person he knows here— and he wants to find out more about this Witch Church thing. Lye had mentioned him being an Archbishop, whatever that meant, and that felt like something worthy of being summoned to this world for. He’d join a group of rebels fighting against the evil nobility— led by the young villainess Felt, and her terrifying bodyguard. The ‘Sword Saint’ ought to have a secret weakness that Subaru could expose to easily defeat him. That was how this sort of thing went, wasn’t it? 

“You’d better,” Puck says. Emilia opens the carriage door, and Subaru hops in after. He’s surprised when Elsa and Meili follow.

“We’re not going back to the Karstens. And if you all are as bad as them— we’ll leave you, too,” Elsa says.

“And not without some payback on the way!” Meili threatens, practically sitting on top of Elsa.

“Glad that’s settled,” Puck sighs. “Now. Your history lesson.”

“Can I tell them?” Emilia asks.

“Of course!” Puck says. “You’ve been doing so well in your studies recently.” Emilia smiles at this, looking slightly embarrassed.

“The Witch of Envy is a monster. But Satella— Satella’s all right,” she says.

“They are the same person,” Elsa states, but Emilia shakes her head.

“Authorities, much like Divine Protections, can have really terrible effects on a mind that isn’t ready. When Satella got her Authority, it split her mind into halves, and the half called the Witch of Envy is the one who destroyed half the world,” she says.

“I still don’t see any reason to try and let her out of the seal like you all are trying,” Elsa says. 

“We want to save her. She’s been trapped with her own insanity for four hundred years, and she was a hero, it isn’t fair,” Emilia insists. 

“The best thing to do with evil is slice it apart, regardless of who it used to be,” Elsa says. “There will always be blood, so why not be the one to set it flowing? Better to take care with the last moments of the life of a good person than to let sentimentality paint the entire world red. There will be no warmth then.”

“You can’t let her out of the seal, even if what you say is true,” Meili says. Subaru doesn’t really know what to think on this issue; it is clear there is a history here that he is unaware of, but the idea of a woman imprisoned for centuries because her magic powers had made her crazy was very sad. Maybe that’s why he’s been summoned? To save this Satella? Isekai protagonists often had links to the important figures of the worlds they were thrown into. 

“That’s what nobody understands. Envy is going to destroy the rest of the world once five hundred years since the Great Calamity have passed, one way or another. It’s inevitable,” Emilia says, heatedly. “Freeing Satella is the only way to free all of us— because the contract between her and the kingdom resets the world back to the Great Calamity, to prevent Envy from eating the other half of the world. We have no way of knowing how many times these centuries have gone by, how many times we’ve tried and failed to reconcile Satella with herself before we reached the end of the timeline. But it doesn’t matter. It might be the first time, it might be the fiftieth, it might be more than anyone could ever count— but the time loops have to stop.”

“Frankly, that sounds like a lot of nonsense,” Elsa says.

“Even if it’s true, the Witch Cult are still terrorists!” Meili says.

“And the rulers of this kingdom aren’t?” Puck asks. The two girls don’t have a response to this.  

“I believe you,” Subaru says. 

“You do?” Emilia asks. Just as before, she is surprised that she is not instantly turned away.

“You’re a good, kind person. You wouldn’t say something so drastic if it wasn’t the truth,” Subaru says, faithfully. He hasn’t known Emilia long, but— he feels he can trust her.

“You don’t even know what the Witch Cult is!” Meili points out.

“I believe it knows him,” Puck says.

“What?” Subaru asks. Puck floats up to him, and pokes him in the chest.

“You have an Authority,” he says. “Have to, with the amount of miasma I can sense— and Lye said the Gospel called you Envy.” 

“Is it gonna make me go crazy?” Subaru asks, worried. 

“Don’t worry!” Emilia says, leaning over to him. “We’ll help you learn how to use it safely, I promise! Authorities can be really scary to have, and they change your life forever, but with what we’re up against with the Royals…”

“We need all the powers we can get,” Puck says. 

“At least I get a cool ability,” Subaru says. Next time he faced the Sword Saint, he wouldn’t die so easily! Unless— “You said Envy, right? Like the, uh…” Subaru trails off, unwilling to voice what he’s just realized. Envy had the entire world trapped in a time loop, and Subaru— well, time travel was only the half of it. Is Return by Death his only power? That’s so lame!

“It shouldn’t be a problem,” Emilia says, which is incredibly untrue. Subaru is determined not to let this get him down, however; he’s going to help the beautiful Emilia save the world! Now that he had allies, everything would surely be smooth sailing from here.

The next thing Subaru knows, he’s waking up to an unfamiliar ceiling.

“Did I really fall asleep on the ride? It had been a long day, I guess,” he says, looking up at white wood covered with symmetrical designs. The bed he’s in is rather too large for a single person, and much more luxurious than his bed at home. Subaru immediately claps his hands into his face; no thinking about his old life! He had a new chance to make something out of himself— isekai hero time! He pushes himself out of the bed, ready to start his day; upon entering the hallway, however, his glorious ascent to heroism is halted by the fact that the hallway has no end. The area is the same white-gray as the room before, and bright green plants stand in vases along the wall; but he’s seen the same plants many times now. It’s some kind of reality-bending trick— however, he isn’t worried.

“I’ve played these games before,” Subaru says; he rubs his hands together, and pushes open a random door. It’s not the previous bedroom— instead, library shelves stretch out before him, and seated on a chair in the center of the room is a little girl in a fancy dress with her hair in elaborate drill-like ponytails. “First NPC found!” Time to ace this social interaction!

Subaru does not ace the social interaction. Instead, he wakes up in the bed from previously, his body sore— what had that spirit kid done to him, ow!

“Good morning, Natsuki Subaru!” a voice says, and Subaru startles, sitting up straight. Standing at the end of the bed is a tall woman in a modest maid outfit; she has long blond hair, bright green eyes, and very pointy teeth.

“Good morning… ?” Subaru says, slightly worried about the teeth. A real-life maid outfit, though! That was so cool. “Um, who are you? I had hoped the beautiful Emilia-tan would have come to greet me.”

“I am Frederica Baumann, the head maid of this chapel. And the only maid… er, Emilia-sama has many important tasks, but I’m sure she’ll come and see you later!” 

“A chapel?” Subaru asks. 

“Would you like a tour?” Frederica asks. “I apologize, we haven’t had new visitors in so long, I’m excited.” Subaru is about to take her up on her offer when the bedroom door slides open, revealing a brilliant vision.

“Emilia-tan!” he says.

“Tan?” Emilia asks, confused. “Well… good morning! You fell asleep in the carriage on the drive here, so we just put you into bed. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I’m glad to see you again,” Subaru says. “I was— worried.” 

“I’m glad you’re okay, too! I felt so bad after I left you in the street… I didn’t know what else to do, so I got Lye to make sure you were all right.”

“He pointed a knife at me,” Subaru says, rubbing his neck.

“Oh no, I’m sorry! He was probably worried… I understand you didn’t know, but what you did could have been dangerous,” Emilia says. 

“It’s all right,” Subaru says.

“I’d ask him to apologize, but Lye left last night to get Roy and Capella. We’re going to need everyone here to fight the Selection— and I’ve been training and studying as best I can!” Emilia says.

“The Selection?” Subaru asks, following the two girls out of the room.

“You don’t know what that is?” Frederica asks.

“He doesn’t know what a lot of things are.” Emilia says, extremely accurately. 

“Critical hit…” Subaru whines. 

“The Royal Selection— all but one of the Royal Family were killed by a mysterious disease, and a recent prophecy from the Dragon Tablet has demanded a re-election for the kingdom. The last Princess Felt is one contender, of course, and it’s very worrying to know that four others will be selected by the Divine Dragon as her equal. There’s no question they’ll be just as bad as her,” Emilia says.

“So, five evil princesses? Yikes.” Subaru says.

“What’s worse is that at the end of the Selection, regardless of who wins, they’re going to renew the contract between the kingdom and the Witch of Envy. The contract that keeps this entire world from being destroyed by putting it in a timeloop. If that contract is replaced, we’re all doomed,” Emilia explains. 

“Then we’ve just got to stop them,” Subaru says, giving Emilia a thumbs up. He finds that he’s followed her into a room somewhat like a dining area; there are already four people seated around the table. Frederica bows, and then leaves. “There you guys are!” 

“I still expect there’s an evil torture basement in this chapel somewhere,” Elsa says. She looks very unimpressed.

“You can’t trick us, Witch Cult!” Meili says. Of the other two people at the table, the boy with messy white hair and golden eyes seems to take specific offense at this.

“And yet you two are still waiting for breakfast. Please do not do anything so disrespectful as to refuse it, for considering the rights of everyone that put in effort to make you feel welcome here, and yet you continue to deride the Witch Church as villains, even going so far as to call us a cult. It is simply unfair to the kind natures of—“

“Regulus says good morning, by the way,” the girl seated beside him says. 

“Did I give you permission to speak for me?” Regulus asks.

“Yes,” the girl says. Regulus pauses. 

“That’s true. Thanks, Sylphy,” he says. She smiles, squeezing his hand. “I know I have trouble talking to people. They should listen to me anyway, however! It’s only polite.”

“So, you two are staying here?” Subaru asks, sliding into a seat besides Emilia. Elsa and Meili are clearly still suspicious of the place, but he thinks it seems great!  

“It’s unlikely,” Elsa says. “Again, we’re only here to escape Felt. I don’t trust any of you.”

“So, you have the Authority of Envy?” Regulus asks, turning to Subaru. “We do need more Archbishops.”

“Huh?” Subaru asks.

“The Archbishops of the Witch Church are those who have been blessed by a Witch, and receive a power connected to a certain side. It then becomes their duty to guard the world against that sin as best they can. I, personally, am the Archbishop of Greed, which means that it falls to me to ensure that no one’s greed is present enough to infringe on the rights and freedoms of others. It is a heavy task, but the world has charity as well, and only by depending on others can we all truly become virtuous,” Regulus explains.

“Don’t worry, it’s not all as much work as he makes it sound. I’m Sylphy. Regulus is my best friend, and I like to think we do a good job together.” Sylphy says.

“You like to think? Have more respect for your achievements, and claim them confidently! It is your right. You have always done incredibly well, and even though I am the one with the Authority in question, your power is—“

“Regulus,” Sylphy says, turning away from him shyly; somehow, he keeps on talking, seeming to never run out of breath. 

“Regulus and Sylphy aren’t usually here, but with the Royal Selection happening, they showed up to help,” Emilia says. 

“Who’s usually here, then?” Subaru asks.

“We are,” a voice says. Subaru turns to see two more people approaching the table; there’s a man with straight green hair in a lopsided cut, and a woman with pointy ears and silver hair, just like Emilia. The man is wearing black robes with red designs, and the woman has a tight outfit in purple and white. 

“Subaru, meet Mother Fortuna and Father Geuse,” Emilia says.

“What!? Meeting the parents already!” Subaru yelps.

“The way you said that was suspicious,” Puck says, floating into view.

“I’m not suspicious!” Subaru protests.

“Actually, you really are,” Guese says. He and Fortuna sit at the head of the table, and Subaru feels trepidation. Now is the moment he must prove himself! He didn’t expect to be meeting Emilia’s dad so soon. “You call Emilia Satella in the middle of the street, you save everyone by telling Lye that Felt is coming, then you are immune to his Authority, and then you don’t know anything about the Witch Church. Not even knowing it as a Cult.”

“I only knew about Felt because of my Authority!” Subaru defends.

“You know what your Authority is?” Regulus asks.

“Yep! I call it Re— agh, what the!?” Subaru gasps, feeling something briefly grab his chest, knocking the wind— and the words— out of him. He catches the briefest glimpse of a hand made out of shadow, cold like the air at midnight as it plunges into his chest. The feeling doesn’t hurt, but it takes all his breath away.

“Oh, dear,” Fortuna says.

“Don’t say anything else!” Emilia warns, reaching out towards him with worry.

“What’s going on?” Subaru asks.

“From the surge in miasma, it’s clear that Satella is preventing you from speaking of the Authority. That can only mean one thing— that Envy granted it to you,” Puck says. 

“Envy?” Subaru asks.

“If she has given you power, she will restrict it to you and you alone— speaking of it in the presence of others will result in their deaths,” Geuse says, solemnly.

“So I can’t even tell you guys about…” Dying, Subaru thinks, as he trails off. That— that really sucked. 

“You can clearly tell us what you learn from your Authority, just not how. I apologize. The Witch of Envy has always been an inscrutable evil, so to be granted an Authority from her will be as much a freedom as a chain,” Geuse says.

“Right,” Subaru says, uncomfortably.

“As much as you try to deny it, you are still connected to the woman who ate half the world,” Elsa says, derisively.

“I think we should give them a chance,” Meili says, somewhat shyly.

“Is this because of the rabbits?” Elsa asks.

“…maybe.”

“Rabbits?” Subaru asks. He loves cute little fluffy things!

“Rabbits!” Frederica says; she’s entering the room, pulling a cart full of plates of food. Following her is another woman with long blond hair in a white and blue dress. “Everyone say thank you to the Great Rabbit and the local gardens for breakfast! I’m not used to serving this many people at once, but at least there’s no need to worry about sustainability.”

“Why not? How does the Witch Cult have the wealth for luxurious meals, anyway?” Elsa asks. Subaru is gratified to realize that the food looks normal— having been sent to a fantasy world, he’d been slightly worried about if the people here ate things that were entirely different.

“Not wealth. Collaboration. Well, that and Frederica’s hard work. And don’t worry, we contribute against the kingdom’s famine all we can,” the woman says, helping the younger maid serve. Frederica grins, lifting multiple plates into the air at once.

“I’m not really sure why you assigned yourself as the maid,” Emilia says.  

“Maidwork is a job worth being proud of,” Frederica says. “Everyone here puts in effort, and although I haven’t got special jobs like the rest of you, why can't I?”

“We all think you do wonderfully, Frederica,” the woman in robes says. 

“The location of this chapel is by the two factions that most depend on it, as we guard them in return— Elior Forest, and Arlam village. We help both groups keep in contact and trade, which is valuable in this dangerous world. With the Great Rabbit, we always have a source of food, and can trade it with either the forest or the village for more variety,” Fortuna explains. “The forest in particular is very good for growing things, and the village often trades outwards for other luxuries if such become necessary.”

“And nobody’s ever been to those places and realize they work with the Witch Cult?” Elsa says. 

“Witch Church,” Frederica corrects.

“The food is so good, can we stay, please?” Meili says, digging into her breakfast as soon as it’s served. 

“That’s not a reason to… okay, it kind of is,”’Elsa says. “If this is poison, I’m slicing all of your bellies open.”

“What about that mean little girl?” Subaru asks; Frederica and the woman in the dress have taken seats at the table after serving, but one seat remains open.

“Beatrice? She shouldn’t have drained your mana like that, but she’s a spirit. She doesn’t need to eat, so she doesn’t leave her library very often,”  Frederica says.

“I wish she’d come out more,” Emilia says.

“Beatrice is friendly when she wants to be,” Puck says. 

“Oh— Subaru, this is Louanna. She helps Frederica sometimes, like when we have a lot of guests, but usually she’s the… internal affairs officer?” Emilia says, introducing him to the one person he doesn’t know the name of. 

“I’m not sure that term is entirely accurate, but it works,” Louanna says.

“It seems you have a really well set up organization,” Subaru comments. “That’s a point towards not being a cult. I think.”

“We just have to figure out your part in it,” Geuse says. Subaru finds that statement somewhat concerning.

He’s very gratified that there isn’t anything to be concerned about. Subaru spends the next few days mostly just running around helping everyone, since without any way for the others to know what his Authority is for sure, they can’t assign him a proper job. He doesn’t mind, though; especially because he’s better than Frederica at sewing.

“Aha!” he says, quite proud of his work. “Meili, come and look at this!” The two girls from the Loot House were suspicious of him— as they were of everybody else— but Sylphy had been excited for another girl her age to talk to, and Meili and Subaru had gotten to meet the Great Rabbit together. An infinitely multiplying mabeast that lived in the forest, it was essentially the solution for world hunger— even despite the fact that as a general rule, it was impossible to live solely off rabbit meat. Whatever magic the mabeast was made of seemed to circumvent that. More importantly— it was fluffy, and cuddly, and Meili had a Divine Protection that let her control mabeasts. (Divine Protections were apparently the opposites of Authorities, granted by a god instead of a Witch, but could be just as dangerous to their holders.)

“What is it, what is it?” Meili asks, and Subaru presents her with a little doll version of the Great Rabbit.

“Made it for you,” he says. Having gotten into Frederica’s sewing supplies, he was unlikely to leave. Just give Natsuki Subaru a new lease on life, and he’d do the best he could! 

“Aw, thank you!” Meili says. It makes Subaru smile to make her happy.

“Now, what should I make for Beatrice…” Subaru was determined to befriend everyone. Fortuna was friendly, but Geuse was rather formal, which put Subaru’s efforts off. He’d been surprised to discover that Emilia only called Geuse ‘Father’ because of his position as the head of the Witch Church— especially considering how much he clearly cared for Fortuna and Emilia already. Subaru foresaw a matchmaking pursuit in his future. Puck, who was something of a father figure for Emilia as well, nevertheless could be counted as a friend after Subaru had cuddled him. He was fluffier than the rabbits! Also, he’d read Subaru’s mind, or emotions, or something. So there was that. He wanted the adults to approve of him; he’d gained the impression they weren’t quite sure of him yet, but at least they didn’t avoid him like they did Regulus, who had to talk to Louanna if he wanted an authority figure to listen to him. 

Subaru had taken a trip to the nearby Arlam village with Elsa and Sylphy, too; all the kids there had tackled him— one of them even bit him, the little monster— ruining his manly image in front of the two beautiful women, but at least Emilia hadn’t seen it. Subaru would often hear great crashing sounds coming from the chapel’s yard— Emilia was training her ice powers. Subaru sometimes stood nearby and called out suggestions, but unfortunately he couldn’t get close safely, unlike that jerk Regulus. Okay, maybe the guy wasn’t that much of a jerk, he just never stopped talking! And he had the gall to be invincible, too! Why couldn’t Subaru have received an Authority like that? Regulus got invincibility, Geuse had a whole bunch of magic hands, Fortuna had— something, Subaru wasn’t really sure— and even Lye had the ability to make the world forget him.

“Where is Lye, by the way?” Subaru asks, jumping over a puddle as he and the others walk back from the village.

“He went to get Capella and his brother, remember? They’ll probably bring the White Whale, too. That group is always traveling across Lugnica, so that’s why it’s taking a few days for them to get back to us,” Sylphy says.

“I’ve heard of this Capella.” Elsa says. “They say she transforms people into monsters.”

“She would never,” Sylphy says. “And you can’t trust rumors, the latest nonsense I heard about Regulus was that he kidnapped girls into a harem.”

“That guy? He’s so insecure it wraps right around to being obnoxious. Especially when it comes to girls,” Subaru points his thumb at himself, and grins, closing one eye flirtatiously. Probably. “Now, as for myself—“

“The only thing attractive about you is the idea of knowing what your guts look like,” Elsa says ruthlessly.

“Seriously, what is your fascination with bowels!?” Subaru yelps. Elsa just smirks at him.

“I wish Regulus would be more confident. Unfortunately, his Authority makes it pretty clear to him that I’m his only friend,” Sylphy sighs. 

“I thought his Authority was invincibility,” Subaru says.

“It’s complicated,” Sylphy says.

“I’m still not convinced you aren’t all secretly evil. I’ll kill all of you if I find proof,” Elsa says.

“If, not when?” Subaru asks. “Sounds like you have some doubt.”

“Shush,” Elsa says.

After the village trip, Subaru returns to see Emilia launching Regulus into the evening sky.

“Is he gonna be all right?” Subaru asks, looking up. He watches as the small speck that is Regulus returns towards earth, crashing into one of Emilia’s ice structures and sending mana flying everywhere. 

“Hi, Subaru! Sylphy, Elsa!” Emilia says, waving. Subaru can’t help but light up at the fact that she said his name first.

“You’re improving,” Regulus says, getting to his feet. His hair has been blown into a mess by the wind, but his white robes are spotless, clean of all dirt and water. “Of course, if you truly wish to protect the rights of the entire world by fighting all the Royal Candidates, you’re going to have to learn about how to rule in their place. You would do a disservice to everyone by not studying diligently— I take time out of my day to help you with your magic, but I must admit I am not overly informed concerning the latter.”

“What?” Emilia asks. “Rule? Me?”

“Did they not tell you? I would have expected your position would be more respected than this.”

“What didn’t they tell me?” Emilia asks. Subaru glances at Elsa, who shrugs, but Sylphy seems to know what the matter is; she steps up to Emilia, and says something to her. Whatever it is, Emilia does not take it well, looking horrified before running into the chapel. Subaru doesn’t hesitate, and runs after her.

“Emilia, what’s wrong?” he says, pulling open the door after her— but he walks into Beatrice’s Forbidden Library instead. “Wha— hey! I was trying to get to Emilia!”

“I didn’t want you in here either, I suppose,” Beatrice says, barely looking up from her book.

“What is your problem with me, anyway?” Subaru asks. He’d encountered Beatrice a few times during his past few days at the chapel, encouraging her to leave the library and come hang out with everyone else, but she’d thrown him out every time. It seemed the only person she was willing to socialize with was Puck.

“How arrogant to believe that you specifically are a problem. Why are you so insistent on becoming one?” Beatrice asks.

“Why are you so insistent on hiding in your library all day? Come on, being a shut-in is really depressing!”

“Seeing your face is depressing, in fact,” Beatrice retorts. 

“Hey!” Subaru complains. “Well, I’m going to find Emilia— but don’t think I won’t be back for you!” So saying, he strides towards the exit door.

“That has nothing to do with me, I suppose,” Beatrice mutters, and it’s the last thing Subaru hears before he’s once again out in the chapel hallway. Now, where could Emilia have gone?

Subaru finds her on the chapel roof. The stars shine down in patterns he doesn’t know; a new world made new constellations. He wants to learn them all sometime.

“Hey, what’s the matter?” he asks, sitting down next to her.

“It’s— nothing. I should’ve expected it, honestly, and it doesn’t change much, but I don’t like what it means,” Emilia says, visibly distressed.

“Want to tell me about it?” Subaru asks.

“Not really,” Emilia says.

“We can talk about other stuff, then! For example, your ice magic skills are incredibly dangerous and beautiful.” 

“We’ve both been working hard, haven’t we?” Emilia says. “Everything’s going so well, but then I just get reminded of what’s waiting for us.”

“All we can do is our best together,” Subaru says. He holds out his hand to her, and she takes it, but her eyebrows lift in surprise.

“What happened to your hands? They’re all covered in cuts!” Emilia says, worried. 

“Lots of different things. This one’s from dropping some dishes, this is from cooking with Elsa— actually, I’m not entirely sure that one was an accident— this is when I tripped in the forest, and this from those bratty kids,” Subaru says, pointing out each scrape on his hands.

“I can heal the scars away, if you want,” Emilia says, but Subaru shakes his head.

“Nah. It feels like proof of my efforts, I think,” Subaru says, stretching out his fingers. The scars were evidence of how hard he’d worked, and the friends he’d made— in the past few days, he’s made more progress in his life than over the past few months.

“I think that’s a silly way of looking at it, but if it makes you happy. It’s good to have things that last, but change can be even better,” Emilia says. “So much is going to change— it has to, if we aren’t to repeat the same centuries over and over again.”

“There’s so many people helping you. There’s no way we can fail,” Subaru says. He believes it, too; the Witch Church seemed a wonderfully strong and unified force. Felt and the Sword Saint didn’t stand a chance! “Tell you what, we’ve both been working hard for a while. Why don’t we have a break tomorrow?”

“A break?” Emilia asks.

“Yeah! You could— come on a date with me!”

“What’s a date?” Emilia asks.

“It’s when a boy and a girl go out, and do something special together,” Subaru thrusts a hand out towards the path that winds through the forest, underneath the stars. “Let’s go to the village together tomorrow, Emilia! There’s a beautiful flower field, a lot of silly kids, and a bridge over a river. We can explore together, and maybe have a picnic, and it’ll be a nice time.”

“That does sound good. I probably need a break, especially after… and I like spending time with you. Let’s go on a date, Subaru!” Emilia says, and Subaru cheers, punching his fist into the air.

“Yes! I’m so happy, Emilia-tan. And— I really love spending time with you, too, just so you know,” Subaru says. 

They stay together on the rooftop a while longer, with Subaru doing his best to point out the stars he knows to the girl holding his hand. All the constellations are different, but there are some recognizable parts, and Subaru wonders where in the universe is Lugnica, to look at Casseopia from the opposite side. Thousands of millions of light-years away, surely, but was it not worth trading away Earth’s sun for the chance to touch Emilia’s heart? When Subaru finally says goodnight, he walks down the halls with a spring in his step; he had received a ‘goodnight’ from his new best friend. Whatever had troubled Emilia earlier, he’ll help her get through it. He’ll finish making friends with Beatrice, he’ll get better at understanding Regulus and Geuse, he’ll convince Elsa and Meili that they don’t need to be so much on guard… oh, and he forgot about Louanna! He’ll have to go and say hi to her sometime, but so far their work schedules have conflicted enough he hadn’t gotten around to it. And he wants to cuddle Puck and the Great Rabbit more, too!

“One rabbit, two rabbits, three rabbits…” Subaru says, counting himself to sleep with dreams of the infinite beast that lived within the forest. Tomorrow, he was going on a date with Emilia-tan— tomorrow would be the best day of all! 

***

“Good morning, Natsuki Subaru!” Frederica says, greeting him with the sun.

“Rrrrgh… can’t I sleep in a bit longer, Frederica?” Subaru asks, rolling over into his pillow. He had stayed up late to talk about the stars.

“You know my name?” Frederica asks.

“Huh?” Subaru asks, voice muffled by the pillow. He sits up, pulling his blankets off and meeting the eyes of the pointy-toothed maid from across the room. “Of course I…” Subaru blinks, and then looks down at his hands. Shock beats through him like a thunderbolt, and he grips the blanket so tight his knuckles turn white. There are no scars on his fingers at all.

Chapter Text

Subaru had died in the middle of the night somehow. It was the only conclusion. Subaru listens listlessly to Elsa and Meili arguing with everyone else at the breakfast table, but tries to shake himself out of his stupor. It was all right— he just had to try again— to do it all again— but he missed everyone so badly, and now they all looked at him as though he was a stranger.

“Are you feeling well?” Frederica asks him. 

“I’m fine,” Subaru says. He gathers himself;  he can’t make friends if he’s mourning the friends he’s lost, and it’s silly to do that! They’re all right here!

“It’s very bold of a maid to sit at the table with her employers,” Elsa says. 

“Frederica’s position is more that of a volunteer than an employee, but I assure you that her diligence— as well as that of everyone here— is compensated fairly,” Geuse says. 

“What… position… might you expect from myself and Meili?” Elsa asks.

“You don’t have to stay with us at all. We can set you up with somewhere to live in Elior or Arlam, places I can assure you are as free from Lugnica’s nobility as is possible,” Fortuna offers.

“And leave you to commit evil? Not a chance. I’m going to keep a close watch on this place, because I know you’re just hiding your true selves. When you show yourselves, I’ll cut you down,” Elsa says.

“You’re the only person in the room talking about cutting anyone, and you say they’re evil?” Subaru asks.

“Murder makes for an extraordinarily good method of problem-solving,” Elsa says.

“That doesn’t help your case!” Subaru says, taken aback.

“Lye said the two of you used to be assassins, right?” Emilia asks.

“How does he know that…” Meili mutters.

“It was not voluntary, but both of us are very experienced with the techniques we’ve learned,” Elsa says. 

“It was the Sword Demon and the Karstens, wasn’t it?” Frederica asks.

“What’s it to you?” Elsa asks, defensive.

“They took my brother,” Frederica says.

“Then I feel for him,” Elsa sighs. Looking around the table, Subaru sees that nobody else is surprised by this revelation. Frederica’s brother… his fate must not be a recent thing.

“Can we save him?” Subaru asks. “Elsa, Meili, the two of you got out somehow, so maybe—“ 

“We can’t,” Frederica says, voice pained.

“The Valkyrie and the Sword Demon are powerful, but they are not infallible. There is a chance,“ Elsa says.

“Yeah! We snuck out, easy! Well, it wasn’t easy, and we had some help, but you get the idea,” Meili says, pushing back against the table as she reminiscences.

“It was the Sword Demon who took my brother, but by the time I discovered where he had gone, he was no longer under the Karstens’ guard. I believe you have heard of the Gore Tiger?” Frederica asks.

“Oh. I am so sorry,” Elsa says. She looks entirely understanding.

“That’s— he’s Felt’s personal shield! Her other main weapon besides the Sword Saint… and nobody can fight the Sword Saint…” Meili says.

“Why not?” Subaru asks. Everyone looks at him like he’s an idiot. He’s getting far too used to those kinds of looks.

“Do you know of the Astrea family line?” Puck asks. Subaru shakes his head. “Four hundred years ago, the first Sword Saint— Reid Astrea— was a man of unmatched power. History disagrees as to whether he was a villain or a hero, but everyone agrees that he was unstoppable. Granted a weapon that could end the world by the Sword God itself, Reid Astrea killed dragons for breakfast and could cut concepts in half. He fought alongside Volcanica to subdue the Witch of Envy, and they won— and need I remind you that the Witch destroyed half the world,”

“So the current Sword Saint has a powerful ancestor. Who cares?” Subaru asks.

“The current Sword Saint is stronger than that ancestor,” Guese says. Subaru blinks. 

“HUH!?”

“It is hard to believe unless you see it,”’ Louanna says. Her face seems shadowed. “Reinhard could defeat Lugnica’s military all on his own at the age of five.”

“Whoa, are you serious? And Reinhard? Is that his name?” Subaru asks.

“Yes. Reinhard van Astrea. He… could have been so much more than what he has become,” Louanna says. Subaru doesn’t think that Louanna is talking about power when she says this.

“I’m really sorry, Louanna,” Emilia says, and this seems to be an issue that is also already known by her reaction and that of others. Subaru becomes all too aware that there is a history in the Witch Church he is unaware of.

“It’s… I’ve made my peace with it,” Louanna says.

“We’re going to save them both,” Frederica says— no, she demands it. “I know it’s been years— I know they’re barely who they once were— I know what they’ve been made into— but as long as Garfiel and Reinhard are still alive, there is still a chance they will come home.”

Subaru wants to be useful. If the chapel is attacked at night, he needs to be able to protect his friends.

“Can I learn magic?” he asks, following Sylphy and Emilia as they head to practice combat in the chapel yard. Wait. Why was Sylphy invincible?

“I don’t see why not,” Puck says. “First, you need to know that magic comes in two formats; elemental affinity, and spirit affinity. Using one or the other each comes with advantages and disadvantages. So, let’s see what you have for each.”

“What kind of magic do you have?” Subaru asks. He then remembers all the ice Emilia had been throwing around, and realizes this is a stupid question.

“I have a contract with Puck, so I use my spirit affinity, but we both specialize in fire magic,” Emilia says.

“Fire?” Subaru asks. Not a stupid question, then.

“My affinity is earth,” Sylphy says. “Regulus’ is yang magic.”

“What kind of element is yang?” Subaru asks.

“Yin and yang are the negative and positive elements; shadow and light. Your affinity is yin magic, incidentally,” Puck says. 

“Shadow magic… that’s pretty cool,” Subaru says, dreaming of darkness blades.

“Yin and yang are the rarest affinities to have,” Sylphy explains.

“Can you teach me how to cast a shadow spell?” Subaru asks.

“Sure! You just have to be able to visualize the spell first, so… Shamak!” Puck says, and then the universe drops away. Subaru can’t see anything, hear anything, feel anything; the world is as black and silent as the space between life and death, the space that terrifies him despite how little time he’s spent inside it, did Puck kill him? Is he going to fall over dead, is he dead already, is he going to wake up to see Frederica saying good morning again—

“Subaru!” Emilia says, grabbing Subaru’s shoulder, and he realizes everything is clear.

“Anyway, that’s Shamak! Traps people to the left of reality for a bit,” Puck says.

“You were panicking, how are you feeling?” Sylphy asks.

“Just wasn’t expecting that!” Subaru says. He’s still a bit shaken, but he won’t admit it. 

“You can visualize it properly now. Give casting it a try,” Puck encourages. It can’t be that easy to cast magic, can it? Subaru focuses on the idea of the terrifying nothingness he’d been thrust into, and then shouts as loud as his lungs will allow.

“SHAMAK!” The cloud of darkness that explodes out from him is incredible.

“You cracked your gate!” Puck says.

“How can you not have used any mana for your whole life?” Emilia asks, concerned. 

“Long story…” Subaru moans, lying flat on his back in the grass. He feels terrible. 

“Here, have this,” Emilia says, and something is pushed softly into his mouth. It’s some kind of little berry; upon biting into it, Subaru’s energy is immediately restored.

“Those fruits will fill up lost mana, but it’s dangerous to have more than one in a short period of time,” Sylphy explains.

“Just to make sure you aren’t sleeping the rest of the day,” Emilia continues.

“Thanks,” Subaru says, getting to his feet. He guesses magic will be hard. Just like everything else in this world.

“You shouldn’t cast any more spells until we can get your gate fixed,” Puck advises. “Otherwise, you could break it for good.”

“Is that bad?” Subaru asks. He is given three exasperated stares. “Okay, no casting spells until my gate’s fixed! Got it!”

While running around and helping Frederica— who appreciates his efforts, since there are more people in the chapel than usual— Subaru tries to surreptitiously probe for any reason they might be attacked. His search for secret passages reveals nothing of consequence, investigating the forest for clues only led to rabbits, and talking to Regulus led to… lots of talking. 

“We’re literally the Witch Church,” Regulus tells him, unimpressed. He’s leaning on a balcony, his arms crossed over the railing. “Everyone who knows who we are wants to attack us. It’s awful, and a horrible ripping at our rights, considering how all we do is try to help— how I fulfill my position by fighting against greed with charity— but our missions are misinterpreted, and the sins of the kingdom are unfairly pinned on our backs. The world calls us a cult, and even the village and forest affiliated with us must hide their allegiance; they are in danger just as much as we, but it is the price paid for security and structure in this tormented kingdom. There is never satisfaction.”

“Why did Emilia bring Elsa and Meili here, then!? If they decide we’re evil, they could betray everyone!” Subaru realizes. The sisters made no secret of how little they trusted the Witch Church.

“Emilia has within her a kindness I am certain you have noticed,” Regulus says. “As the holder of the Authority of Envy, kindness should be your prerogative.”

“Yeah,” Subaru says, thinking about how Emilia stopped chasing after Meili to heal a boy she found beaten up in an alley. ‘Someone like that is going to end up wasting their whole life,’ as he had said previously; no wonder she had extended her hand to the two girls who had lost their home. “We’ll just have to convince Elsa and Meili we’re the good guys.” 

“You adapted surprisingly quickly to the idea of the Witch Church yourself,” Regulus says. 

“I hadn’t ever heard of the Witch Cult before, so both perspectives on your group are new to me,” Subaru explains.

“Strange, that one could live eighteen years in this world and never once hear of what is considered its greatest scourge,” Regulus says.

“How old are you, anyway?” Subaru asks.

“The same age as you, not that anyone outside the Witch Church has the consideration to believe that,” Regulus says, grimacing slightly.

“Why not?” Subaru asks.

“Thirteen years ago, Elior Forest was attacked by the Witch Pandora. Back then, the Authority of Greed belonged to a different man— he aided the Witch in her attack before it was halted when the Black Serpent came to the elves’ aid. Even to this day, the third Great Mabeast watches the borders— created to absorb all disease and corruption in its vicinity, the creature is the reason the forest and the surrounding areas are some of the most naturally abundant to exist, but more importantly, its power is the one known counter to the Authority of Vainglory,” Regulus explains.

“What’s that?” Subaru asks.

“The Authority of Vainglory is what Pandora holds. We do not understand it well, but it has some sort of effect on causality and the natural state of the timeline. Thankfully, the Black Serpent can remove filth from the timeline itself, it seems— it is the only thing that can stand against the Witch that rules Lugnica from the shadows.”

“Wait, what now?” Subaru asks. He really has a lot of questions, but Regulus thankfully has a lot of answers.

“Pandora was at the back of the Royals while they lived, and now they are dead she surely commands the Sage Council. We do not know what she wishes for should a Royal Candidate re-contract with Envy, but considering how dreadfully Pandora has refused to respect the rights of others, it cannot be anything good.”

“We’ve just got to sic the Black Serpent on her, then,” Subaru decides.

“Easier said than done,” Regulus sighs. Subaru watches him for a moment; Regulus had a plain face, but his golden eyes and bright white hair made him stand out. There are smudges on his clothes, and dust catches on his finger as he trails it across the railing; a strange contrast to the spotlessness he’d been displaying previously.

“How does your Authority work, exactly?” Subaru asks.

“First of all, that’s none of your business. Second of all, Sylphy and I share it, although only one of us can have it at a time. Third of all— that’s all you need to know, actually,” Regulus says. 

“A shared Authority? Man, I want to learn how to do that.” Subaru says. If he could bring people through loops with him…

“If you ever do, you’ll find the conditions for sharing quite stringent,” Regulus says. “It makes sense, of course, I would never want to violate anyone by granting them my Authority when they did not want it.”

“But you wished more people wanted it?” Subaru asks. Regulus hides his face in his arms. That would be a yes, then. “Let me guess, you need some level of connection with people to share your Authority… and you’re not very good at connecting with people, are you?”

“Shut up,” Regulus says, which is rich coming from him. 

The next person Subaru goes to speak to is Louanna, since he missed her in the last loop. When he finds her, she seems to have pulled Emilia into helping her do math, of all things.

“We have a very wide-ranging organization, and since this chapel is its seat, that means someone has to work on properly allocating resources and manpower, so that we can do our best to help keep the country in a good place as well as stay safe,” Louanna explains.

“Hi, Subaru! Louanna says this is good practice for anyone in a noble position,” Emilia says.

“You’re in a noble position?” Subaru asks.

“No,” Emilia says. “Wait, Louanna, why—“

“They didn’t tell you?” Louanna asks, surprised. 

“What didn’t they tell me?” Emilia asks. Subaru begins to get a feeling of deja vu. 

“The insignia you have is one of five in the world. It glows to indicate a Royal Candidate selected by the Dragon,” Louanna says.

“What?” Subaru asks.

“What?” Emilia cries. “I’m not— I can’t be! I’m not anything like what the Dragon would want, I promise! I want to help Satella!” 

“I don’t think it’s indicative of your character—“

“Why would Volcanica choose me? I’m his enemy!”

“Maybe he chose you because you’re his enemy,” Subaru says.

“Do you really think so?” Emilia asks. 

“Yeah! It seems like a reasonable move— but also, that means if we get rid of all the other Candidates, you’ll be the one to contract with Satella! Then we can get rid of the Witch of Envy,” Subaru says.

“You make it sound so easy,” Emilia says. “I can’t help but be reassured when you say things like that, even though I know it’s because you know nothing.”

“Sometimes blind optimism is what’s needed to win. And I believe in you,” Subaru says. He can’t let this news get Emilia down!

“Optimism is good, but it’s useless without effort. Luckily, I’ve seen already that the two of you are very determined,” Louanna says. “Sometimes even that isn’t enough, though. I’m not trying to dissuade you— but some things are impossible.”

“A lot of things seem impossible until they happen to you,” Subaru says. He’d never thought he would really get isekaied, for one— and not only that, but he gets to meet a beautiful elf girl, and help save the world from evil Royals and Dragons and Witches! And he’s kind of immortal, too.

“You’re not wrong. Life leads to strange places,” Louanna says. The door to the room opens, revealing Frederica.

“Sylphy and Elsa are going to Arlam now, I remember you wanted to join them,” she says.

“Oh! Yes! See you later, Emilia-tan and Louanna!” Subaru says. Emilia waves goodbye with a little smile that makes Subaru feel invigorated. He’s going to find out what killed him— he’s not going to lose this loop!

Even after returning from the village, though, Subaru hasn’t found anything even remotely suspicious. 

“You’re suspicious,” Elsa tells him.

“I am not!” Subaru protests.

“You’ve been looking around for weak points. Do you have proof of their evil? They’ve been putting on a nice front these past few days, but I don’t believe it,” Elsa says.

“I’m trying to protect them!” Subaru insists. “I think the chapel’s going to be attacked soon.” 

“Yes, by me,” Elsa says. Subaru blinks at her. “If I find anything, that is.”

“It can’t be you,” Subaru mutters. Elsa knew he’d just joined, there’s no way she’d attack him first, was there? Never mind that if she did decide to kill anyone, she probably would go straight for the stomach, which would have woken Subaru up.

“What?” Elsa asks.

“If you were going to attack the Witch Church, who would you go for first?” Subaru asks.

“You, because you ask me stupid questions.”

“I’m trying to think well of you, but you’re really not making it easy!”

“Why should I tell you my plans? You’ve clearly been convinced by all their lies,” Elsa retorts. 

“I just like to believe people are innocent until proven guilty.”

“They’re the Witch Cult! They’re already proven guilty!”

“Why haven’t you killed them yet, then?” Subaru asks. Elsa’s face twitches. “It’s because of Meili, right?”

“This place is the nicest we’ve been in years. I want her to be able to rest before— we have to fight and kill again. We’re going to take advantage of the hospitality being offered until it’s inevitably dropped,” Elsa says.

“What if it’s not a trick? What if they really are just this nice? The government is the one that controls the news, you know, so there’s no reason it couldn’t be misrepresented,” Subaru says.

“I know that, but—“ Elsa hesitates. “Do you have any idea how many Witch Cultists Meili and I have killed?”

“Should I?” Subaru asks.

“I took pleasure in slicing their stomachs open, and watching the warm bowels slide to the floor. Meili commanded mabeasts to tear them to pieces. We enjoyed this, because it was the only violence we were allowed, after all the violence that had been committed against us. The Karsten estate is not kind to the weapons it creates— swords are forged through beating and fire,” Elsa sighs. “And to think that those who died in such pain— whose bloody warmth I justified by their actions, to give myself a beautiful escape from reality for a time— were not purveyors of sin, but of virtue?”

“Archbishops of Sin really have misleading names, huh,” Subaru says. He doesn’t know what to say of Elsa; in truth, he can barely conceive of her past actions. He understands they are real, but the idea of a reformed assassin is something out of a storybook, and the true measure of the deaths at her blade do not fully register inside his mind. He has died before, but painlessly, and for only moments.

“They do,” Elsa says. She is the strangest person that Subaru has met, in this new world, to speak of murder as a joyful experience. But from where did that vision arise? It is clear that Elsa’s and Meili’s pasts have not been kind, and even clearer from these quiet moments.

“We’re really not evil,” Sylphy sighs, walking in between the two.

“Were you here the whole time?” Subaru asks.

“She was,” Elsa says. Subaru really needs to get better at noticing things. 

He is successful at asking Emilia on a date once more, but come nightfall, Subaru sits awake in his room, waiting for the clock to click to midnight. Probably. The clocks are made out of a weird crystal that changes color, so he can’t read them. 

“I’m going to make it to the fifth day,” Subaru says. Four days of connecting with everyone as best he could, once again; four days of trying to learn as much as he can about both the world and any imminent attack. He’s only had success with the former. God, he really hopes it’s not Elsa. Subaru couldn’t blame her for being on her guard, after what she’d experienced, but everything was good here! She didn’t have to fight anymore! Well, maybe she could help with the ‘saving the world’ part… but before Subaru could stop the whole world from being reset, he’d have to stop his world from being reset. He didn’t want to die again. Well, it hadn’t hurt that much the last three times, so maybe if he has to… ? No, he shouldn’t think that way! He shakes his head, trying his best not to fall asleep. Whatever had arrived to kill him last time surely would show up again— but this time, Subaru could fight back! Or call for help. That was a better idea. He had had no idea that the Sword Saint was unbeatable; Subaru remembers the conversation at the breakfast table. It was just his luck, really, to run into the local Godzilla after his first day isekaied. Even so, the Sword Saint has to have a weak point, doesn’t he? Subaru hopes his last death wasn’t the Sword Saint too, having somehow tracked the group down to the chapel on his princess’s orders. Maybe it was the other guy… Frederica’s brother, right? Who got sent after the chapel. Then they could just talk him down, and reunite him with his sister again. Or— what connection did Louanna have to the Sword Saint, come to think of it? Reinhard van Astrea— was Louanna the only person who thought of the Sword Saint by his name? Subaru remembers a man who killed without hesitation, eyes as cold as his voice, bearing neither expression nor tone. He had not seemed particularly human. 

“Ow,” Subaru says, feeling a strange twinge in his arm. He shakes it, trying to get rid of the pins and needles sparkling through his veins; the feelings continue all the way up his arm, refusing to cease and crawling like snakes even to the very tips of his fingers. “Ouch, ouch, OH GOD—” Subaru topples off his chair, hitting the ground with a heavy thud he barely notices. The sensations have started striking like knives, burrowing throughout his entire body like shrieking drills. Subaru screams, overwhelmed by the pounding in his mind; his fingers press into his forehead, but his eyes are burning like hot coals and his skin feels like it’s being rent by thousands of claws. He expects to see blood all over the floor, but the carpet is entirely unaffected by his pained writhing.  

“Someone— anyone—  please— HELP!” Subaru gasps, choking each word out on breaths he can barely take. He can’t think. He can’t see. The sound of footsteps thud into the room, and Subaru can’t even tell who. The world is falling apart into shattered pieces, stuttering slivers of sanity snapping into pieces as they flicker through him, bursts of pain blooming greater and hotter every second. The only thing he knows is static, and a sudden shadow is cast over what little remains of his vision; the hands that then touch him softly feel like a volcano’s fire.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!” Subaru yells, flinching violently away from whoever had tried to hold his hand. He crashes into the bedroom wall, but that brief sting is nothing to the devouring acid that crawls over every inch of his body; he hears snatches of voices from the people around him, strikes out of the sharp, sharp, static that’s growing louder and louder and flaying his mind as it does so.

“—the curse was activated, I can’t—“

“—Blue?” 

“—how long will—“

“—I’m sorry.”

Subaru sees the blade of Elsa’s knife in stark, perfect detail, and then he doesn’t see anything at all. 

***

“AAAHH!” Subaru sits up straight in bed, breathing heavily. He holds out his arms, and checks himself over, only satisfied once he’s certain there’s no pain anywhere. But that— that had been— he can’t even describe it. He can’t even think about it.

“So that’s dying,” Subaru mutters. His three previous deaths had been quick enough to lack the dying part— but even now he could feel those horrible stretched-out moments, and the sensation of every part of existence falling apart.

“Are you feeling well?” Frederica asks. Subaru looks up to see her approaching, a concerned look on her face.

“I… yeah,” Subaru says. He realizes he’s sweating, and his heart is pounding. What had happened to him? And why in the name of God had it hurt that badly—  Subaru’s thought is cut off when Frederica puts her palm on his forehead, and he shrieks and jolts away from her so hard he slams into the bed’s headboard. The touch hadn’t hurt this time, but, but— ! Subaru didn’t want to feel that again. He wanted to just hide in bed forever, he didn’t want to face the day, he didn’t want to die in a way that so slowly and cruelly destroyed feelings, thoughts, sensations, all being killed by one by one as the world shattered and crumpled around him—

“I’ll get Emilia-sama. She can help heal you!” Frederica says, running off. Subaru lies back down, and stares listlessly up at the ceiling. He doesn’t want to get up— he doesn’t want to do anything— but he has to. The few snatches of words he’d heard before death flicked through his memory like the sparks of a broken lightbulb. A curse was activated… and something blue? If Subaru had died, so could everyone else here. He couldn’t run away. He has to save them all. Frederica, who took pride in her job, hoping to one day save her brother; Beatrice, who hid away and needed more friends;  Louanna, who was mysterious but kind and sad; Fortuna and Geuse, who tried to help the world as best they could no matter how it reviled them; Elsa and Meili, who had escaped torment so deep they could not believe they were fully out of it; Regulus and Sylphy, who were each others’ friends due to fitting in nowhere else; and Emilia, Subaru’s savior, who awaited the fifth day so that the two of them could go on a date.

Subaru couldn’t let any of them suffer what he had. 

After breakfast, he heads towards the first source of knowledge he can think of— Beatrice’s library.

“I did not invite you in here, I suppose!” Beatrice complains.

“And yet I keep on finding your magic door,” Subaru points out. Beatrice crosses her arms, huffing at him, and Subaru’s gaze travels across the filled bookshelves. Now, where could he find information on curses… “Oh, are you serious!?”

“What are you yelling about now?” Beatrice asks.

“I can’t read these characters!” Subaru whines, throwing his hands in the air. What an inconvenience!

“You can’t even read?” Beatrice asks scathingly.

“I can read! Just not this language!”

“Hmph. What kind of information were you looking for?”

“Anything on curses,” Subaru says. “Is there such a thing as a blue curse?”

“Curses can come in many colors, but their color indicates nothing about them,” Beatrice says.

“Oh.” Subaru says. Was ‘blue’ not important, then? No, he’d heard it while he was dying, it had to be important somehow. “Hey, what’s an Ulgarm?” He vaguely remembers Elsa mentioning those in a loop that was now long gone. You’re lucky that’s not an Ulgarm, or you’d be cursed to death right now.

“A type of mabeast that resembles a lizard-like dog. They inflict curses with their bites, in fact; the kind of curse that will allow them to devour all your mana in an instant, and your life along with it,” Beatrice says.

“Couldn’t have been that, then,” Subaru hadn’t encountered any dogs. “Besides mabeasts, what else can cast curses?”

“Shamans, I suppose, but curses can only be transferred through physical contact, and no shaman could come near the chapel without being noticed,” Beatrice says. “And Betty can cure curses if she catches them in time, I suppose. There is no reason for you to worry.”

“Right… “ Subaru says, leaning back against a bookshelf. That meant the shaman had to be in Arlam village— someone there had killed him! Someone there had it out for the Witch Church, despite the symbiotic relationship between the two groups and Elior Forest. “Thanks, Beako. You’ve been a lot of help— and wait, were you saying you’d cure me? That’s so nice!”

“What is that you’re calling me, I suppose!?”

“A nickname! For a friend!”

“No one said we were friends,” Beatrice mutters.

“If no one’s telling you things, you just have to decide them for yourself,” Subaru says. Beatrice gives him a very strange look for this.

“What have you decided, I wonder?” she asks.

There’s something different in the schedule this time around; apparently, someone (Beatrice) had told Puck that Subaru wasn’t able to read, which meant that now Fortuna was trying to teach him.

“You use a different writing system, you said?” Fortuna asks, placing a black book on the table.

“I do! But you don’t know Japanese, so how will that help?” Subaru asks.

“I don’t know it— but the Gospel does,” Fortuna taps the black book. “This is for you; every dedicated member of the Witch Church needs a Gospel. In non-allied areas, though, you have to keep it hidden. They’re hallmarks of being a part of the Witch Church, which is something you can get executed for.”

“That’s scary!” Subaru says, but he flips open the book anyway. The writing on the pages, done in black ink, is unreadable for a moment, but then it shifts into Japanese kanji. “What!? How’s it doing that?” 

“Gospels are magic, created through what flickers of the original five hundred years from Satella. They aid any believer in her love, by telling them information on what they need to do for their goals. Unfortunately, all Gospels but the two original Tomes of Wisdom are flawed,” Fortuna says. 

“Flawed how?” Subaru asks.

“Whatever advice they give, they always leave out crucial information. Always. A Gospel will never give the full picture, which can be dangerously misleading. That doesn’t matter right now, though. For now… when I look in your Gospel, I see words in the writing system I know,” Fortuna says. She starts writing down phrases in glyphs on paper, copying them from the book. “They’re exact equivalents of what you read in your language. This way, you can compare them, and then practice writing it yourself!” Subaru follows her instructions, and starts copying things out, focusing as best he can to get them correctly. With Fortuna watching from over his shoulder, it’s somewhat stressful. As the words unfold in front of his eyes, however, he becomes stressed for a very different reason. 

Fanatical like a demon, nine lives like a cat; 

Blue and blue and pink set you back.

There’s no fire in the wine, but there’s a knife in your head;

Watch the horns and for a mistaken end.

“Seriously!? This is my future information?” Subaru complains. What was this nonsense?

“The Tomes of Wisdom are said to be a lot clearer than the Gospels, but we manage,” Fortuna says. 

“Anywhere I can find a Tome of Wisdom?”

“Beatrice has one, but it will only tell her future, not yours.”

“Beatrice has— of course. Well, I’ll talk to her about it later.” What secrets might a Tome of Wisdom hold? 

Beatrice launches Subaru out of her library the second he asks. 

Chapter Text

While walking with Sylphy and Elsa, something occurs to Subaru. Elsa had killed him in the last loop, hadn’t she? He had been dying from the curse, but she had put him out of my misery. Knife straight through the head. But… she hadn’t been the only person there, there had been others there, why hadn’t they saved him? 

“Do either of you know how to heal a curse?” Subaru asks, unconsciously rubbing his forehead as he thinks of what had last freed him from the curse’s pain. He needed a different solution. 

“That’s very advanced magic,” Sylphy says, glancing at him interestedly.

“I don’t know any magic. Curses… such terrible things. I remember the Sword Demon would have Meili use an Ulgarm to curse some captives, and then set that poor boy Felix to try and cure them before they activated. He would keep trying after they activated, too, even though nothing in the world could cure a curse then,” Elsa says. She is looking off into the distance as she walks, thinking of old memories.

“Felix?” Subaru asks. So that’s why Elsa had killed him. The curse had activated, so he couldn’t have been saved. 

“One of my companions in misery at the Karsten estate. Built to be a healer, not to be a fighter, but they broke him all the same,” Elsa says. “It’s unfortunate what’s become of him. I should have opened his guts before he reached that point.”

“You should have escaped with him!” Sylphy chides.

“Bringing Meili out with me was the most I could do. Felix was locked down more than her mabeasts, since he was Crusch’s favorite,” Elsa says, looking somewhat askance at Sylphy. “Some people do not have all-powerful saviors.” 

“Wait, are you talking about the Valkyrie’s knight?” Sylphy asks. Elsa nods. “I had no idea he’d been turned into that, Od, that’s awful. The Candidates are horrible, and what they do to their knights is a disgusting violation of their humanity. Great, now I sound like Regulus.” 

“Reinhard, Felix… who are the other knights?” Subaru asks, counting off on his fingers. There were four Princesses, if one didn’t count Emilia.

“The Merchant Queen has Lugnica’s ‘Finest Knight’ on her leash, and the Sun Princess stole a potential Archbishop from us,” Sylphy explains, looking quite offended at that latter fact.

“The Finest Knight… I pity him more than anything else. To cut open his bowels would be a mercy,” Elsa says. She flexes her fingers curiously, as if imagining working the knife.  

“Wait, the Candidates have an Archbishop?” Subaru asks. He hadn’t expected that. 

“Aldebaran has an Authority, meaning he was chosen by a Witch, but the Sun Princess got to him before we could. We should have—” Sylphy grits her teeth, obviously unsatisfied with what she recounts. “—found him first,” 

“Huh,” Subaru says. He vaguely wonders what sin Aldebaran would be assigned to. “Also, Elsa, slicing someone’s stomach open is not merciful!”

“It satisfies me,” Elsa says, mouth parting slightly in a strange simile as she dreams of violence. “I would never kill any other way.”

“First of all, that’s really evil! Second of all, you’re lying!” Subaru says, pointing at her accusingly. Elsa was a good liar, but not good enough. “At this point, I think you’re just saying these things to shock the Witch Church into revealing their true colors, then maybe you’d feel better about yourself.”

“Um,” Sylphy says, glancing between the two awkwardly.

“You are very strange, Natsuki Subaru,” Elsa says, after a moment. There is an odd glimmer in her eyes.

Obviously, the best way for Subaru to answer this statement is by teaching Elsa how to do radio calisthenics.

“Victory!” Subaru shouts, jumping up and down; Elsa and Sylphy both have been convinced to follow him, as have all the children of Arlam village, who are excited to meet new people to play with. They would probably make good friends for Meili… a young girl like her needs something to distract her from murder thoughts so she doesn’t end up like Elsa.

“That was actually fun,” Sylphy says, enthused but tired.

“It was alright,” Elsa says, but she would probably rather put effort into other things. “Subaru, what are you doing?”

“Secret ninja mission,” Subaru says, peering around a corner sneakily. He’s making sure everyone in the village touches him in a different place— since if curses are transferred by physical contact, he can get Beatrice to cure it before it’s activated, and then he’ll know who gave it to him. “Hey, what’s wrong with you? Don’t children get taught any manners nowadays?” One of the kids tugging on his hand has decided to bite him.

“I think they like you,” Sylphy giggles.

“Hello, Beatrice!” Subaru says, crashing back into the Forbidden Library.

“And what do you want, I suppose?” She does not seem impressed to see him. 

“Healing from a curse!” Subaru announces, perhaps a bit too excitedly.

“I told you, no shaman could come near— you are actually cursed. What have you done, you foolish boy?” Beatrice asks. She holds out her hand despite the disparaging look on her face; Subaru feels a strange sensation, and then dark smoke flows from a very specific spot on his hand.

“It was one of the kids!?” he yelps, surprised.

“You know who touched you?” Beatrice asks.

“Yeah,” Subaru says, darkly. He had a kid to ask some questions. It didn’t make any sense— why would a child curse him to death? But then again, Lye had been going to kill him until he’d sensed Subaru’s Authority. Maybe kids were just vicious in this world. Subaru leaves Beatrice’s library, and goes looking in search of help; he finds Sylphy and Elsa where he’d left them, just finishing up putting away the groceries from the village trip. Meili is also there, but she’s just sitting and watching.

“You could have helped,” Sylphy tells him.

“Sorry!” Subaru says, pressing his hands together and bowing. He’s been so stressed this loop, he hasn’t been able to run around and do work as much as he would have liked. “We need to go back to the village!”

“Why, do you think the wine shipment came early?” Sylphy asks.

“Nobody even drinks alcohol here, why are we buying it?”

“Non-alcoholic,” Sylphy says. “It’s made with an interesting magic process, though, so it seems exactly the same as normal wine right up until you drink it.”

“Regardless!“ Subaru interrupts, hasty to get to the point. “I got cursed in the village, and Beatrice had to save me.” 

“A curse?” Elsa asks, curious.

“How’d you run into one of those, big bro?” Meili asks. 

“It’s most unusual— Meili, what did you just call him?”

“He came to see the Great Rabbit with me,” Meili explains, and Subaru smiles. He had made time for that in this loop, too. 

“It was one of the village children,” Subaru explains. 

“What? They’d never!” Sylphy says, shocked. “I visit the village every time Regulus and I come by the chapel— I can’t think of anyone I know in Arlam who would betray us, much less convince one of the children to do it for them.”

“Could be a new outsider,” Elsa points out, ever the skeptic. “You and Regulus aren’t here that often, are you?”

“Let’s go and deal with it, then,” Sylphy says, punching her fist into her hand. It takes until they’re halfway down the path back towards the village for Subaru to realize Meili has followed them.

“You should go back to the chapel! We could encounter someone dangerous,” Subaru says.

“I am someone dangerous,” Meili retorts. Right, assassin training. 

“Will your Authority be any good in combat?” Sylphy asks. That’s right, he didn’t tell them what he can do this time! 

“Uhh… no,” Subaru admits. ”My Authority, it’s, uh, the reason I knew something with curses was going to happen. But I can’t explain exactly how it works, or the Witch of Envy will kill me.”

“It was granted by her, then? Pity,” Sylphy says.

“You just became exponentially more suspicious,” Elsa informs him, suddenly very close to him.

“I know what you can do, Elsa… and Sylphy, you know earth magic, right?” Subaru asks, trying to get a measure of his companions’ combat abilities. “Oh, and you can share Regulus’ Authority!”

“That’s a lot of accurate things that I didn’t tell you,” Sylphy says. 

“Creepy,” Meili says, poking him.

“I am not creepy!” Subaru protests.

“You kind of are.” Elsa says. Meili pokes him again.

“What— you can’t talk!” Elsa did not get to call him creepy, the way she talks about slicing bowels open all the time. Subaru gets the impression she’s just trying to push everyone away from her, though; that she doesn’t want to get close to anyone in the Witch Church, because she believes she’ll eventually have to fight them. After all, she had mercy killed Subaru by stabbing him in the head. As awful as such a thing was— and as much as it demonstrated Elsa’s willingness towards murder— if an activated curse was death without recourse, he appreciated an end to the pain sooner rather than later. 

When the group gets to the village, they are accosted by an eerie silence. There doesn’t seem to be anyone around; a cart containing a box of wine sits unattended in the street, the back of it swinging wide open.

“I think there are some people in the village center,” Elsa says; Subaru can hear the faint noise of footsteps, now. But there are no lights on in any of the building windows, despite the setting sun slowly casting the world into shadow. In the center square of the village, standing by the well, are two ground dragons; one of them is held on a leash by a woman standing on the ground, and the second dragon is being ridden by two slim figures. 

“Hey, who are you people?” Subaru asks. He doesn’t recognize any of them, and they have quite distinctive appearances; two girls in skimpy maid outfits who are nearly identical, with only variations between their pink and blue coloring, and a catgirl in a blue-decorated dress. Wait, there was something about this— blue and blue and pink—

“Felix,” Elsa hisses, lunging forwards, blades swept outwards and ready to bite for blood.

“Knight Blue,” Sylphy says; she waves her hand, and a burst of wind carves a furrow in the earth, dashing towards the trio. Her attack slices one of the ground dragons in half, sending blood spraying everywhere before the wind collides with the village well, causing it to explode a fountain of water into the sky. “You are not permitted here.” She raises her hand to cast another attack towards those who have dodged her, but then a pair of bright lights shine— a curved horn glimmers from the head of the girl with blue hair who rests almost motionless on the ground dragon she rides, and a matching spot of light shines from the forehead of the other.

“Foul Archbishop. With Rem’s aid, Ram will kill you now,” the pink-haired girl says, and then she pushes off the ground at an imaginable speed, the green glow of wind magic dashing around her as she crashes into Sylphy like a thunderbolt. A veritable tornado of wind spears is tearing the landscape apart; Sylphy remains unscathed, and Subaru picks up Meili and runs out of range. Wait, what had happened to Elsa?

“I knew I should have killed you! I’ll kill you now! Your blood and guts are mine!” Elsa shouts, trying to reach Felix and Rem. The blue-haired girl is collapsed over the ground dragon’s neck, and Felix is drawing on its reins to dance it backwards from Elsa; her trouble comes from the fact that while Subaru was avoiding Ram’s windstrikes, a good portion of the Arlam villagers have seemingly filed out of nowhere and gotten in Elsa’s way. She’s trying not to kill them, but—

“They’re already dead,” Subaru realizes, horror snatching at his soul. Every single one of the villagers has curse-black veins and is staggering around like they’re in a zombie movie, but at double-time speed. It’s horrifyingly unnatural, and Subaru realizes exactly just what curse he had been inflicted with. The entire village, killed just like how he had died! It’s a cruelty beyond imagining, one his mind struggles to understand.

“To think that we’d enyouter an Archbishop of Sin! Crusch-sama will be so happy when I bring her back all of your heads!” Felix says, clapping his hands.

“You turned them into zombies!?” Subaru yells, scrambling backwards from his dead-eyed assailants, still holding Meili tightly. 

“I’m not even an Archbishop,” Sylphy snaps, trying her best to fight back against Ram, but she’s mostly just being tossed around. Despite her access to Regulus’ Authority, Ram is essentially playing with her. Her level of wind magic, even to Subaru’s inexperienced gaze, is clearly something so extraordinary it’s nearing impossible.

“You use an Authority. That confirms you as one,” Ram says. The destruction wreaked by her is incredible, and Subaru realizes that none of them stand a single chance; the dot of light that glimmers from Ram’s forehead is like a scar on the setting sun. Glancing back at Felix and Rem, Subaru sees that the girl collapsed over the neck of the ground dragon has a full horn shining from her temple. Why is it different between them? Why isn’t Rem doing anything? Why can’t he do anything, he needs to move! 

“Big bro, watch out!” Meili shouts, and Subaru realizes a detachment of Felix’ zombies are coming for the two of them. Meili screams, and a gigantic horned lizard-dog bursts out of the forest; an Ulgarm! It dives into the approaching crowd of attackers, knocking many away and growling ferociously.

“You can control mabeasts, right?” Subaru asks; he runs up to the Ulgarm and places Meili on its back. 

“Hey!” Meili says.

“Get out of here!” Subaru shouts. He smacks the Ulgarm on the side, and it snaps at him; Meili looks at him with wide eyes.

“I can’t leave—“

“Escape!” Subaru says. If he can do one thing right here, he’s getting the kid out. Meili glances back at Elsa, who’s getting overwhelmed by zombies, but then she and the Ulgarm run off. Now he just has to not try and die himself— “NO!” In between throwing Sylphy through buildings, Ram has taken a moment to send a spear of wind flying that impaled through Meili and the Ulgarm in a single stroke. Subaru stares, unbelieving.

“Ram is done playing,” Ram says, and she lifts Sylphy up in a spinning ball of wind before sending it flying into outer space. Turning back towards Elsa, Ram carves the vampire up into pieces with a lattice of wind, catching some zombies along with her.

“Hey!” Felix complains. “I nyeed those!”

“Your job is to heal my sister,” Ram says.

“I only listen to Crusch-sama!” Felix says, but he holds the blue light of water magic up against Rem anyway. Ram stalks towards Subaru, who scrambles to run away, but a burst of wind slices his leg off from below the knee. He screams, gasping out in pain.

“WHY?!” he cries out. It hurts, he needs to get away, but the pain burns through his brain like fire. 

“All of you are Witch Cult. I can smell it,” Ram says. The glowing light fades from her head, as does from Rem’s, and the ground dragon trots closer to the suffering Subaru; Felix slides to the ground.

“Witch Cult? Then I have to….” he says. Ram moves to hold her sister, and Felix steps forwards.

“What do you… want? Why would you—“ Subaru breathes in and out, trying to speak even though he can’t feel his leg anymore and Felix’s healing magic is keeping him from bleeding out but it still feels like a million knives. “If you didn’t even know the Witch Church was here— why would you kill everyone?” The entire village, all standing around like dead weapons, hands red from ripping Elsa apart before Ram had reduced her to pieces. Zombies weren’t supposed to be fast, weren’t supposed to carry weapons— they weren’t supposed to exist, everyone here had been alive a few hours ago! 

“Crusch-sama is building an nyarmy. Ferri-chan will help!” Felix says, kneeling down beside Subaru on the bloodied dirt path. He’s wearing a blue and white dress, pristine, bows in his hair just underneath his pointed ears, and occasionally trills with cat noises, voice high-pitched like the ding of the bell around his neck. The sunset matches the strange glow in his yellow eyes; there is clearly something very, very wrong with him. “Nyow. You seem to knyow something about local Witch Cult presence, and Crusch-sama wants them destroyed, so tell me everything, all right?”

“I’m not telling you anything,” Subaru gasps out. He sees movement from the corner of his eye; Elsa’s sliced-up bits are slowly reforming into a human figure. Rem and Ram are occupied with each other— if Subaru can keep Felix occupied with him— “No matter what you do!”

“Are you defying Crusch-sama’s will?” Felix asks.

“Yeah! Yeah, I am! Crusch-sama can go frick herself— AAUUUUUUUUUUUUUGHHHH!” Felix touches Subaru with two fingers glowing blue, and he feels a pain worse than even the curse that once killed him. He feels his blood burning through every single nerve and vein in his body, boiling and hissing like lava, and his only sensation is fire. It blackens his bones and blocks up his brain and the orange sunlight flickers across his hot-coal eyes. There is no feeling beyond fear and torment, tearing each and every speck of his existence apart. When the burst fades, Subaru’s fingers have scraped themselves open on the ground, and the blood that stains the earth hisses with heat; the magical torture had lasted but for a minute, and yet his brain is pounding as though it has lasted years. 

“Sorry, I don’t like hurting people,” Felix says. His head is in his hands, and he’s shaking. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry—“

“Then don’t!” Subaru snaps, still trying to catch his breath. 

“If you encounter a Witch Cultist, interrogate them on the location of their allies. Show no mercy,” Felix says, eyes glazing over as he says words that don't seem to be his own. “Ferri-chan obeys Crusch-sama.” Movement flickers behind him; Elsa is back on her feet, and she dashes silently towards Rem and Ram with her daggers flashing like fangs. Ram barely manages to react in time, and Elsa’s knife carves a deep gouge in her shoulder.

“Sister!” Rem cries out; she tries to stand up, but her legs shudder underneath her. She cannot hold herself, and Ram’s body is shaking as well. That previous display of power— it must have had a price. Ram throws out a hand towards Elsa, sending a burst of wind magic slashing through her, but it is miniscule compared to the extraordinary showing from earlier.

“Let Subaru go,” Elsa growls. “He has no part in the Witch Cult.” 

“You’re nyot dead?” Felix asks. Elsa lashes out towards Ram’s stomach, but Felix seems to have predicted this attack, and grabs her by the wrist. Elsa screams, her body convulsing, and collapses on the ground with steam hissing from her eyes; Subaru realizes that Felix has done to her what had been done to him. “I knyow you always go for the guts, Elsa! Is this what you’ve been doing since you ran away? Fraternysing with the Witch Cult? Crusch-sama will love to have you back!”

“Leave her alone!” Subaru shouts, trying to push himself into a sitting position. Why had she gone for the attack, why! She could have run away! She didn’t need to try and save Subaru. Why would she try to? He’d gotten her sister killed, gotten Sylphy killed, gotten himself killed, he was not worth dying for.

“I don’t really nyeed you if I have Elsa…” Felix says, and then he grabs Subaru’s head, forcing him to the ground. “Ferri-chan will let you go to sleep now, Witch Cultist! I hope that the Od filters your soul through fire! Goodnyght!” With that parting statement, Felix’s fingers stroke through Subaru’s hair, and something shifts in a way that is antithetical to life itself. In a second, half of Subaru’s brains are splattered all over the ground.

Though Subaru is unaware of this fact, the unfortunate thing about necromancy is that at its core, it is a perversion of healing magic. Therefore, when using it to make a living brain explode, the brain will remain living for some moments, existing off the corrupted energy that glimmers through the spell used to destroy it. With half his brain in pieces, Subaru cannot move; his body is paralyzed to an utter stillness, but the sensations of his head cracked open like an egg across the earth is something that sets all his cells alight. What’s left of his mind tries to comprehend what’s happening to it, even as it slowly dies; he hears the fading sounds of Elsa screaming beneath Felix’s fingertips in the vanishing light of the setting sun. He cannot close his eyes; her burning blood spills across the dirt in spirals that reflect the clouds. Their forms seem in perfect detail, only interrupted by ripples caused by Felix’s alternating excitement and anxiety. Anywhere between a few seconds and eternity passes before Subaru can’t hear any voices at all, for even Elsa’s piercing screams fade against the rushing of blood searing and bubbling from his head. He can feel it dripping over the insides of his brain, past where skin and bone break off, and merciful darkness finally begins to creep in at the corners of his vision. The sweeping glow of the sun, still white-hot bright as it shines into his eyes like every single blade flashing the ends of his nerves with indescribable torment. His brain cannot interpret anything beyond its own final feelings, can neither think nor hear nor remember, and Subaru does not even know his name once the sunlight fades as blindness descends. Even then, it takes a few more moments to die; a few moments spent in a place without any feeling at all beyond one— he cannot describe it as burning, because he cannot remember fire. He cannot describe it as freezing, because he cannot remember ice. He cannot even tell the difference between the black blindness and the shining sunset from before. All he can perceive, all he understands is that it hurts, like the feeling of hitting the ground after falling, extended to eternity; like the jaws of a beast pulling flesh from a bleeding body. He is afraid. Fear eclipses inconceivably small remnants of thought. He cannot exist like this. To live in this state is a sin. He wants to die. 

He does. 

***

Against all logic, Subaru wakes up. He feels blankets on his skin, and softness under his head. He feels things, and his mind bursts with an explosion of thought and memory, a search at comprehending the previous devastation, flickering moments like spears through his heart. Subaru curls up in the bed, unwilling to open his eyes and see that terrible knife of light. He holds his hands over his ears, unwilling to hear the fading screams of the girls he had wanted to save. Meili, gone in moments. Sylphy, thrown beyond reach. Elsa, dying, and dying again and again and again! And Subaru, dying forever in five minutes, his mind struggling to process what it had been physically incapable of doing before— but there is a disconnect— sensations that cannot be properly remembered when the brain is complete, like glass scraping against the side of his skull in their inconsistency. He is not moving, but he feels his lungs within his chest, out of breath. He feels his blood rushing through his heart, beating in his wrists, begging not to be boiled again but still hurting him even though it’s doing nothing at all. Everything hurts. Everything is painful because it is present; Subaru is no longer paralyzed, but just this simple fact is sending his mental faculties spinning like a blender, ripping his thoughts into paste. There is nothing solid within his mind, even though time turned back has restored it from the splatter it had once been. Subaru feels tears against his face, sounds at the edges of his perception, and the soft pressure of a hand that rests on his shoulder— but it feels like hissing steam, burning blood. Even so, Subaru does not have the wherewithal to flee. He does not have anything at all. He curls up tighter, and keeps on crying.

Slowly, Subaru gains the measure of his fingers, his hands, his arms, his feet, his legs, his face. He can move. He is alive. Taking his hands from his ears, he can hear the morning sounds of birds, and after a few breaths they sound pleasant instead of piercing. He notices, after a moment, that the weight of blankets seems to have increased from before. The pressure and softness has helped.

“Subaru?” Frederica’s voice asks. 

“Thanks,” Subaru mumbles. He opens his eyes, and though first greeted by the pleasantly stifling warmth of the bed, he manages to push himself into a sitting position, and lets the morning sun wash over him. Frederica is sitting beside him, looking concerned.  

“I wasn’t sure what to do… how are you feeling?” she asks.

“Better now,” Subaru says. His voice feels rough, and speaking has the sensations of vibration. He feels so much, and it is wonderful in comparison to the awfulness of losing one feeling at a time, all of them but the very worst one of all. His mind shies away from the remembrance of what he has experienced; he is terrified. Rem, Ram, Felix— Subaru refuses down to the depths of his soul to encounter them again. He cannot fathom it. However, the idea of leaving the people of Arlam village to their fate— all those children, everyone who cooperated with the Witch Church in the hopes of building a better life out of this ruined world— the Witch Church themselves. Elsa and Meili and Sylphy, dead because Subaru hadn’t been able to do anything. They would go to the village, they would get cursed, and the zombie plague would spread even to the fortress where Subaru wishes to hide. To Frederica, who sits at the edge of his bed and gives him more blankets so he will feel better. To Emilia, who worried over a shining insignia, trying her best to live up to the name of a long-lost hero. To Geuse and Fortuna, who did so much for the world that they didn’t take the time to be with each other. To Regulus, who had no one outside his best friend; to Louanna, who wanted to save the Sword Saint; and to Beatrice, who waited in her library for someone like Subaru to come in and brighten her lonely day. Subaru could not leave them all behind— but he is terrified. The pain of the curse death had been nothing at all compared to that of Felix’s touch. Subaru gets out of the bed, and even though his legs are solid under his feet, he remembers when he couldn’t move them at all. The sunlight is yellow, not the painful color of the evening that had been erased, orange like Felix’s eyes.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Subaru admits.

“What’s bothering you?” a voice asks. Subaru looks up, surprised; Emilia is standing in the doorway.

“Emilia-tan!” he yelps, surprised. He doesn’t want her to see him in this state!

“Frederica said you were having a nightmare,” Emilia says, slowly entering the room. 

“How long were you watching me?” Subaru asks. When the response is a meaningful silence, he sinks his face into his hands, sitting back down on the bed. For the girl he admires so much to see his pathetic reaction to dying so uselessly… he can’t save anyone at all, he can’t even save her. Lye and Elsa had done the work at the Loot House. Subaru really wasn’t worth the time of everyone around him, was he? He hadn’t been able to do anything in Arlam village. Not for the girls, not for the dead, and not for himself. But as much as he wants to hide away from the enemies that wait outside the walls, there are so many friends that he can trust. He is lost in a brand new world, but— they taught him magic, they taught him how to read, they let him run around doing his best to help cook and clean, they removed a curse and believed his words and said good morning and good night. The weight of despair is heavy, but there is something very light about being surrounded by people he can love. 

“I’m okay. You don’t need to worry, Emilia,” Subaru says. He’s determined, this time— he won’t fail them all again.

“Just tell us if you need help, all right?” Emilia asks. Subaru almost wants to reach for her hand, and she seems to be offering it, but he can’t make himself make the extra movement. 

“I will,” Subaru says, finally. Someday he will take her hand without being worried whether he is worthy of it.

“Because of my Authority, I know that the Knight Blue will attack Arlam in four days,” Subaru says, after pleasantries at breakfast. He grimaces when he remembers a certain set of magical advice. Blue and blue and pink will set you back… very helpful, Gospel. NOT. 

“It’s your fault, for getting an innocent village involved with the Witch Cult,” Elsa accuses, pointing her fork at Geuse. 

“No, Felix doesn’t even know about everyone here. Someone called Crusch just sent him out to kill people,” Subaru says, remembering.

“You don’t know who Crusch Karsten is?” Elsa asks. The fork is pointing at Subaru now.

“He doesn’t know anything!” Meili says.

“Don’t be rude!” Emilia chides. Meili very clearly intends to continue being rude. 

“What exactly do you know?” Fortuna asks, voice cutting through the chatter.

“Felix won’t be alone. He will have two sisters with him— one of them has incredibly powerful wind magic, and the other… can’t do much at all, really,” Subaru says. What was the deal with those two?

“Powerful wind magic? No, there’s no way,” Frederica says. Everyone looks at her.

“Elaborate,” Regulus orders. 

“Margrave Mathers has the reincarnation of the Oni God for a maid,” Frederica says. Her fingers are clasped nervously before her.

“Wait, what?” Subaru asks. A god? How many OP enemies did this world have? 

“He’s known as the demihuman enthusiast. Before I decided to stay with the Witch Church, I went to him to get a job, since he was sure to take me despite— because of— the rare blood from my ancestry. While I was there, I encountered the sisters Rem and Ram; two of the few remaining Oni, and the latter with the soul of a god. My past at the Sanctuary was discovered, and I was accused of being Witch Cult; the sisters believe we are the ones who slaughtered their village. I tried to tell them it had been the Sword Saint, but Margrave Mathers would not hear any word of it, and I would have died had it not been for— my apologies. I cannot speak on that,” Frederica pauses, having almost revealed some secret. “I escaped, but the power within Ram’s horn is something none of us can hope to fight.”

“She doesn’t have a horn, though,” Subaru says, because even in his terror he could not mistake that brilliant light. “A weird glowing dot, but only Rem has the horn.”

“There… was a dot, yes,” Frederica says. “I thought it didn’t look like a proper Oni horn— but without a horn, there’s no way she could do what she does.”

“If horns make them more powerful, then why—“ Subaru cuts off, wary of revealing too much with the wrong tense. The Witch was watching. But why would Rem pass out when she activated hers? Why could Ram use her power without one? Subaru decides he’ll ask Beatrice. The spirit in the library seemed to hold all the answers.

Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem to have the answer to this one, and kicks him out of the library with the admonishment that he should be helping the others prepare for a battle with Felix and the reincarnation of the Oni God. Both were formidable enemies, but the Witch Church’s only choice was to defeat them in as little a flashy way as possible— to wipe them off the map in such a way their masters never discovered what became of them. Arlam couldn’t simply be evacuated, as there could be an investigation as to why such a trade-route active village had vanished— and that same reason was why they couldn’t hide forever. The chapel itself was hidden well in the midst of the forest, and while the farther location of Elior Forest was known to the Church’s enemies, the Black Serpent’s constant guard kept it safe. Subaru had proposed moving everyone in Arlam to Elior forever, but such a long trip would take days without the White Whale— days where they could be attacked, and a caravan could not exactly travel without traces. Even besides fighting enemies, there was a worse problem; Felix had somehow surreptitiously cursed the entire village to become zombies, surely starting with the boy who bit Subaru’s hand. But there was no reason to believe that child was the only target. How, then, to save all their lives? An evacuation could not outrun a god.

“Any thoughts?” Subaru asks. He’s sitting with Meili; she had had the dubiously bright idea to try and get the Great Rabbit to join the upcoming battle. It could infinitely regenerate, so there was that, but the combat abilities of rabbits left a lot to be desired. Subaru was pretty sure her ‘idea’ had just been an excuse to hang out with a bunch of fluffy animals, and he couldn’t even blame her. According to what Elsa had said, she and Meili had known Felix personally. Terrifying.

“I thought Beatrice told you to help,” Elsa’s voice says, snapping piercingly from behind him.

“I am helping! I’m watching Meili! Also, we’re trying to figure out ways around the zombie curse,” Subaru says. The answer would probably not be found among grass and rabbits, admittedly.

“Zombie?” Elsa asks, not knowing the word.

“Felix turns people into undead monsters,” Subaru says.

“I know that, but what’s zombie supposed to mean… anyway. From what I have heard the others saying, Beatrice and Puck are the only people here who can cure a curse of that level, but for an entire village? That seems unlikely. Especially because Felix’s undeath curse isn’t a reduction on one’s mana, but an increase,” Elsa says. Her eyes are on Meili as she speaks, as if to replace old thoughts with new ones even though she recounts them.

“What’s that mean?” Subaru asks.

“From what I remember, internal mana is corrupted and then self-replicates, taking over the entire body. Seeing Felix use it on others… his victims surely experienced an equal pain to getting their bowels spilled on the floor, but only grew colder without giving back any warmth. I despise necromancy. It rots and it ruins,” Elsa hisses. Her nails clench like claws.

“Opposite of an Ulgarm curse,” Subaru muses. Beatrice had said they ate mana… hey, wait a moment. ”Meili, do you think you could summon an Ulgarm?”

“There’s one not too far away,” Meili says. She whistles, and after a few minutes the lizard-dog that Subaru remembers comes trotting through the field of peaceful rabbits, the sun glancing off its single horn. It looks very imposing and monstrous, but it also looks like an adorable little puppy. It had tried its best to save Meili’s life last time, running as fast as it could, even though Ram had killed them both in an instant. But the Ulgarm— and Subaru— could both redeem themselves. They could save everyone.

“Do you think you could have it eat cursed zombie mana away from the people Felix curses?” Subaru asks, petting the dog. 

“If an Ulgarm curses someone, they die… it gobbles up all their mana and life! But the undeath curse is just a very twisted form of life… wait, this could actually work. It’s incredibly stupid, but it could work,” Meili says.

“Right, and the Arlam villagers are just going to let a mabeast lick them all,” Elsa says, rolling her eyes.

“They will if I make it a cute sweater.” Subaru decides. He can wrap the dog up so it looks adorable, which will keep the plot hidden if Felix or the Oni sisters are hanging around, too. 

”Of course,” Elsa sighs. “A mabeast in a cute sweater. The solution to the most dangerous enemies… please tell me you have come up with something equally as ridiculous for Rem and Ram.”

“I have,” Subaru says. Elsa wouldn’t like it much, though. 

Chapter Text

Once, there was a girl who lived in Gusteko. She defends herself from an attacker with a shattered bottle of wine, and the blood and guts are warm in the snow. The heat is more intoxicating than any alcohol could ever be, and as her would-be violator writhes in agony, Elsa feels only relief. Relief from the danger, from the freezing cold, from being defenseless in a world full of knives. She could have knives of her own. Granhiert, says the label on the broken bottle, and Elsa takes that name— and not only that one, but another. She does not want to kill, but blood looks so pretty as it splatters across snow. She does not want to kill, but she is a vampire, and desiring death is in the fabric of her soul. She does not want to kill, but the world so very often wishes her dead, and she is strong enough to rip out its bowels when it comes looking for trouble, to make anyone who dares come near her regret it. She wants to touch that incredibly warm moment once more; she wants to taste the pain of the world’s aggressors; she wants the brilliant feeling of triumph that had come with the freedom of the broken Granhiert bottle. At the same time, though, she wants to be kind. She is surviving, but she wants to live, and then— someone holds out their hand. This is where the story changes.

“You’re famous in these parts. Did you know that they call you the Bowel Hunter?” the old swordsman asks.

“If you try anything strange, your bowels are getting hunted too,” the young girl says; she is young, but her hands have already been stained red so many times. She is ready to stain them again.

”You are coming with me. We will teach you how to fight, and you will fight for us,” the old swordsman says. Elsa takes offense at this, and tries to slice his stomach open, but her attack is parried with barely any effort. It is clear from that single stroke that fighting him is hopeless. Maybe if she was older, if she was stronger, if she knew what to do with her blade beyond slashing and slashing again and again— but the man before her is the Sword Demon himself.

“Let me go!” Elsa shouts, struggling against his grip.

“You will learn the skills you lack.” the Sword Demon says. And she has trained already— she has been a Featherrun sister, been made into a vampiric cursed doll— this is why the Sword Demon kidnaps her, but the strength she is missing is why he defeats her. 

Mekhart Karsten is a military leader, and he creates weapons because he is too scared to lift them himself. He brings his daughter to the dungeons; Elsa is not the only person down here. A collection of people with strange skills, desperate, murderous, powerful. They will learn to kill— and to kill on orders. Elsa is… difficult, they say. The sight of her own blood only enthuses her, because the pain helps her remember that she is alive. It is warmth on cold chains and cold stone. Even so, it is not enough; Elsa longs to see the sun, to have a reason for living beyond watching her own bowels litter the floor. She is alone, and she is tired. She wants to hear people scream; she wants to feel the beautiful rush of combat. She will fight for them, she says, because she has spent a year freezing alone in darkness. She did not escape the ice of Gusteko only to be trapped in another river— and with this agreement, the Bowel Hunter’s leash is loosened. Loosened, but never released.

“Show me what you can do,” the Sword Demon says. Elsa wants to slice his intestines to shreds; she attacks, but she is out of practice, out of energy. She needs to get better. She will get better, she will take advantage of what she is being taught as they turn her into a weapon— and once she is a sword, she will kill the Sword Demon dead. She will kill everyone here, and make a bonfire of their gravestones. Her tormentors must cherish their bowels while they can; one day, she will carve them all to to pieces. Another year passes, however, and Elsa is no closer to her goal. She has killed some of her trainers, and some of those trapped in the cage alongside her, and others they are sent to fight— but not the one whose guts she desires most. At the same time, she hates the blood on her hands. She is becoming tired of this life that is not living when someone else joins.

There is a boy in a blue dress. He does not fight, but sits surrounded by books and is given dead and dying bodies and cries and cries and cries. He has incredible water magic affinity— he has a Divine Protection— he has unimaginable skill— these are things that Elsa hears said. She watches the boy through the bars of the cage, and for the first time in a very long time, she has a different feeling besides bloodlust.

“Hello,” she says. “My name is Elsa Granhiert.”

“Felix Argyle,” the boy sniffles, his hands covering his face. He is a cat demihuman; the second one of his kind in this relentlessly monotone place. The only person lacking kill instinct. 

“How were you trapped in here?” Elsa asks him. Felix looks at her with yellow eyes full of tears, and he is very thin and small. He has been transferred from one dungeon to another, Elsa learns; saved from his father, the young Karsten heir took a shine to him, and he will be her knight. She comes and sees him every day— she is too strong for him to fight back, despite everything he’s learned, but even so she’s the only friendly face. Besides Elsa, anyway. But he’ll learn how to heal, he’s always wanted to be a healer. He won’t learn the cursed necromancy they throw at him! He won’t, he promises! But he does. Felix is trained out of his morals as Elsa is trained out of hers, and he gets personal visits from the weapon master’s daughter. Elsa tries her best to kill the Sword Demon, to find freedom for both herself and the boy trapped beside her, but her skill never reaches the Demon’s level. He could kill her until she died for good, if he tried, but she is always just locked up again.

“Do better,” he says. The Sword Demon is not Elsa’s and Felix’s main tormentor, though he is a significant one; it seems he has a very busy schedule. What did he do when outside of these cursed walls? Was there a weakness that could be found to defeat him? No amount of speculation brings Elsa or Felix any relief. Every day, the two of them hold hands through the bars, and it is clear Felix is undergoing some torment he cannot speak of, even though he looks unharmed. Elsa sees less and less of Felix both in his presence, and in his eyes. My name is Ferris, he says one day. It might have been the last day that Felix really lived at all. Before long, the dungeons are no longer his home. He walks out beside the girl with green hair, and the jangle of the bell around his neck is heavier than any chain.

Elsa had thought she could have saved him. Every day, she had tried to keep Felix together, but the hammers taken to his psyche had broken him to pieces.

“I’ll still come by and see you, Elsa!” Felix says, but there is blood underneath his feet and an emptiness in his mind. Once, the two of them had held hands to gain some hope in the cold nights, and Elsa had felt her own sanity returning even as Felix’s slipped away. The presence of someone she didn’t want to kill had done wonders, but all she wants to do now is murder him dead. It would be a mercy; Wilhelm’s sword and Crusch’s collar keep him tightly bound, and Elsa doesn’t think he will ever find his way out. 

“I hope someone gives you a hand, again, one day,” Elsa says, remembering the feeling of his fingers on her own. She never learned why he had been made to wear dresses, but they did not suit him, and all she can feel between her fingers now is steel.

“Crusch-sama gives me her hand when I’m good,” Felix says, and his voice sparkles with joy. Elsa is struck by a horrible understanding; Crusch was Felix’s warmth, just as bowels were hers. They were both broken; what right did she have to forsake Felix his comfort? Their sole sources for warmth were forced on them. Neither he nor her will ever escape. Even so…

“Someone besides Crusch,” Elsa says. Some things needed saying. “I hope someone offers you their hand, truly and sincerely, with the power to save you from this place. Someone who understands what has been done to you, and can lift you out of it. And I hope you are so lost in your own fear that you turn them down because you cannot conceive of anything else.” At the end of the day, Felix had lost his fight. Elsa refuses to do the same, and despises those who gave up.  

“I will nyever leave Crusch-sama!” Felix says, sounding horrified at the very suggestion.

“Exactly,” Elsa sighs. The only version of Felix that will be offered salvation, she thinks, lives in a reality so departed from this one that nobody will ever be aware of it. There is no hope for him.

After three more years, there is an upheaval. The Sword Demon does not come by as often. The missing Princess has returned. Elsa tries to take advantage of the confusion to escape, but the Sword Saint stands in her way; he is a few years younger than her, but he defeats her in a single strike, his expression as clear as a cloudless sky. Elsa promises to fight him again, to face the thrill of a battle she cannot win; she swears she will make that face twist in pain— or she will give him such a good fight that he will feel triumph. This is not the only disaster of the year, either— the Juukulius heir is dead. He lives, but he has gone mad. He was sold as a slave in Kararagi. He is Lugnica’s Finest Knight. Different rumors about him flicker through the cells through the terrified mouths of Elsa’s fellow weapons-in-training, who dwindle in number day by day. She does not know which ones are correct. It doesn’t matter, anyway; she falls into her role, despising it as much as she loves it. Elsa Granhiert is an assassin for the Dragon Kingdom of Lugnica; she kills political troublemakers, Witch Cultists, rebel leaders, anyone whom the Duke Karsten or the Sword Demon might feel the need to have cut down with a secret knife. Blood drips off her fingers, and blood drips off her heart; the cold is now but a distant memory, but the heat is burning her to ash. She remembers when she wanted to be safe— to just live— and now she kills and kills and kills again, but only death surrounds her. There is no point to a fire if you are choking in the smoke.

Two more years fly by in the blink of an eye; Elsa sees Felix occasionally, and he is his master’s loyal pet in more ways than one, irreversibly bound to Crusch Karsten’s side. Elsa sees no trace of the boy who had cried out from an iron cage with the desire to heal and save; now, his hands are as crimson as her own. Elsa sees the Sword Saint, an unstoppable weapon by the side of the princess who wishes to kill the world. Elsa sees a force of nature, six elements making his madness into a humanoid typhoon— Julius Juukulius is alive, but his mind has died long ago, and Anastasia Hoshin is barely able to direct him. Elsa sees a man with one arm and a girl with three dead husbands already in her wake; somehow, Priscilla and Aldebaran are the most reasonable of the lady-and-knight teams she comes across. Finally, one day when Elsa returns to the cell she calls home, she is not alone. A girl of eight years of age is waiting for her.

“This is Meili,” the Sword Demon says. “Her Divine Protection makes her worth training. You will take care of her.”

“Me?” Elsa asks. And then she realizes— out of all those who she started her journey with, in these dark places, very few remained, and those that did had become just as much of monsters as she. But she was the only woman. How… trite of the Sword Demon. Ready to refuse, Elsa finds herself watching the young feral girl dash around the room. It was well-furnished, for all of Elsa’s successes, but bars still blocked the windows, and a key still locked the door. Elsa remembers a boy who was locked one room over, and she remembers the light ever so slowly fading from his eyes. She remembers holding his hand for the first and last time. “Very well. Hello, Meili.” 

Elsa holds the young girl in her arms, and it is a warmth more comfortable than the heat of any kill. She cannot live like this any longer. She cannot lose Meili the way she lost Felix, too. It takes a year worth of planning, a year worth of preparing, a year worth of bonding with the girl to teach her how to be a human instead of a mabeast— to teach Elsa herself how to be a sister instead of a monster— and the two of them find their way free. She passes by where the visiting Felix stays, on the way, and heavily considers slicing his stomach open, but Meili is beside her and she hasn’t the time for a pause. A key from an undercover rebel agent stationed with the Order of Knights is hidden in the wall; Elsa finally steps into moonlight that is fully her own.

She reaches up to the sky and shares it with her sister, telling Meili fragmented legends of the stars. The night is beautifully cool, dew frosting on the grass, and the bite of the wet cold on her bare feet feels more wonderful than the gift of any knife. Elsa decides to live in a way that leaves death behind her. The two of them find a home in the capital’s slums, moving into an abandoned establishment where it was said a giant once lived, and start building their life up from the ground. Elsa can put her knives to the side, and Meili does not have to tell her beasts to kill. Things are hard, but they are free. 

***

And now Elsa is helping the Witch Cult save a village from Felix Argyle, and is finding herself forced to rethink her life. An Ulgarm is wearing a hooded sweater made of scraps, and Elsa stands watching Meili and Subaru bring the beast to lick the hand of everyone in town. Felix and his companions were already here— they waited somewhere in the wings for their curse to take effect, not knowing that the counter was between the teeth of a dog. It has been four days of preparation for this event, and Elsa’s fingers twitch on the handles of her knives. She does not want to kill Felix— not really— but blood is the only atonement for what has been done to him, for what he has become.

Even so, when Elsa had shared her past with Felix to the Witch Cult, they had wondered if they could save him. Frederica had mentioned a brother, and Louanna a son; how many people had been lost to the Sword Demon’s machinations? (Had the brother or the son survived? Did Elsa know them? Who had they become? She wanted to ask for names, but at the same time was too scared to. She could have seen them die. She could have torn out their bowels herself.) 

Elsa finds herself doubting if the Witch Cult— the Witch Church— are really as evil as she has always known. With the people she has met this week… it really was far more likely that the nobility was lying. Elsa has not approached them herself very much, only watched as Meili became involved in their plans; she refuses to connect with her enemies, even if doing so is hard. Even if they seem like they could be friends for her and her sister. Even if it seems as though the two will no longer be alone. Here, there was a place that fought against the forces that ruined the country; a place that kept itself and many others safe, that ran a constant effort to stop the world from falling by the wayside even as they demanded the release of the Witch who had eaten half of it. A place where Natsuki Subaru had slid into easily, making friends with everyone as though he knew them already, dancing around every one of Elsa’s expectations. Trying to play with the Great Spirit in the hidden library, talking to Regulus, watching Emilia and Sylphy train, figuring out how to read, following Frederica and only sometimes being more of a help than a hindrance. It was endearing, but there was something desperate in his eyes, as well. If he truly held an Authority, what had joining the Witch Church granted him? A lap pillow from the girl he had a crush on, at least. At some point during the frantic days leading up to the imminent attack, Emilia had interrupted Subaru’s stressed spiraling by letting him rest his head in her lap. There was something very innocent and sweet about it— if you ignored the fact that Emilia looked exactly like Satellla, anyway. Somehow, Subaru did.

Maybe there isn’t any hidden evil at all, Elsa had thought, watching the two teenagers rest together and gain a brief moment of peace. Wouldn’t that be magnificent? Now, however Elsa settles her chin in her hands; the other members of the Witch Church— besides Louanna, for she could not fight, and Sylphy, for it was safer if only one holder of the Authority of Greed was in a fight at a time— had all gathered at different hidden point in the village, just in case an attack occurred, so that a combined effort could hopefully drive Felix and the Oni twins off if need be. 

The sun is setting by the time Felix makes an overt move.

“Why is nyothing HAPPENING!?” he shouts from the middle of the town square.

“Blue-san, the villagers seem to be hiding from us,” Ram says. After Felix’s initial attempts to spread his curse, Subaru and Emilia had helped those of Arlam to stay out of the visitors’ way. Felix and his companions are now the only people outside; Elsa watches them surreptitiously from a window. 

“Blue-san, your reputation is likely well known,” Rem says; she’s riding the ground dragon, but is nearly tied into the luxurious saddle. Subaru had mentioned something was wrong with her… and how had he known about that, anyway? His Authority had told him many useful things— and not only about their enemies, either. Elsa had watched him running around to help everyone with preparation during the past week, slowly making his way into the hearts of all the members of the Witch Church as he cleaned and sewed and talked and learned how to read. (With a Gospel, of all things!) It seemed like he knew things he shouldn’t; about Frederica, about Emilia, about Elsa, about everyone.

Elsa had found herself raising concerns to Regulus, of all people— for her to go to a Sin Archbishop for aid! (He was very talkative, so he might let something slip. That was all. Elsa wasn’t befriending anyone in this church. Even if they made Meili smile.) Authorities can be curses as much as blessings, just like any Divine Protection, Regulus had explained. Have you not seen the shadows within Subaru’s eyes? His Authority was granted by Envy, and she denies his rights even though he glows with Satella’s love. Elsa hadn’t known how to respond to that one, nor to any of the incongruity that those of the Witch Church displayed. Regulus was supposed to be a mass murderer who enslaved women as his wives; Geuse was supposed to be as mad as the Finest Knight, leading armies of cultists to wreck and ruin while constantly crying out for the Witch’s love; Capella was said to transform people into disgusting creatures, and the White Whale and Great Rabbit and Black Serpent should be calamities, not helpful and protective beasts. Everything was upside-down, and Elsa was still waiting for the trick, for the swords, for the chains. This could not be safe. It could not.

“I smell the Witch,” Ram says, suddenly. Elsa freezes, her nails digging into the wood. Of course— with all these Archbishops around, the scent of miasma must reek to those who could smell it.

“Really?” Felix asks. He looks around, and then all of a sudden catches sight of Elsa in the window. “There!” Before Elsa can react, Ram has dashed across the street and punched through the window, dragging Elsa out by her shoulder. “Elsa! I missed you! Is this where you’ve been since you nyan away?”

“Let me go!” Elsa shouts; she tries to slash Ram, but a burst of wind magic cuts both her hands off. They’ll regenerate, but for now she’s defenseless. 

“Crusch-sama will be happy to have you back!” Felix cheers. “Rem, Ram, nyou still have to find who you’re looking for, though…”

“You can’t have her,” a voice says. Elsa, Ram and Felix all glance over— standing in the middle of the road is Regulus, face twisted in a grimace of annoyance. Is Elsa saved?

“Witch Cultist!” Ram growls, the wind already curving to answer her will.

“It’s very rude to call someone a cultist. I am the Archbishop representing Greed of the honorable Witch Church,” Regulus says. Od, he’s going to babble forever before he gets to the point. “Please let go of El— of my ninety-third wife. It is very disrespectful to damage another man’s property like that.” Never mind. He didn’t have a point. What was this? 

“I’ve heard of your terrible ways,” Ram says. Is Regulus… playing into the rumors about himself? The expression of disgust he’s wearing is clearly directed towards what he’s saying. Unless…

“What are you talking about?” Felix asks.

“I saw her living in this village and knew she was mine, so obviously I killed everyone here so that she’d be mine alone. Also, your interrogations of me are—“

“Nyou are the reason I don’t have any soldiers for Crusch-sama!?” Felix yells. “Ram, kill him!”

“What about her?” Ram asks, still holding Elsa.

“Leave her to me,” another voice calls out, cocky and triumphant— Subaru!

“SISSY!” Ram yells; Subaru has pulled the nearly motionless Rem off the ground dragon. She’s struggling against him, but whatever’s sapped most of her strength means she can barely fight back.

“Don’t move, any of you, or I’ll explode her head with my Authority!” Subaru threatens. What is he on? His Authority collects information! 

“I’ll kill you,” Ram says, body shivering with fury, but she does not take a single step forward. Elsa has no idea what’s going on. Why didn’t they tell her the plan? Her hands are finished reforming, smooth skin sliding brilliant pain to a stop, but even so she doesn’t do anything either. She was too cautious, she hadn’t managed to get close enough to anyone to learn what their plan was for Felix and the Oni in the first place.

“You won’t,” Subaru says, as though he has any semblance of control over this situation. “You’ll kill Elsa.”

“What?” Ram asks.

“What?” Elsa asks, stunned. 

“WHAT?” Regulus yells. “I knew you hated me!”

“If I can’t kill you, I’ll kill everything that’s important to you instead!” Subaru shouts back.

“Witch Cultists really are insane,” Felix muses.

“You’ll pay for violating my rights like this!” Regulus shouts, ignoring Felix completely.

“The only rights you care about are your own!” Subaru retorts.

“Release my sister now,” Ram orders, holding her hand against Elsa’s neck.

“You won’t be able to kill her like that. Vampires nyeed to be completely destroyed,” Felix says. He reaches towards Elsa, and the pain of being sliced apart is one thing, but that of Felix’s power is entirely another.

“Fire ought to do it.” Subaru suggests.

“What are you doing?” Elsa yells, unable to take it any longer. Subaru gives her a very strange look.

“I’m a Sin Archbishop. What do you think I’m doing?” he says, and Elsa feels ice shatter beneath her feet, feels herself fall into a freezing river. She had hoped that she would be able to escape the cold, but it seemed she was right to be wary. The silence of the village snatches at her soul, and Elsa understands what she should have all along: there is no mercy in this world. There is no warmth beyond what’s found in blood and bowels, and the only hands that will ever protect Meili are her own. A cold wind is whistling around Elsa’s mind, freezing all thoughts into a sparkling, crystallized fear. Has she lost her sister? She must run, she must fight, she must survive and make sure the only person left to love is able to live as well.

Her body burns with indecisive movement, and every second is a heartbeat— but Elsa’s gaze flickers between Ram, Felix, Subaru and Regulus, and sees steel threads that will cut her no matter what direction she takes. The smell of Subaru’s fear hangs in the air, but she can barely make it out over the scent of her own. Has she trusted the wrong people, and left Meili in the hands of demons? When there are enemies on both sides, against whom do you strike? There are inconsistencies, and danger, and threats both inherent and overt, but no one got anywhere by doing nothing. She must make a choice. 

Ram makes a choice first. She lifts Elsa up with lashes of knife-sharp wind, and with a crash, Elsa  tossed across the street into the back of an open cart that sits in the middle of the road. Something sharp poked into her skin as a powerful scent assaults her, and Elsa realizes she’s been thrown into a wagon full of wine.

“This is for my sister. Goodbye,” Ram says; a pair of sticks float off the ground, wavering in the grip of wind, and then they are made to spin against each other at a speed so fast they burst into flames. Red, red wine is soaking Elsa’s cloak, and in the enclosed space she is, full of alcohol fumes— Elsa scrabbles for her third knife, and lunges forwards, but Ram tosses her back with barely any effort and throws the firebrand in after her. Moving quickly, Elsa slashes it in half, and leaps through the sparks trailing past her face, slashing at Ram’s chest. The blade blunts itself against a solid barrier of win, and flies spinning into the sky. Elsa whips her second knife at her attacker, but Ram steps to the side in the same second as Elsa herself is sliced in half, falling in pieces within the cart. 

“You missed,” Ram says, clicking her fingers, and the sparks of flame from before are ignited once more into life, burning second from falling into the bloodied alcohol that Elsa is now covered in. “Or not.” The last thing Elsa sees before the door slams shut is where her second knife has landed— directly in Subaru’s stomach. 

The fire falls, but instead of bursting into a conflagration, it fizzles out with a very sad splash. This is incredibly incongruous, obviously. The scent of the alcohol is so potent that Elsa can almost taste it; lifting red-stained fingers to her mouth, she does so, and her eyes widen in astonishment. There is something to be said for the ability of alcohol to remove a chill, but in truth that is ineffective, as Elsa well knows, so she expects nothing of the sort to occur. What does occur is entirely a surprise; despite the bitingly strong smell that fills this coffin of shattered bottles, the only taste on Elsa’s lips is a slightly bitter-sweet juice. Thus the extinguishing of the firebrand— the liquid it has landed in will grant no flame any grace.

Elsa takes a few moments to process this, her heart loud in the silence, and muffled sounds from outside this box that she thought would be her grave suddenly slash at her soul. Cracked glass scrapes at her legs, and a sliver of orange sunlight shines in her eye; she peers out from the spaces between the hinges only to see an empty street. A small puddle of blood rests in the dirt, reflecting the evening light, but of Regulus, Subaru, Felix, Rem and Ram, there is nothing to be seen. Elsa pushes the cart door open, slides out, and stands to her feet. The crunch of her high heels on the ground is all she can hear. Where is everyone? Where is Subaru? He had promised to save them all, and— has Elsa killed him, where she had wished to save him too? 

“Elsa!” a voice calls out, and the chill is washed away; Meili is running out of a house, the Ulgarm in that stupid, stupid sweater by her side. Elsa hugs the younger girl before she can say anything else, the relief too great for her to make another move. Her sister is alive. One way or another, all is well in the world. Even so—

“You hurt Subaru!” Meili shouts. Red wine drips from Elsa’s dress and lands in the sand; the nearby puddle of blood accusingly reflects the sun. All along the road, doors begin to swing open, and Elsa hears voices, talking in all different tones; the villagers of Arlam, and the rest of the Witch Cult.

“What happened?” Elsa asks. She has no idea what’s going on anymore.

“When you stabbed Subaru, Emilia ran out to heal him, and— Ram grabbed her, and she summoned a lot of wind and they all got away! They kidnapped her, and it’s your fault! Subaru is hurt, and it’s your fault!”

“I don’t understand,” Elsa says. Her blood is ice. Meili takes her by the hand, and leads her into a building; Elsa feels all eyes on her, and cannot make out distinct sounds from the voices that run past her ears. She feels the creeping cold of snow, of chains, of Felix losing his mind, of kukri clashing uselessly against the Sword Demon’s blade; a wooden door creaks open, revealing a room where Subaru is lying still on a bed, unconscious and face pale. Beatrice is healing him, and Guese stands in the sisters’ way. Elsa thinks about the firebrand sputtering into nothing. Had Subaru known… ? He must have. Neither wind nor water magic can easily create fire, so Subaru expected Ram to use the convenience of the environment. But Ram did not know— and Elsa did not know— that there was no danger of the conflagration she expected. He got her out of the way of the fight that she had incidentally been dragged into. 

“What can I do?” Elsa asks. She will never leave behind anyone she cares for, not again. She will not lose Meili— and neither will she lose Subaru. Elsa Granhiert will never give up.

Chapter Text

Subaru comes back to himself slowly.

“I’m not dead?” he asks. The ceiling above him is a new one. Wait— “Emilia!”

“She is gone, I suppose,” a voice says. Subaru looks to see Beatrice, of all people, seated beside his bed. She seems disapproving, but relieved at his awakening.

“What do you mean, she’s gone?” Subaru asks, sitting up in an instant.

“The Knight Blue kidnapped her. Emilia is needed to be announced as the fifth Royal Candidate— at the very least, I suppose, she will not be harmed until the announcement,” Beatrice says.

“We’ve got to save her, then,” Subaru says. He pauses. “Beatrice, did you save me? Why?” He can’t remember connecting with her all that much in this loop; they had seen each other a few times, but he had so many talks in his memories that she knew nothing of.

“You are irritating, but not so irritating as to be killed for it, I suppose,” Beatrice sighs. That is likely just as much of an answer as Subaru will get. He pushes himself out of the bed carefully, but he can’t waste a single second.

“Tell me exactly what happened,” he says.

Soon enough, Subaru is sitting in a chair around a table with the rest of the gathered Witch Church. Elsa is avoiding him, and he really can’t blame her— he’s not happy she hurt him, even if it was by accident, but she must feel even worse about it. Regulus didn’t look too happy either; Subaru knew the other boy hadn’t been enthused about playing into the nasty rumors about himself, but Subaru hadn’t thought of any better way to have the attackers write Elsa off than have someone else do it first.

“We have to get Emilia back. As fast as possible,” Fortuna says, sounding distressed. “My little girl…”

“I can go to the capital and save her. It’s best if we don’t let the Royals know where we are if possible, and I’ve already shown myself to them. Besides, my Authority is unsurpassable,” Regulus says. 

“Let me come, too!” Subaru insists, pushing himself to his feet.

“Subaru, you’re barely healed!” Frederica says. She glares at Elsa.

“It’s not her fault! And, anyway— I can help save Emilia. I can,” Subaru insists. “I can do something none of you can do, anyway.”

“The Oni god took Puck, as well. Likely sealed him inside his crystal with some of her foul magic… but if you can get him out, only the Sword Saint will be able to stand in your way,” Guese says. “The world will end before Puck lets Emilia fall.”

“After, more like,” Fortuna says, but she doesn’t elaborate. 

“I’ll have to go, then. I’m good with crystals,” Frederica says, fiddling with a blue crystal on a necklace. 

“It wouldn’t be a bad idea to just send you three. Capella, Roy and Lye will be joining us soon here anyway, so we won’t need Regulus to defend if there’s retaliation,” Louanna says, already parsing out available forces.

“Sylphy can’t come?” Regulus asks, disappointed.

“You know it’s safer if we’re far apart,” Sylphy says, her hand on his shoulder.

“The Authority of Greed does not respect our rights,” Regulus grumbles, reaching up to touch her hand. “Making it safer to be away from you… what does it think it is…”

“Me, Frederica, Regulus,” Subaru confirms. They’ll have to take the dragon carriage back to the capital, so they won’t be as fast as the flying Oni god— it’ll take nearly half a day.

“I just healed you, you reckless insect!” Beatrice protests. “See if I ever do so again, in fact!” 

“I feel fine!” Subaru snaps back.

“Is—“ Elsa starts, and everyone looks at her. “I apologize. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“You have done enough,” Beatrice says, the target of her wrath immediately changed.

“Everyone should be given opportunities to try again. Even so, it was your actions that led to Emilia’s kidnapping, never mind Subaru’s injury.” Guese says. 

“Hey, it’s okay. We’ll get Emilia back, and everything will be alright,” Subaru says, leaning over to his knife-happy friend. Getting stabbed had hurt, sure, but he’d felt way worse! He wasn’t that mad at Elsa, not really— he couldn’t be, with what he knew of her. She had tried to save his life when she could have run, she had cut his death at the hands of Felix’ curse short, all she truly wanted in the world was to protect her little sister. “We can move past this.”

“We will have patience,” Fortuna says. “For this— but not for Emilia. Subaru, are you certain you wish to go so soon?”

“I’m all healed up! Absolutely!” Subaru insists, pumping a fist in the air.

“Be careful, all right?” Louanna says.

“Come back safe, Regulus,” Sylphy says. 

“How could I not? Your heart protects me,” Regulus  says, standing a little straighter and adjusting his collar. “Hey, why are you looking away from me? I’m talking to you. Stop doing that.” Sylphy is hiding her face from embarrassment at Regulus’ words, smiling. It’s kind of cute.

“We’ll save Emilia! I swear!” Subaru announces, standing up on his chair. Or trying to, at any rate. All he really achieves is slamming his knees into the table. 

Soon enough, Subaru, Frederica and Regulus are in a dragon carriage, speeding towards Lugnica’s capital city. Something occurs to Subaru as he watches the road roll by.

“What enemies can we expect to face there?” he asks, mind reeling slightly at the backdrop of trees feeling unaccountably alien to what he’s used to.

“This will be a quick extraction, with hopefully absolutely zero fighting,” Regulus says. “The Sword Saint lives in the capital, and he is utterly unstoppable. His power is something inhuman and inherently monstrous. Someday we will find a way to destroy him.”

“Right. He can’t be the only problem, though, can he?” Subaru asks.

“Lugnica’s Royal Order of Knights are mostly jerks and bullies that barely represent a threat. Well, they might represent a threat to you.”

“Hey!”

“Of course, some of them stand out. The Sword Saint, mainly. The Captain, Marcos Gildark, is also incredibly dangerous. He doesn’t stand a chance against me, of course, but he is one of the most powerful men in the country. There is Blue, whom you are already aware of, and then the so-called Finest Knight,” Regulus continues.

“If you see a man in a torn knight uniform with purple hair and yellow eyes, run. Even just staying in his vicinity is gambling with your life. Don’t get near him. Ever,” Frederica advises. 

“…understood,” Subaru says, very worried. 

“The Vice Captain of the Knights is another special case, but I’m sure Louanna’s told you about Heinkel already,” Regulus says. He seems faintly amused about something.

“Not really,” Subaru mutters, having been far too busy this past week to ask Louanna anything. 

“Assuredly, the most dangerous person we might face in the capital besides the Sword Saint is his grandfather. The Sword Demon,” Frederica interrupts. 

“Scary name,” Subaru says. He’ll ask for clarification on the Vice Captain later, the Sword Demon sounded way more important.

“He is a very scary man,” Frederica says, her voice hard. “The Sword Demon is the one responsible for— my brother.” 

“Right,” Subaru says, remembering what Frederica had told him in a loop that was now lost. “What are you going to do if your brother’s there, then?”

“I will ask him to come home. If he refuses, I won’t take no for an answer.” Subaru can’t see Frederica’s face, as she’s driving the dragon carriage, and he can’t tell from her tone whether she is expressing rage or grief. Maybe some of both.

“Trying to save an enemy will make saving Emilia significantly harder. However, I could never bar your right from trying. After Emilia has been rescued, we can attempt to rescue Garfiel. Of course, all previous attempts were thwarted by the Sword Demon or his grandson, and this one might be as well,” Regulus sighs, flicking his hand around dismissively.

“You’ve tried before?” Subaru asks.

“Yes,” Frederica says, seeming to bite on her words.

“Well, you didn’t have me before, and I’ll do my best,” Subaru says, trying to be reassuring.

“You don’t even know what you’d be up against. I appreciate the optimism, though,” Frederica says.

“Tell me what I’d be up against, then,” Subaru insists. Frederica is an incredibly caring person, brave and cheerful even with her melancholy; she would be fulfilled living a normal life, but in this world of trials and danger, such a thing is barred to both her and her brother.

“Garfiel is trapped inside his beast form. Mentally, if not always physically… from the few times I have seen him since I’ve lost him, he is nothing like who he used to be. He will need some sense beaten into him,” Frederica’s fist tightens on the ground dragon’s reins. 

“Beast form?” Subaru asks.

“Garfiel is a weretiger,” Regulus says. That was scary! 

“Why are all our enemies so dangerous?” Subaru complains, sinking his head into his arms. This isekai adventure has so far proven incredibly difficult. 

“We are fighting the ruling force of the country, you realize,” Regulus says. He places a finger on Subaru's forehead, moving him until they are once again meeting eyes. “Please look at people who are speaking to you. The only rights the nobles care for are their own. It is immoral and disgusting. The Sword Demon is one of the worst offenders; the amount of lives he has destroyed is immeasurable.”

“He kills a lot of people, then?” Subaru asks.

“Yes, but his disregard for life extends to even more horrific degrees. Garfiel, the Sword Saint, Blue, the Finest Knight, even the Princess Felt herself— the Sword Demon has sinned against them all, breaking their minds and their Od-given souls. Even the most murderous of the country’s most infamous weapons were once children. Wilhelm van Astrea must be killed. His sacrilege cannot be stood for,” Regulus says.

It takes a few hours, but the dragon carriage eventually gets to the capital; Frederica parks at what she terms to be a ‘safe house.’

“At least, as safe as we can get while within these walls,” Frederica says, unlocking the house door. It is in the middle-class of the city, and though it seems mostly unused, there are traces of occasional maintenance. “Huh. Did he really find the time to check up on this place?”

“He?” Subaru asks.

“Our agent in the capital, of course. How else could we keep up on defending the country from its rulers’ machinations if we weren’t able to get accurate information?” Regulus asks, sliding over to sit down at a table.

“Why haven’t I heard about this!?” Subaru asks. It seemed he always learned everything too late.

“You have now,” Frederica says; she’s not bothering to sit down, and instead paces nervously. Subaru supposes he technically can’t argue with her.

“According to the banners as we drove into the city, the Royal Selection Announcement will occur later today. The castle will be distracted during that time, so we can sneak in, and then rescue Emilia— and possibly Garfiel— after the announcement ends,” Regulus says.

“Why not during the announcement?” Subaru asks.

“Because the most dangerous people in the capital will all be gathered with Emilia in the same room,” Frederica says. Subaru should have thought of that.

“Okay, how are we getting in? A secret passage? Ooh, we should have disguises!” Subaru says, already getting excited. It was mission time! Surely it couldn’t go too badly. He’d already gotten past the rough patch of the adventure, hasn’t he? Now it was time to prove himself the protagonist, and Emilia’s beloved! After he saved her, then they could finally go on that date.

“Disguises aren’t a half-bad idea?” Frederica says, leading the boys to a dusty closet; when she pulls it open, they all end up coughing. Even Regulus, which strikes Subaru as strange. The guy could be invincible and untouchable whenever he wanted, why did he so rarely turn his Authority on? “Oh… most of this belongs to Louanna. I don’t think there’s anything here that— Subaru, why are you putting a dress on.”

“Disguises,” Subaru says, displaying immaculate logic. “Here, Regulus, you’ll look good in this one.” 

“What?” Regulus asks. A dress is thrown over his head.

“I guess that works?” Frederica says, sounding unsure.

“I can make some wigs too,” Subaru says, digging through the closet. Maybe he’s not invincible, but he can definitely show off some skills! “These dresses are small, though. Louanna’s kinda short.” Something in Frederica’s size would fit Subaru or Regulus more.

“These ones might be better, then,” Frederica says, walking to the very back of the closet. Dresses for a somewhat taller woman hang all wrapped up, seeming as though they have not been touched in years. “I had wondered if some of Theresia’s might be here.”

“All of you will behold the magnificence of Natsumi Schwartz!” Subaru announces. 

“Who?” Regulus asks, tugging the dress off his head with annoyance.

“You need a name too. Regina… George. Ha!” Subaru applauds himself on making a reference that neither of his friends will understand.

“Why do you keep getting me into these situations?” Regulus grumbles, looking at the dress as though it will bite.

“That’s what friends do!” Subaru says, and Regulus’ eyes get very wide. Right, the guy had some weird complex over being friendless… “Anyway! It’s fashion show time!” Subaru finds himself a dress of black and scarlet, and assigns Regulus one in gold. Frederica gets a lavender purple.

“You can’t force me to wear a dress. That infringes on my honor as a man,” Regulus says.

“Don’t worry, we won’t tell Sylphy,” Frederica says, as if to indulge him.

“That’s worse!” Regulus protests.

“So you will wear a dress if we do tell Sylphy?” Subaru asks. Regulus sputters. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“This is a rescue mission! It’s not supposed to be fun!” 

“Even in the hard times, it is always a good idea to find the joy in life,” Frederica says. She has a soft smile on her face as she examines the lavender dress. “Trying to repress emotions because they don’t feel appropriate for the situation is never a good idea. That, I can attest to.” 

“At least I’ll be unrecognizable,” Regulus acquiesces. For a house that’s not used often, the place has enough materials for Subaru to properly feminize himself and his friend. Makeup could make them so pretty! Pity Subaru was only halfway good with it. It had been a while since he had last properly crossdressed, so at least his styling skills haven’t decreased. He’s able to clip and arrange a pair of wigs in a way that seems natural, and though the dresses don’t need much adjustment, they have to be able to properly hold additions to their chests, too. Subaru spins around in front of a tall mirror. He doesn’t sound very much like a woman, but he looks beautiful. He looks like his mom, part of him realizes, and his heart feels like glass. What kind of adventure was one where you never get to see your family again, huh… Subaru would just have to save Frederica’s brother for her. 

“Regulus, do you have any family?” Subaru asks, looking over to the white-haired boy. Regulus had a plain face, but his striking golden eyes were easy to accentuate.

“Not anymore,” Regulus sighs. “I remember nothing of my early childhood, but I grew up in a town that no longer exists where living felt like dying. We always gave what we could to each other, even though we had nothing. At the end of the day, we had each other… but even wanting to keep them was too greedy of a wish to be granted. The town, and all my family with it, was wiped off of the map by a skirmish between forces that we had nothing to do with. The rulers of Lugnica care nothing for the rights of the citizens they should protect. I survived because my brothers protected me; if I’d had my Authority then, things might have been different. Cor Leonis can only be activated intermittently, painfully, without at least one other person connected to it; I met Sylphy when I first awakened that power entirely unconsciously, to save her from a horrible violation. When I kept on running, I had someone else running beside me— we had nowhere to go until we came across the Sanctuary, but at some point during our travels my heart found its way to hers. The fact that she has never refused it is a grace I am unworthy of… but she is my family in every way that matters.”  

“Oh. That’s… well, I’m glad you have each other,” Subaru says. This world was full of tragedies. He looks down at his gloved fingers, and clenches hands; he’d do his best to make all the sadness cease. For Emilia, and for everyone.

“I used to live in Sanctuary, with my mother, Ryuzu-san, and Garfiel,” Frederica says. “Mother left first. That was the last time I saw her. Garfiel left next— Royal Knights had found the Sanctuary, and he took his beast form to save us all. He was only seven… he couldn’t take the blood on his hands. The knights were not the only people he had killed in his fear and rage. It is my eternal regret that I wasn’t able to stop him when he ran away. I left the Sanctuary myself, then— it was only two years later that I finally saw him again, under the Sword Demon’s control and leashed to the Princess. I tried to bring him home. I tried. So many times. Od only knows why I haven’t been killed yet, but as long as I’m alive, I’ll keep trying. As long as he’s alive, I’ll keep trying until I can bring him back home.” 

***

Regulus is not the only person being made to wear dresses.

“I hate this,” Felt snarls, kicking the bedroom door open; Reinhard is waiting outside, and he glances over her, appearing to be satisfied with the ‘Princess-appropriate’ yellow dress she has reluctantly gotten into. As much as Reinhard can be satisfied with anything, anyway; in all eight years that Felt has been stuck with him as her bodyguard and jailer, only one thing has ever gotten him to show any emotion. There’s something seriously wrong with him. He makes a good weapon, though, if nothing else. (She wished he could be anything else.)

“Do not fear your opponents at the announcement today,” Reinhard says. There is less emotion in his voice than there is flavor in water.

“I’m not scared!” Felt protests, but as usual, he understands her perfectly while she does not understand him at all. Of course she was scared— the Sun Princess would kill her as soon as look at her, the Valkyrie was more capable and ruthless than Felt could ever be, Satella’s vessel from the actual Witch Cult had been brought to the stage. Worst of all, the Queen of the Hoshin Company had Julius on a leash. Even with Reinhard eternally by her side, Felt couldn’t help but be worried about everyone standing in her path to the throne. She needed to reach it— she had to. Only when she reached the top of the kingdom could she order Reinhard to destroy it. 

“I will protect you, Felt-sama,” Reinhard says.

“Yeah, yeah,” Felt grumbles. Having the most powerful man in the world by her side felt nice sometimes, but she knew the limits of his loyalty— his moral compass was determined by the ranking of whoever gave him an order. Reinhard had been assigned as Felt’s knight, but he wouldn’t kill the Sage Council for her. He also wasn’t permitted to kill Wilhelm for her, most pressingly. Felt would do anything to see the Sword Demon executed. If she became King, she would have the authority to tell Reinhard to kill his grandfather, and get revenge for the loss of her own. The Sword Demon had killed Rom while kidnapping Felt to rule the kingdom, and so she swore she’d kill both him and the kingdom dead. But if she could change Volcanica’s contract with the Witch, too… maybe everything didn’t have to be over. Felt wasn’t sure if she wanted to destroy the world or save it. 

“Where’s Garfiel?” she asks.

“Grandfather decided Garfiel is too volatile to attend the announcement. He's in his room,” Reinhard explains. Volatile… Garfiel had been Felt’s shield since she had run into the kid and Wilhelm had decided Felt would benefit from a guard around her age. He was her shield as Reinhard was her sword, and instead of being emotionless was the exact opposite. Reinhard didn’t kill without an order, but Garfiel wouldn’t stop killing unless he was ordered. He was still less annoying than Reinhard, somehow.

“Julius isn’t coming, is he?” Felt asks, suddenly worried. The Finest Knight outdid Garfiel’s volatility by an immeasurable count.

“I believe he is,” Reinhard says. Felt grimaces. She didn’t want to see Julius ever again— and even so, whenever she did, she always tried to talk to him, despite Reinhard having to save her life every time. Hah… if trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results was madness, maybe someday she’d be out of her mind enough that she would be on Julius’ level. That would be nice.

Felt continues down the palace hallway, windows on one side and paintings on the other; the view of neither touches her heart. Reinhard matches her pace easily, but stays half a step behind her— as though he could not travel faster than the speed of sound if he so desired. Desired, hah. As if. No, he just walked behind her because he had once been ordered to; Reinhard never made any choices for himself. He was the only person Felt was able to count on, which was really sad, seeing as he wasn’t much of a person at all. She’d pressed him more than a few times; for opinions, for humanity, for anything that would prove he was more than a walking sword, but all her efforts had fallen short. The fact of the matter was, if someone of a higher rank ordered it, Reinhard would execute her in an instant. All the power he held that was at Felt’s fingertips— only the whim of the Sage Council meant that he hadn’t killed her the same way he had ever killed anyone at her request. Things like friendship and love meant nothing to him. (Felt wished they could mean nothing to her, too.) 

Wilhelm is standing at the end of the hall. 

“Fenrisa-sama,” he says; he always insists on using the name Felt refuses to claim. Reinhard bows briefly to his grandfather, face as blank as his soul, but Wilhelm’s expression is pinched with anger. How else could he be expected to react to the boy who had murdered both his mother and grandmother? Felt growls at Wilhelm; she’d see him dead one day. 

“Let me guess, you’re supporting Crusch Karsten,” Felt says. The Sword Demon and the Karstens were infamous for breaking people into dangerous, obedient living weapons; Garfiel was one such result. Some part of Felt regretted what she’d done to him. It was only a small part, though. From what Felt heard, Reinhard had lost his soul at the age of five; she was sure that Wilhelm was at fault for that one as well. (And she could definitely blame him for what had happened to Julius and Joshua.) 

“I would never support any other,” Wilhelm says. Felt reluctantly follows him to the announcement room. She wasn’t sure if he hated her or Reinhard more— despite the blood on the Sword Saint’s hands, none of it had been spilled from his own initiative. Felt doubted he had any will in the first place, which was part of the reason why she’d told him to kill Louanna Astrea. She’d been surprised when Reinhard had sliced his mother in half without hesitation. (She had thought that he would refuse her. She had really, really thought that he would refuse her. Why hadn’t he?) Felt’s head jerks up when a door slams open in front of the trio, and out stumbles the other half of the reason she had wanted Louanna dead.

“Heinkel,” Wilhelm says, looking very disapprovingly at his son. Heinkel is leaning desperately on a hallway table, dark bags under his eyes and face flushed red from drunkenness. He’s holding a bottle, like nearly every time Felt sees him. 

“Father!” Reinhard says— and, yes, that was the slightest change of tone in Reinhard’s voice. He stands a little straighter, and his eyes grow brighter; he does not do anything so drastic as to smile, but Reinhard’s mood always improves by a miniscule amount whenever he encounters his father.

“Get away from me, all o’ ya. Dragon-forsaken monsters,” Heinkel spits. 

“What are you doing? The Royal Selection announcement is today!” Wilhelm admonishes.

“The— Rrrrroyhal— no wonder there’s been so much commoshun,” Heinkel manages. 

“You didn’t even know?” Felt asks. Her respect for the man dropped every time she saw him, and yet somehow Reinhard’s uptick in temperament never faltered, no matter how much his father threw it back in his face. Felt didn’t understand it, and she hated it— she hated all three Astreas down to the deepest pits of her soul. “Go back to your drinks. If we’re lucky, you’ll kill yourself with them.” Felt continues walking, dragging Reinhard along with her. He makes a sad sound, and Felt knows the idiot would have liked to just stand there and let his father insult him, but Felt doesn’t have time for that. Today is the day she truly starts on the path to become King. Everyone in her way will die. Everyone. 

“It’s good to see that Father is doing well,” Reinhard says, because he’s willfully blind when it comes to Heinkel. It made no sense at all.

“How did he even manage to get inside that room? Isn’t that usually locked?” Felt wonders. The room Heinkel had fallen out of contained a very top-secret passage. Felt had tried to escape through it more than once, but Reinhard had always returned her to her Royal imprisonment. She didn’t try anymore. 

“I wouldn’t know,” Reinhard says.

“Don’t give me that. If you’re not stalking me, you’re stalking your dad,” Felt huffs. Reinhard looks away from her, and she knows she’s hit the mark. “You’re weird and I hate you.”

“Yes, Felt-sama,” Reinhard says, any flickers of emotion now so vanished Felt could believe they never had existed. She sighs. 

The royal hall is crowded; the whole Order of Knights is here, as are other visiting nobles, more of which arrive every few minutes. Blue is hanging off Crusch in the corner, and Priscilla is looking down her nose at everyone, the mysterious helmeted Aldebaran at her side. Up on the dais, next to the Sage Council’s seats, is Satella’s vessel, chained to a chair. Felt’s still annoyed that she and Reinhard hadn’t been able to kill her— having a representative of the Witch Cult in the running for the Royal Selection was an insult to the sanctity of life. Felt didn’t care about the lives of anyone all that much anymore, but the Witch Cult were mass murderers who wanted the entire world dead— and as much as Felt wanted the kingdom torn down, she also wished she could reverse time and make the world whole once more. Why had the Dragon Tablet claimed the vessel of the Witch of Envy herself as a Royal Candidate? It was almost as baffling as Reinhard’s thought process. Felt hears a shocked gasp, and looks back at Wilhelm, who is staring intently at three women who have just entered the room.

“Aren’t they too young for you?” Felt asks, nevertheless unsurprised. There was a tall girl who looked like she could be Garfiel’s sister, one with black hair who seemed very refined, and a third with fluffy white hair who looks rather nervous.

“I remember Theresia wearing outfit choices similar to those three,” Wilhelm says, lost in a far away memory. Right, of course. He never would think about any woman but his long-dead wife. It was a pity Theresia had died before Felt could kill her. Anyway, it seemed like almost everyone important was here. Felt leans against Reinhard, already bored. She wanted to get this whole thing over with. 

The doors to the royal hall slam open, and Felt’s blood chills in her veins. Reinhard’s hand on her shoulder stops her from shaking with fear, and she hates how comforting he is, despite everything— because at the end of the day, Reinhard van Astrea will never die. Not even to the storm in human form that strides up the path, towards the empty throne. The ripped remains of a knight uniform hang off his shoulders, and long purple hair falls in matted, unwashed stripes; yellow eyes are the heralds of a madness beyond comprehension, and six spirits flicker intermittently around him as the source of Felt’s fear continues forwards. There is not a single soul who dares to stand in the Finest Knight’s way; to test him is to taste his blade— and with his fragmented psyche, to test him could mean anything at all. The sheath of his sword is stained with dried blood, and broken decorative chains swing against each other in the sudden silence borne by Julius Juukulius’ arrival.

“Do not worry, Joshua, no one will think badly of you if you have to leave early,” Julius says, speaking disarming words over his shoulder to absolutely no one at all. Joshua had died at Julius’ hand a very long time ago. “Very well… presenting, Anastasia Hoshin-sama, of the Hoshin Company in Kararagi. Please show my Lady the proper respect she is deserved.“ Julius bows before the Sage Council, and Anastasia walks only a few steps beside Julius, the fox scarf around her neck seeming to wink at Felt with its jeweled eyes.

“…thank you, Sir Julius,” Wilhelm says. 

“Aw, you guys don’t have to be so worried. Julius knows exactly who he belongs to,” Anastasia says. She makes a gesture as Julius rises to his feet.

“I understand. All eyes on you is a bit much, is it not?” Julius says, speaking to someone only he can see. “Anastasia-sama, Joshua would rather it if we stayed on the side.” Felt stays entirely still, unmoving as Julius walks to an out-of-the-way place. The rest of the hall has fallen quiet, as well; the world knows just how quickly Julius can switch from a mad courtesy to an equally mad rage. Anastasia was able to control his hallucinations somehow, which meant all of Julius’ power was in the palm of her hand. When Felt was King— she didn’t know what she wanted to do with Julius, not truly. Despite how many times Reinhard had just barely stopped Julius from killing her, despite how he painted his sword with blood as easy as breathing, despite how he spoke to empty space, despite how even Blue had proclaimed the impossibility of healing his broken mind, Felt refused to let go of the hope that she could save the boy who had once been her very best friend.

Chapter Text

Subaru is beginning to wonder if he’s out of his depth. In order to get around their lack of invitation, he and Regulus had followed Frederica into the palace up through a secret passage before sneaking over to the announcement hall; the Sword Saint and Princess Felt were both there, as well as Blue and other menacing characters, whom Frederica had taken the time to point out to him. The Sword Demon had been staring at all of them, which did not help Subaru’s confidence. That offbrand red Gojo was around, too. But Natsumi Schwartz was on the job! Even so, the sight of Emilia all tied up made him grit his teeth with anger. Only the presence of so many enemies prevented Subaru from running over to try and save Emilia right then and there. Maybe Regulus could do it? He was invincible. God, Subaru was worried! Regulus and Frederica had both assured him there was a plan in place to rescue Emilia once the selection ended, but was it really safe to leave her that long? 

“Now that all Candidates have arrived, the announcement can begin,” one of the Sages says. Subaru hears some scuffling, and turns to see an unkempt red-haired man entering the room through the side door. Quite possibly, the only person who looks worse-off than this newcomer was the terrifying Julius. 

“That’s Heinkel,” Frederica whispers. Subaru could see why he was termed a special case. The guy could barely stand straight. Maybe he was dangerous when he wasn’t drunk? 

“I am Duchess Crusch Karsten, otherwise known as the Valkyrie,” the woman with green hair says austerely, stepping forwards; Felix seems to be practically attached to her. What kind of woman was she, to have such a person at her command? “When I become King, I will make Lugnica’s army into a force strong enough to combat any threat. Wild mabeasts, the Witch Cult, Gusteko and Vollachia, even the god-Dragon Volcanica should he ever return— all of them will fall before our might. And most importantly, I swear that the Witch of Envy will die. I refuse to re-contract with her. I will kill her, and end her threat for all time. We will make this country as proud and strong as it once was underneath the first Lion King!” The room takes this information with surprise; Subaru does not understand the context, but it seems a very bold declaration. Apparently this girl was the other half of the problem that the Sword Demon caused, though, so Subaru would be wary of her. Next up to the stage is the woman that Julius had announced as Anastasia Hoshin. She smiles quite proudly despite the monster in her service. 

“I’m a greedy gal,” she says. “I want everything in this world to be mine, up to and including the Kingdom of Lugnica and everyone in it. Profits’ll soar, trust me— I have the power and experience to back my words up. I already own most of Kararagi. Isn’t there something really tempting about th’idea of having everything you’ve ever wanted? I can promise I’ll distribute wealth to those who deserve it. This country will be the richest it’s ever been, and I’ll be the richest I’ve ever been at the head of it. My contract with the Witch will benefit us all.”

“Well, at least she’s upfront about it,” Subaru sighs. This was the second time a contract with the Witch had been mentioned, what was up with that? Didn’t these guys all hate Satella? 

“If only that Finest Knight was not by her side,” Regulus sneers, making Subaru worried he’s going to mess up his makeup. “If she tasted even a fraction of the pain she’s brought to the world… justice would be served. More importantly, I wish that the collars of all those who have fallen to her claws are broken. Anastasia Hoshin cares for the rights of no souls except her own, and her own must be stained as black as rot. Depraved, disgusting woman!”

“That sounds personal,” Subaru says. 

“It is. When her Iron Fang pursued escaped slaves near a patrol from Gusteko, my home village was the casualty,” Regulus hisses.

“We’ll take her down along with Karsten, then,” Subaru says. The next woman to stand on the dais has a red dress and orange hair; she is quite beautiful, but something about her aura evokes terror. Subaru can think of at least two huge reasons why he’d be wary of fighting her. 

“I am Priscilla Barielle. This Royal Selection is an unneeded farce, as the title of King already belongs to mineself in every way that matters. Consider yourself blessed by the fact that mineself deigns to play this Selection game. I believe it will be interesting to see my so-called competitors fail pathetically. Your purpose is to amuse me as I ascend to the throne. As for re-contracting with the Witch, my desires are for mineself to know, and thine to discover,” she says. 

“Anything I should know about her?” Subaru asks.

“We know that her knight Aldebaran has an Authority, but aside from that… compared to the other Candidates, the Sun Princess is relatively normal, as far as we’re aware,” Frederica says. Her tone is vague, indicating her interest in Priscilla Barielle is insignificant.

“How are they all chosen again? Through some divine dragon?” Subaru asks.

“The dragon’s will is inscrutable,” Regulus says. Subaru peers at the one-handed man in the helmet; he didn’t look like the type of guy to have an Authority, but Subaru supposes that isn’t the type of thing that can be seen. Anyone in this room— from Felt, to Reinhard, to Felix, to even the Sword Demon— could have an Authority, and Subaru wouldn’t have the faintest idea. Speaking of Felt, it’s her turn next; she is younger than her competitors, but it seems she doesn’t lack energy. 

“I’m going to become King for one reason only, and that’s to tear this kingdom down. Royals, nobles, all your messed-up institutions— I’m burning it all to ashes and dancing on your graves!” Felt announces with a vicious grin, throwing her hands into the air above her head. “The Divine Dragon’s chosen me, and you’ve gotta deal with it! All you rich bastards better make your wills before the Selection is up— and as for re-contracting with the Witch, I’m gonna make sure she restores the world. That’s right. I’m gonna have her reset and bring back the entire half of the world she did away with.” The contract… that was the thing keeping the world trapped in the time loops, wasn’t it? But also preventing Envy from becoming free. 

“I cannot believe the Dragon chose someone as boorish as you,” Priscilla says.

“Ha! Volcanica chose a Witch Cultist and you’re deriding me?” Felt asks. She stomps across the dais to where Emilia is, and removes a metal collar that had been around her neck. The Sage Council all take offense at this.

“Don’t release her!” one of them shouts. “If she can speak, she can cast spells!” 

“Chill, the Sword Saint’s right here,” Felt says, tossing the collar over her shoulder. “Well, Witch Cultist? What’re you gonna do if you become King?” Subaru watches as Emilia takes a few breaths, her hands clenching into fists.

“I won’t follow your dragon. I won’t become your King. I want equality,” she says, her beautiful voice ringing clearly through the room. “Between nobility and commoners. Between humans and demihumans. We are all people, with Od-given souls, and this country’s discriminatory system has existed for far too long. The strong are to protect the weak, not hurt them— and I will protect everyone within my reach.” Emilia’s kindness, as always, was incredible. Her words seem to have taken many aback, especially Felt, who stands there with a strange look of shock in her eyes. She shakes her head, grimacing.

“You can’t fool us. Tell us what kind of contract you wish to make with your Witch.” 

“I will end the contract, and set Satella free,” Emilia says. Unfortunately, no one here has the context on the time loop thing.

“We cannot have such a danger in the running to be King!” Crusch protests.

“We must cut the half-devil down,” Priscilla says, moving to reach for some hidden weapon. 

“If the Dragon Tablet won’t let ya kill her, just shove her in a dungeon until the Selection’s over,” Anastasia says, snapping her fingers. “Alternately, I’ve got a few places myself that could handle her. Elves are pretty strong, which is useful.” 

“I agree with Priscilla. On the murder part, not the racism,” Felt says. “Also, Anastasia, you’re disgusting.” 

“It’s decided, then?” one of the sages asks. 

“We can’t. To directly order the execution of a Dragon Maiden, even despite everything…”

“There is reasonable cause. She’s not only a Witch Cultist, but is the key to releasing the Witch of Envy into the world.” 

“You all are IDIOTS,” a loud voice calls out; it’s Heinkel, leaning against the wall behind the rest of the Order of Knights. “We have a Witch Cultist captured for the first time in years, and you want to put that to waste by killing her?”

“Heinkel is correct. We have a unique opportunity here,” the Sword Demon says, looking Emilia over appraisingly. Oh, that did not sound good.

“You will never miss a chance to torture someone, will you?” Felt sneers. “However painfully I will eventually kill you, it will never make up for what you’ve done to others.”

“You speak as though you have ever cared for others besides yourself,” the Sword Demon retorts, voice hard. “You are the reason Louanna is dead. Think about that before you accuse me.“ What? Louanna? Subaru doesn’t understand.

“Why’rrre you blaming the kid. We all know Louanna’s dead ’cause of him,” Heinkel says, pointing directly towards Reinhard. The Sword Saint does not react to this statement in any way that Subaru can perceive, but Felt elbows him.

“You have got to be kidding me,” she hisses at her bodyguard. “And you two, stop ruining the murder discussion with your stupid family drama! No one cares! Sword Saint, kill Satella’s vessel already.” Reinhard starts to step towards Emilia, but the Sword Demon holds out his hand, and Reinhard ceases his movement. 

“Don’t,” the Sword Demon says.

“Do it!” Felt snaps. Reinhard takes another step forwards, but then immediately stops again. He continues to move towards and away from Emilia at the words of each of the two, his facial expression only a blank nothingness. What was this? Was the guy a robot? Felt and the Sword Demon were gonna keep ordering him back and forth until one of them was faster than the other— and then— 

“I have to do something,” Subaru hisses, turning to Frederica. Frederica is not there. “Where did she go?”

“To find Garfiel while everyone is gathered in this room,” Regulus explains. Right— if Frederica can make a move, so can Subaru. He turns to walk out of the crowd. “No, Subaru, wait!”

“What do you mean, wait?” Subaru hisses. Regulus has grabbed his shoulder. 

“Trying to save her here is incredibly dangerous. There is absolutely no way that a Dragon-chosen candidate will be allowed to be killed, do you understand? We can save her after the selection announcement. Listen to me!” 

“There might not be a later!” People are beginning to glance back at their whispered argument, but Subaru doesn’t want to wait another second. Even if the Sword Saint and Blue are here, Subaru has had enough; he pulls off his wig before shoving his way out of the crowd to stand in the center of the main carpet. All eyes are on him, but Emilia’s are the most important.

“You won’t do anything to her!” Subaru yells, striding up to the dais determinedly. He doesn’t have a plan, but he bets he can bluff his way through this, and if he gets killed he can just try again. Try again, until he saves Emilia. “I am the Sin Archbishop of Envy, Emilia-tan’s protector! I will help her free Satella, and all of you Knights and Candidates will pay for what you have done— you murderers, slavers, monsters!” Subaru is furious at this terrible world, but he knows he is the hero who will bring it into the light. 

“Well now. This’ll be fun,” Anastasia says, smiling teasingly, and before Subaru can process her words, something slams into his head hard and he’s thrown to the ground. The whistling of wind whips at the carpet, and Subaru turns around to see the terrifying figure of the Finest Knight standing over him.

“You dare show such disrespect before my Lady?” he asks, eyes shadowed with rage and a sword in his hand. Subaru gets the feeling he may have made a mistake.

“EVERYONE, BOOK IT!” Felt shrieks, and a burst of elemental magic explodes out of Julius as the entire royal hall runs for cover. Wind carves up the floor as jagged stone erupts from it, and rings of fire spin across the ceiling as ice crawls up the wall; the attendees of the Selection announcement try to flee for their lives. More than a few don’t make it. Nobility, Sage Council, the Order of Knights all; none of them but the Sword Saint dare to stand against the storm. Julius’ stomps on Subaru’s chest hard enough to crack his ribs, and he howls in pain, curling into a ball. The pommel of Julius’ sword slams into his face again, merciless, and flashes of wind tear Subaru’s shirt open, slashing his back like stripes of a whip. Subaru tries to get to his feet again, but Julius waves his hand and Subaru’s clothes catch on fire. He tries to put it out by rolling on the carpet, but the wild wind only makes the flames burn brighter. The whole room is shaking.

“And they call you a knight,” Subaru gasps out, his vision blurry. Pain pulses across his entire body.

“Rescind your proclamation. You have disparaged the honor of the Order of your Knights by naming yourself one!” Julius yells, grinning as he delivers violent punishment. “That is not knightly AT ALL! Not at all, not at all!” 

“What— I never did that!” Subaru says. Julius kicks him in the mouth, and Subaru’s head snaps backwards as he spits out blood along with teeth. The ground buckles underneath his hands, trapping him in place, and Julius continues beating him, the sheathed sword tearing lacerations and bruises without pause. Subaru struggles, but he’s completely helpless, out of breath and out of options. He’s being knocked around pathetically, and hasn’t a single chance for anything beyond feeling hurt— the only reason he’s not dead yet is that Julius seems to desire his humiliation.

Fiery lines of wind carve constant furrows into the ground and walls that could slice Subaru in half in an instant; bodies are already strewn across the floor from Julius’ wild magic. Regulus is trying to rescue Emilia, Subaru realizes, seeing his white-haired friend in combat out of the corner of his eye— thank God Reinhard had took off with Felt! Subaru had to get out of this trap— he had to beat Julius— he had to prove himself worthy of the woman he loved! Subaru manages to twist his body in time for Julius to smash straight through one of Subaru’s restraints with his mad attacks, and Subaru rolls to the side, every inch of his form protesting, every muscle screaming at him. More bones snap as the sheathed sword beats against Subaru’s back, and he cries out in pain. 

“Stop fighting me. Surrender, and maybe retain a modicum of your honor,” Julius says, as though he has any idea why he is swinging his sword. His eloquent speech is a horrible contrast to the mad expression on his face. 

“I’m not fighting you at HHHHAAAAAAA—“ Subaru screeches when Julius grabs his arm and twists it back with the sound of a horrible pop before it falls limply. Subaru has the presence of mind to realize Julius has dislocated his arm before the sheathed sword swings around to slam directly between Subaru’s legs with a crack.

Subaru doesn’t have the presence of mind for much of anything after that. The pain eclipses all, his vision is blacking out as he tries to crawl away, and Julius still doesn’t let up, talking about knightly honor the entire time. Subaru just needs to… get out of here. Get to Emilia. Julius is toying with him, tossing him around the room like a ragdoll just for his own amusement, seeing something entirely different in his delusions. There’s blood all over Subaru, and it’s only half his own— some of the visiting nobles had been far too close to Julius’ storm.

“You saw her face. You heard what she said. You were not trying to defend Emilia-sama’s honor, but put yourself on a pedestal,” Julius says. “Keep in mind you could have been executed for such insults as you have thrown. I WILL EXECUTE YOU FOR TREASON. This duel did not have to be with wooden swords. Will you not accept your defeat? Accept it, accept it, ACCEPT IT!” Subaru can’t even think of a response to this one. Actually, he does have something to say.

“Shamak!” Subaru breathes, and a cloud of magical darkness erupts from his body, vanishing all sensation. For a single second, it’s a wonderful peace, and it does the job of distracting Julius for a moment— and then an actual lion dashes through the smoke, grabbing Subaru by the skirt and keeping on running. The world flashes by him, and he catches sight of Regulus and Emilia running alongside. The wall behind him suddenly breaks apart, and Subaru sees a fifteen-foot tall tiger Kaiju tear through the wall, eyes red and roaring; he clashes with Julius as magical stone flies everywhere, and that’s the last thing Subaru sees before his eyes close.

Subaru wakes up to find himself lying on a floor again, surrounded by darkness. Emilia is over him, looking worried.

“Subaru, you foolish, foolish— you almost died! Why did you do that?” she cries. Subaru notices vaguely that nothing really hurts anymore.

“You’re lucky. The Finest Knight’s delusions lead him to murder more often than not.” Puck says; he must have been freed from the crystal in the meantime. “We were able to heal you, but that stupid statement of yours could have been your last.”

“Frederica ran in with Garfiel after her, which thankfully interrupted everything enough that we were able to flee, but we’re still not out of the palace yet,” Regulus says. He’s glancing towards all sides of the room, watching for any sign of movement. 

“What about the secret passage?” Subaru asks.

“We might have to split up to get to it safely,” Frederica says, helping support Subaru. “Can you walk?”

“I think so,” Subaru says, standing shakily to his feet. His face is burning, but it’s not from pain; rather, the feeling of embarrassment that came from how he’d so proudly walked up to the dais only to be beaten within an inch of his life by a delusional knight.

“Subaru… don’t you have something to say?” Emilia says. She seems hesitant. 

“What?” Subaru asks. “I guess— I’m sorry, I couldn’t beat Julius. I really overestimated myself, huh? I’ll be stronger next time. I won’t let you down.”

“You didn’t listen to Regulus.” Emilia says. There are still manacles around her wrists, although the chain between them has been broken.

“Huh?” Subaru asks. He doesn’t understand.

“I told you not to reveal yourself. We could have easily rescued Emilia without trouble after the Selection, and now all of us could be captured.” Regulus snaps. “You put all of us in danger for your own ego. Are you satisfied?”

“I thought—“ He had thought if anything had gone wrong, he would just die. Then he could start all over again, and make everything right. The Authority of Envy was his isekai power, he should use it! Subaru glances between Emilia and Regulus desperately, but neither are pleased with his response, and Puck hovers judgementally. It’s not fair, it’s not about ego! It’s about what only he can do, what he has been doing all this time. “You need me! I can save you all!” 

“Give me one reason for me to believe that. Please,” Emilia says; and Subaru tries to speak of Return by Death, but he cannot gather the air for words. Speaking of it is barred by Satella’s soft but stifling hand, a defense against Envy.

“Shush. Now is not the time for a breakdown.” Frederica flicks Subaru in the forehead. 

“I’m not having a breakdown!”

“You kind of are,” Puck says.

“I’m going to protect Emilia because I love her,” Subaru insists. 

“Do you?” Emilia asks. He stares at her. “The version of me that lives in your head must be someone wonderful, Subaru. Something like a goddess, or a hero… but I’m not Satella. I’m just Emilia.” Subaru tries to argue, but he can’t find any words. “After we escape, I’ll find another sect of the Witch Church that might need an extra man.”

“Emilia—“ Subaru starts. He feels his heart breaking, and it’s a worse shattering than anything Julius beat into him.

“We could all be killed because you didn’t listen. You almost died too, and I don’t want to watch you get yourself so hurt again,” Emilia says. “I’m sorry. I want to be able to trust you, but I don’t know what you’re thinking, and I can’t let you endanger not only the Church but the entire kingdom, the entire world that depends on us.” The worst part is, Subaru understands her. The person he’d centered his new life around, and she’s turning him away, and he can’t even tell her she’s wrong for doing so. 

The group continues silently through the palace halls; the shadows of searching knights run past them, footsteps filling Subaru’s ears. Making their way through hidden halls, it soon becomes clear that escape will be much harder than entering. 

“I should have expected your group would come to rescue the Witch’s vessel,” the Sword Demon says, standing in their way. Blocking off the corridor from the other end is a teenage boy with blond hair. He wears something that might once have been a Lugnican knight uniform, but has been torn into resembling a ragged vest and shorts. It doesn’t take Subaru long to realize who this must be.

“Long time no see, Frederica,” says Garfiel Tinsel, punching his fist into his palm. “I’ve wondered what you were doing every time ya showed up, but joining the Witch Cult?” He shakes his head, and flexes his hands. “You better get far away from here.”

“What? No, you need to come with me!” Frederica stalks up to him, her stature a determined contrast to the anguish in her voice. “Garfiel, please. Come home. I miss you, Ryuzu misses you, Sanctuary misses you.”

“Nuh-uh,” Garfiel says. His arm suddenly shifts into a feline muscle-bound tool of murder. “Which one o’ya should my amazin’ self eat first?” 

“What?” Frederica asks, and Garfiel lunges forwards, Frederica only barely stopping him as his upper body shifts entirely into that of a ferocious beast. Subaru glances frantically between the battle of siblings and the Sword Demon, who brandishes his sword while approaching at speed. 

“Your chains have not been broken,” he says, speaking with absolute denial.

“Al Hyuma!” Emilia shouts, holding her hands above her head before making a swinging motion to cast a burst of ice at their attacker, Puck summoning ice spikes of his own. The Sword Demon slices through the latter without even pausing, and the former never occurs; Emilia yelps, her magic spell cut off when her movement is halted by the chains binding her arms together. Subaru is only barely saved from being beheaded when Regulus stands in the way of the Demon’s sword, his invincibility shattering the blade into pieces before he punches the floor, breaking it underneath them. The Sword Demon and Garfiel leap down after the group as they continue to flee through the increasing chaos. 

“Run, run, run!” Subaru shouts, dashing and leaping for his life; his skirt is slashed in half as he jumps over a sword strike from the Demon meant to take his legs off, and Regulus breaks Emilia’s chains again so that she can engulf the entire area in ice. Subaru quickly finds himself separated from the rest of his friends, breathing heavily as the sounds of searching clatter around him; he dashes into a side room, pulling the door shut behind him when shadows begin flickering down the hall. Looking around in a panic, he freezes with shock when he realizes the room is near-empty— and the footsteps from outside are getting closer. The handle of the door shakes, and Subaru demonstrates his unparalleled tactical mind by picking up a lampshade and putting it over his head. Sunlight streams into the room as the door is pulled open, and Subaru stands absolutely still, not even daring to breathe as Vice Captain Heinkel peers into the darkened area. There was no way this would work, was there? The seconds that pass by are terrifying. 

“No one here!” Heinkel barks, slamming the door shut. Subaru collapses to the floor in relief. Thank God— Subaru had been chased after by the one guy who was so drunk he could barely stand straight. Maybe there was something to be said for protagonist plot armour after all. 

After that escapade, Subaru continues to make his way surreptitiously through the palace, and eventually catches up with the rest in a flurry of crashing and battling. From there, respite is found when the entire troop jumps out of a window. Their pursuers are still far behind, and Subaru doesn’t hesitate when Emilia motions everyone towards a dragon carriage. Subaru climbs into the back after everyone, and though he can hear noises in the distance, it seems they’ve escaped pursuit for now.

“Now what?” Subaru asks, while Frederica pulls the back of the carriage closed.

“We wait,” Regulus says rather tensely. 

“He said he wanted to protect me,” Frederica says, looking stunned with disbelief. There is only one person she could be speaking of. “And then he said—“

“He wanted to eat us,” Subaru says. 

“Garfiel… I’m going to come back for you,” Frederica says, almost in a whisper. 

“You still have hope, even after he refused you so?” Regulus asks.

“I have hope as long as neither of us are dead,” Frederica says. She reaches towards a blue crystal around her neck, and Subaru wonders what it signifies.

“Hope… yeah,” Subaru mutters. He looks at Emilia sideways, and clenches his fist. That was right; he could become stronger. He could prove that he could protect himself, protect everyone, protect Emilia! She wouldn’t have to throw him away. As long as he was around, as long as she was around, Subaru could still make his way back to her side.

The group waits in near-silence for at least half an hour. Subaru isn’t sure what they’re waiting for, but he’s too tired to try anything else, and he doesn’t want to mess up again. Eventually, the dragon carriage begins moving, and Subaru has to catch himself at the surprise of it. What— who was driving? Nobody else seems shocked by this development, so Subaru figures they were all waiting for someone random to take the carriage out. Relieved, he sighs and settles back in his seat. At least sneaking past one carriage driver won’t be difficult. When the loud clunk of the carriage going over the palace drawbridge passes, though, a panel in the wall separating the back of the carriage from the driver’s seat slides open, and Subaru scrambles to hide behind some of the boxes that surround him. 

“What are you doing, Subaru?” Regulus asks, watching him curiously. .

“Oh Od. Did no one tell you— ?” Frederica gasps.

“Thanks for everything, Heinkel-san!” Emilia says, brightly.

“You kids really got into a mess this time,” Heinkel Astrea says, for against all reasonable possibility, he is the one holding the ground-dragon’s reins. 

“WHAT!?” Subaru shouts. 

“I told you we had a man on the inside, silly.” Frederica says.

“You didn’t tell me it was him!” Subaru whines. All that fake wine the church was ordering— no way, he should have seen this coming!

“Re-thinking that lampshade?” Heinkel asks, and Subaru’s blood freezes. Wait— if Heinkel actually saw Subaru trying to hide, but he didn’t say anything because he’s Witch Church—

“Lampshade?” Regulus asks. 

“NOOOOOOO!” Subaru cries. Unfortunately, he will never live the lampshade down. Ever. 

Chapter Text

Five Years Ago

It has been ten years since Louanna caught Sleeping Beauty Disease; ten years of searching for a cure, ten years of drinking until he feels like he’s dying, ten years of Heinkel having the time for no one and nothing else besides his own desperate misery. It has been ten years since Theresia died, as well; since Heinkel made his mother leave in his place to a suicide mission, since Reinhard stole the Divine Protection of the Sword Saint and allowed the White Whale to kill her. Heinkel has not been searching for the White Whale— that creature is his father’s prerogative. Killing it is Wilhelm’s mission— that, and training the living sword that is Reinhard into the kingdom’s weapon. Heinkel does not go near the boy who killed his mother; even so, it seems he is forever doomed to be faced with murderers, and it seems his past has caught up to him. 

Pulling his ground-dragon backwards, Heinkel stares up in terror at the great shadow that envelops the landscape; he had entered this valley to look for a mythical waterfall that might hold Louanna’s answer. Instead, a mabeast, as white as bone and with markings as purple as Yin magic, floats lazily in this area that shines in the sun. Its great yellow eye fixes Heinkel’s own, and he finds himself frozen, the ground-dragon underneath him shivering like a rabbit. His blood feels as cold as snow, despite the rays that cascade from up above, and as the whale turns ponderously towards him, he knows his time— ten years of wasted life, and Louanna, to be left sleeping, left all alone!— has come to an end. He has heard tales of this monster; he knows how it left not even a trace of his mother, and that it is rumored to be the pet of that blasphemous Witch Cult, a group of murderous menaces who wish the world dead in Satella’s name.  

“Hey, hey, where are you going?” a voice calls out; a figure appears in the air, silhouetted in the sunlight as it leaps from the whale’s back. Heinkel watches with no small amount of horror as the vision of the winged figure becomes clear, landing softly in the grass before him; Capella Emerada Lugnica, Sin Archbishop of Lust. Heinkel draws his sword, even though he knows full well it won’t do him any good.

“What do you want?” he asks. He will die here, he can’t fight the White Whale and a Sin Archbishop, he will die here and no one will ever find his body, just like no one ever found that of his mother.

“What do you want?” Capella asks him. She walks forwards, and her lithe figure grows taller, blond hair becoming paler and longer, her eyes flickering to blue. The sword handle is loose in Heinkel’s hand; he is looking at Louanna. He is looking at the woman he loves who is ten years lost.

“Stop. Stop!” Heinkel cries, voice hoarse. He knows his cowardice is unforgivable— leaving his mother to the Whale, leaving his son to the kingdom, leaving his wife all alone he’s going to be killed and she’s going to be alone— but does he truly deserve to be tormented so? To see the visage of sin wearing Louanna’s appearance, walking and awake? “You can’t fool me, you monster. I know that Louanna yet sleeps.” 

“Louanna… oh, I know which meatbag this is! You’re the Vice Captain of the Knights, aren’t you? This is your beautiful wife, isn’t she?” Capella asks; her voice is jarring as it laughs from Louanna’s face. Heinkel grits his teeth, and jolts his ground-dragon forwards, but he cannot make the final movement and drive the blade of his sword through Louanna’s replica. He breathes heavily; they are at an impasse.

“What do you want?” he asks, again.

“Louanna Astrea sleeps without waking, and her husband enters a valley where waters of healing are said to lie. This valley is magnificent in the way the sun shines off the waterfall, incredible in the ways the trees curve around the base of the hill, and wonderful in how it’s one of the Whale’s favorite places to sleep. Such a big piece of meat like him can’t find comfort everywhere, you know? Ahh…” Capella trails off, and stretches her arms, Louanna’s appearance stretching off her and distorting in the same way that blood trails through water. “You won’t find any healing in the waterfall. It has its passions, has sparkling stones strewn along the base and spray that flickers with rainbows, but that’s not what you’re looking for, is it? A very beautiful human meat has fallen asleep, and you miss the glory her presence gave to your pathetic life. You miss the glow of her eyes, and the softness of her hands, and the way her hair trailed over her shoulders when she drew you into a hug. You miss the beauty that she loved so, that you used to have, before you destroyed yourself looking for a cure to the sleeping death! You were so beautiful, Heinkel! What have you done to yourself!?”

“What would someone like you know about love?” Heinkel spits. Given that Capella isn’t wearing Louanna’s face anymore, he brings his sword down, slashing the diminutive Sin Archbishop almost in two. Her body sways, and purple blood slides like slime along with her insides, but she stays standing; Capella’s arms press against her split parts, and she pushes herself back together again. It is horrific, and yet all Heinkel can do is stare. No— he has to try again. He has to kill her— but the White Whale still floats menacingly high above him, not making a single move.

“All that is beautiful is worth loving, but your vision has been darkened. Don’t worry. We’ll help you see again,” Capella says, and she lifts a hand in the air; the White Whale sings, and vibrations shudder through Heinkel’s skin. Strangely, he feels no pain, but the fear inside him is as sharp as any knife. 

“What are you doing?” Heinkel asks.

“The good thing about meat is that it can be cooked. Let this lovely lady make a masterpiece of you!” Capella cheers, and everything turns into shadow.

Heinkel blinks; he does not feel his body, and the only thing before him is a slowly lightening vision that curves like a lens. A forest, at night, and the sounds of tens and tens of galloping ground-dragons. The Flugel Tree towers in the distance. At the head of the pack of warriors is a woman with red hair— Theresia van Astrea, the previous Sword Saint herself. What was this? What was Heinkel being shown? And— the fins that flicker in and out of his vision— this was the White Whale’s perspective. It was granting him its memories. He had been a fool to expect anything but cruelty from an Archbishop and her monster; they would show him his mother’s death before they killed him, just as they had shown him Louanna’s face. Heinkel watches helplessly, unable to close eyes he cannot feel as Theresia suddenly jerks forwards as though struck from an unknown blow, and almost immediately afterwards most of the warriors are destroyed in a single strike from— wait, what? The whale hasn’t even moved— and yet something has torn through all the fighters. Theresia is still on the ground, and a woman in white stands before her. Heinkel can barely make the figure out, but he feels a crushing fear he cannot explain, and that fear only increases when he sees Theresia continue to lie unmoving. Who killed her? Not the whale, it wasn’t the whale! It had to have been that person, who was that person?

“The Witch of Vainglory,” Capella says, and Heinkel finds that he is lying in the grass. His ground-dragon stands a few feet away. “It was Pandora who killed your mother.”

“Why did you show me this?” Heinkel asks, starting to get to his feet; Capella stops him, two fingers pressing against his chest.

“Good faith. Now, hold out your hand,” she says. Heinkel finds himself doing so before he can understand why, and a miniscule glass bottle lands in his palm, full of a purple liquid that glistens like fresh blood. “Give that to Louanna, and she will open her eyes. You will see the beauty of her love again.” Heinkel responds by trying to stab Capella, but before he can reach his sword, wings have struggled from her shoulders allowing her to vanish upwards, disappearing into the burning light of the sun. The Whale, despite its size, vanishes as well, and Heinkel is alone in the grass with a bottle in his hand and absolutely no answers. 

The waterfall is a bust, anyway, so he goes home. Reinhard is not there; who knows what he’s been sent to do this time? Who cared? Heinkel doesn’t have time for Carol or Grimm, and ignores them both as he draws the lock on his bedroom door. He does not trust the Archbishop— he cannot trust the Archbishop— but how could he turn down a possible solution? No matter how illegal accepting a gift from the Witch Cult is, no matter how dangerous, no matter how quickly he would be executed for doing such a thing— Heinkel will not throw Capella’s blood away. He’s not going to be an idiot about it, though. As carefully as possible, he places a singular drop on his tongue— if this is poison, he’s trying it first. He can’t trust anyone else enough to let them know where he got it from. Heinkel tastes something like magic, like copper, and then his heart beats like a drum.

“Wh— what?” Heinkel stammers out, catching his balance; it feels as though a shock has gone through his entire body. Fearing death, Heinkel holds himself upright, but then he realizes; he feels better than he has in a very, very long time. The bottles strewn across his floor make him wince in disgust, and his mind and eyes are clear. Heinkel rubs his face, and then rubs a mirror; he’s not at his best, he hasn’t looked his best in a while, but his face is a healthy color, and the bone-deep ache that has long plagued him has gone. Did this— heal him? He has no desire to drink, he no longer feels like a hollow husk, sore muscles and burning chest are both memories of the past. He can’t trust this. He has to wait.

And wait he does. For three days, Heinkel does not leave his room; Carol gives him a disapproving look when she brings him his meals, but he is determined to make sure he won’t turn into a monster. To make sure there’s no delayed effect to the gift of sin— the blessing that makes him feel like he is a young man again. Heinkel hasn’t anything better to do, so he cleans his bedroom in the same way that the evidence of his sins have been cleaned from his body. He thinks about Theresia, about what it means that Wilhelm’s revenge quest is mistaken; he thinks about Reinhard, and wonders if the loss of the Sword Saint blessing meant anything at all when a Witch stood at the end of the path. He thinks about Louanna, thinks about the monsters he has unintentionally allied himself with by accepting their gift. What will he owe the Archbishop of Lust? Heinkel does not know, but he knows with all his heart that it does not matter. For his wife, he will pay whatever price is asked. At the end of the third day, it is nighttime, and Heinkel finally unlocks his door; he still feels healthy, clear and clean, and there is nothing that will convince him to wait any longer. Footsteps take him to Louanna’s room, where dust has settled in the corners— but not on her face, never on her face, and only her breath proves that she is not dead.

“I’m sorry it took so long,” Heinkel says. He has not turned on any lights; the moon flickers through the blinds, light slashing across Louanna’s sleeping form like a sword. “I really hope this works.” Heinkel holds out the vial of blood, and lets it drip between Louanna’s lips. His heart beats like a thunderstorm, and her pulse is weak at the edge of his fingertips— and then it is strong again.

“Louanna?” Heinkel asks, barely daring to believe it, and he still cannot believe it when she opens her eyes. She blinks, trying to make out his face in the darkness, but then she smiles, the expression brilliant as it forms across a face that has lain still for ten full years.

“I woke up,” Louanna says. The surprise is as clear in her voice as it is within Heinkel’s eyes. “I knew you wouldn’t break your promise.” I will find a way to save you from this disease, Heinkel had said, back when she was falling asleep for the final time. I promise. But for every promise Heinkel has fulfilled— there are so many more he hasn’t, so many more than come back to him, lighting up his mind like burning needles, and Heinkel bursts into tears. Louanna holds his hand, her fingers so thin compared to his own, and she has no comprehension of just how badly Heinkel has failed her in the meantime. Of how he has failed their son.

The night lasts many hours, but none of them are enough. Louanna asks what she has missed, and Heinkel cannot hide what he has done— and what he hasn’t. He tells her that an Archbishop of Sin gave him mercy; that he wonders why, but believes the true answer is staring him in the face. He is a sinner who has let the Knights, and the Sage Council, (and the Royal Family before them) continue to push the world towards their ultimate goal of re-contracting, caring nothing for what is lost on the way. Too consumed with his quest to save Louanna, he has ignored the country falling apart. Worse, he has spent almost no time at all with Reinhard, and blamed the boy for his mother’s death while leaving him to Wilhelm’s care; the Karsten Estate was very good at creating weapons, and the fifteen-year-old Reinhard was as monstrous as his friends. Alongside the broken demihuman son of Bien Argyle and the insane Juukulius heir, the newest Sword Saint had been made into something truly powerful— something, not someone.

A decade ago, Heinkel had looked at his six-year-old son and repeated Wilhelm’s blaming of him for killing his grandmother, had called him inhuman, had turned away; but those dreadful moments that Heinkel shook to remember were some of the most recent times that he had ever seen humanity in Reinhard’s eyes. He used to love that boy. And now— do you blame the forge for creating a sword? Or do you blame the craftsman, who passed off his work to another, and now the creation’s edge can do no more than draw blood? Heinkel could not list all the things that Reinhard had done. He did not know them all. The things that he did know made him want to hide back in his bottles and never lift up his head again. He had left his son’s raising to others, calling the boy a murderer, and Reinhard had returned the worst kind of murderer of them all— the kind that could hear any order from the crown, and never refuse it.

“Even in spite of all of that, we are his parents. It is up to us to give him another chance. He’ll listen to us— we can set him on the right path,” Louanna says, and her hope is the most incredible thing, but she only knows a boy who can barely lift a sword, the boy who once had been the light of Heinkel’s life. She does not know the Sword Saint. She does not know the monster. Looking into her eyes as the sun greets the day, however, Heinkel cannot find it within himself to tell her otherwise. Of course there’s a chance! Louanna is awake, and the planet still spins through space— anything is possible. If there is anyone Reinhard will listen to over the kingdom he is so devoted to, it is his mother. It is maybe even his father. It has been ten long years, but surely there is some humanity left within the child that Heinkel hated, but even now could not deny that he also loved.

Outside, someone screams. Heinkel stands up, and looks out the window into the bright light of the morning; Louanna follows, blinking at the sun that has not graced her vision in a decade, and the two of them look down at the disaster occurring on the front lawn.

“I hate those kids,” Heinkel growls. Felt’s voice carries all the way up to the second floor where the two stand; it is almost comical to see the eleven-year-old yell at a gigantic humanoid tiger that’s more than twice her height, its arms covered in blood.

“Who are they?” Louanna asks, horrified. There are broken bodies soaking blood into the grass, and the only reason the edges of Felt’s dress are not ruined is because she stands on thin air, courtesy of one of Reinhard’s innumerable Divine Protections. He hangs back, watching his Lady berate the murderous tiger. No emotion flickers across his face— not for the men that Garfiel has ripped apart, and not for Felt’s admonishments.

“The princess, some kid she picked up, and our son,” Heinkel says. Reinhard was not the only person Wilhelm had made a weapon out of; Garfiel had been kidnapped to the capital the same way Felt had once been taken from the slums that she had called home. Forced to become a noble, the man she called a father killed for his crimes in the demihuman wars, the Princess wanted to destroy society, destroy the nobility, destroy the world. The tiger, more beast than boy, was one of her hands; the inhuman Sword Saint was the other.

“You kill everyone!” Felt complains. “We have to take at least one assassin alive, you idiot, how are we supposed to know who’s coming after us?”

“Sorry,” the tiger rumbles. His form shudders, and he shifts back into someone small, far too small for all the blood that has graced his claws.

“You should be more like the Sword Saint. He always listens to everything I say,” Felt huffs.

“Everything?” Garfiel asks.

“Everything,” Felt says, and then she glances back up at the mansion. “Here, I’ll prove it to you. What should I… oh, right. Sword Saint, your old man’s been even more useless than usual recently. Holing himself up in a room for three days in a row, and then spending the night sobbing over his wife… loser. We should remove the problem. He spends all his time tryna cure that sleeping lady, right? What a waste. Sword Saint, go kill your mom.”

“What?” Louanna asks, her hand over her mouth. Heinkel freezes. Reinhard couldn’t listen to this, he couldn’t, he’d been indoctrinated into a weapon for ten years but surely he still cared for his family, if there was any soul left within him to care with! Surely he wouldn’t—

Reinhard turns around, and starts walking towards the mansion without a word. Felt follows, grinning evilly, and Garfiel shakes blood off his arms as he shuffles after them.

“He’s not— he wouldn’t— Heinkel, does anyone here know that I’ve woken up?” Louanna asks.

“Heinkel crying over you in the middle of the night isn’t all that uncommon, so no one bothered to come in and check,” a voice says. Heinkel startles; sitting on the edge of the bed is Capella. She waves at them lazily. “You two are so beautiful together. There must be so much love between you. I’m jealous, honestly!” Capella hugs herself, shivering with excitement. “All that love, both of you feeling so much when you see each other’s perfect figures, enough so that it spills over and you burn with love for your unfortunate son, as well. I wish I could make him beautiful, too. I wish he could be loved, but I think that’s beyond even me, hahaha!”

“You’re the Archbishop that cured me,” Louanna realizes.

“Why are you here?” Heinkel asks. He can hear faraway footsteps, getting closer.

“I can’t let such love be lost after I’ve brought it back to life, now can I?” Capella asks. She draws a hand across her face, and her hair falls in pale blond lines, and soon enough a perfect replica of Louanna is seated on the bed, wearing a kind of smile that the real Louanna would never express. “Heinkel, you couldn’t cut me when I looked like this, remember? Do you think the Sword Saint will be able to? Do you think he’ll refuse the meaning of love and beauty, that he will kill his mother at the words of the princess?”

An eternal second passes.

“Hide,” Heinkel says. He can do a lot of things, but he cannot do a thing to Reinhard. The boy is invincible, unstoppable, and Heinkel is no more than a man— but even demigods can be outsmarted. Heinkel kisses Louanna’s hand, and she steps into the room’s wardrobe with fear on her face. “I’ll protect you. I promise.” Promises were such a funny thing.

“Let’s see how well that goes!” Capella says, and Louanna pulls the door closed as the Archbishop settles into a sleeping pose, in moments just as motionless as Louanna had been before. The specter of Heinkel’s failures lies still before him as Felt kicks the room’s door open.

“Felt,” Heinkel snaps.

“Kill your mom, Sword Saint,” Felt says. Reinhard steps forwards, face blank and unreadable.

“You can’t!” Heinkel says, dashing between his son and the bed. “Reinhard, please, if I ever meant anything to you, as your father, listen to me! Don’t hurt your mother!”

“Don’t listen to that jerk. He hates you, remember?” Felt says.

“DON’T!” Heinkel pleads. Fifteen years old, and Reinhard was the most powerful person in the country; he was an army unto himself. The only thing that mattered was who he chose to obey, because there was not a single person who could stand in his warpath.

“Do it!” Felt says, her expression determined; something strange glimmers in her eyes. Behind her, Carol appears in the doorway, brought by the commotion— and a sense of propriety. She gives Garfiel a towel to wash his arms off, and then realizes in horror the confrontation she’s walked in on, water spilling out the edges of the porcelain bowl she carries. “Kill her!”

“Listen to my authority, listen to my love— I don’t even care,” Heinkel says, desperately; he knows it is not truly Louanna who rests before them, but there is no way that Reinhard would know the same. “I don’t care what you follow, but whatever it is, follow me now. You’ve always listened to me. Don’t kill Louanna.”

“Of course I won’t, Father,” Reinhard says. Heinkel breathes out in relief. Of course— weapon, monster, Sword Saint, whatever he was, Reinhard van Astrea was still a child. 

One second later, Reinhard is standing on the other side of the bed, his gloved hand horribly spotless for how it had just sliced Capella-Louanna in half. Heinkel steps backwards, unbelieving; Carol drops the porcelain bowl, but the shattering of the glass is nothing to how piercingly Heinkel feels his heart break, how he knows the real Louanna is suffering the same feeling on the other side of the wardrobe door.

“Reinhard?” he asks. The once-pristine bed is covered in blood, and both Reinhard and Capella-Louanna’s face bear the same sort of dead blankness. Reinhard didn’t. He couldn’t have. This wasn’t possible!

“HAH!” Felt cheers. “God, your face— you didn’t actually think he would do it, did you? Idiot!” 

“Why?” Heinkel asks, staring into his son’s eyes. He knew Reinhard had fallen far, but this far was something he’d never even conceived of, for the boy to murder his mother on the whim of a psychopathic brat— “WHY!?” 

“She can go to a better place, now,” Reinhard says. A microexpression flickers across his face, and Heinkel doesn’t dare to identify it, because it seems positive. He tells himself he is imagining it. Reinhard is entirely heartless, after all. This moment has proved such a thing.

“Come on. Let’s go find someone else to mess with,” Felt says; she and her bloodstained boys all go down the mansion stairs, Carol following them after glancing back at Heinkel with concern, and every step that leads Reinhard further away is another nail towards the irreversibility of the loss of his humanity. Reinhard is not who he had been before Heinkel had failed him— not at all.

“I really didn’t expect that,” Capella says. The real Louanna steps out of the wardrobe as Capella reforms, shifting back into her usual appearance. There is something like sadness in her eyes.

“What happened to him?” Louanna asks. “What’s wrong with that girl, why would she, why did he— I don’t understand!” 

“I understand,” Heinkel says. It’s something he should have realized a long time ago, but for all of Felt’s faults, she was right about something— about the nobility who had destroyed her life, which had led into Wilhelm and herself destroying Reinhard too. “This has to end.” Heinkel had done his part in making Reinhard into what he now was, as well. He could never take that back— but at the very least, he could prevent more Reinhards, more Felts, more Garfiels. What had happened to the Juukulius and Argyle boys, too. “This entire kingdom that turns children into weapons— it has to be stopped.”

Chapter Text

“Why didn’t any of you tell me?” Subaru asks, his face in his hands. The dragon carriage has finally pulled to a stop by the safe house. 

“I thought Louanna already had,” Frederica says.

“Where does she come into this?” Subaru asks. 

“She’s my wife,” Heinkel says. “Now— I suggest we split up again so we can get out of this city safely. Emilia, take the dragon carriage you took here with Frederica, and I’ll take the boys back to the chapel later.” Subaru watches as Emilia leaves without once meeting his eyes. He reaches out a hand, but doesn’t dare to touch her.

“I’ll go and check the safe house, in case it’s been compromised,” Regulus says, running off. This leaves Subaru and Heinkel together for a few moments. Something occurs to the former.

“…can I trust you to drive?” Subaru asks, which makes Heinkel laugh at him.

“Don’t worry. I’ve been sober for five years.”

“You don’t look very sober,” Subaru mutters.

“Being undercover involves a surprising amount of making a fool out of yourself. If I seem drunk and pathetic, nobody looks at me twice. Faking Louanna’s death meant she could get away from my bastard of a father and our monster of a son, and also gives me an excuse to pretend to be even more useless than I was before,” Heinkel sighs. “Nobody has any idea that I’m helping the Witch Church save the world.”

“Wait, Reinhard is your and Louanna’s son?” Subaru asks, connecting the dots. “And neither he nor the Sword Demon realizes—“

“Dad has never expected much from me. What he sees is what he wants to see. And Reinhard… he used to be such a good kid. Louanna’s still hopeful, but— well, you’ve seen what he’s turned into.”

“Yeah,” Subaru agrees, resting his face in his hands. The Sword Saint didn’t seem human at all.

“Someone’s figured me out, though. I don’t know who it is, but they’ve been helping me commit treason all this time. I wouldn’t have managed nearly as much as I have without them. Keep leaving letters for me to find, too. I leave letters for them too, and we have a pretty good system set up, but I haven’t the faintest idea who they are, and neither do they know me. Safer that way, really,” Heinkel continues.

“If I’ve been taught anything from watching anime with plot twists, it’s that the secret ally is always the last person expected,” Subaru muses. “That’s true of secret enemies too, though!”

“Life isn’t a story, kid,” Heinkel says. Subaru looks at the floor of the carriage. Heinkel was right. Subaru had learned that much. He hears Emilia’s dragon carriage roll and away, and then Regulus calling out that it’s safe to enter the house.

“What is this place, anyway?” Subaru asks, as they all go inside. It was pretty small and kind of out-of-the-way, but still had enough space for a few people to live comfortably.

“It used to be Louanna’s house, before she first moved to the Astrea estate, and then to the Witch Church Headquarters. I stay there with her most of the time, you know. I’m not always messing around here,” Heinkel says.

“Wait, so your family could know about this place!” Subaru realizes.

“It’s never been a big deal,” Regulus says.

“That’s a really big deal!” 

“Nah. Dad would never set foot in here, and Reinhard has zero initiative. You’d only need to worry if you did something to remind either of them that this place exists, which… you probably did,” Heinkel says.

“What? How?” Subaru asks.

“You’re wearing my mom’s dress. Or half of it, anyway,” Heinkel points out. Subaru abruptly realizes he’s shirtless in a torn skirt, and Regulus squeaks as he realizes that he too is still in crossdress mode.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to get ripped!” Subaru cries. He’s a failure of a man and he’s a failure of a woman, too. Ruined the plan like an idiot and then was utterly defeated, and got all his friends in trouble, too. He needs to do better. He will do better. 

“You’re lucky you’re not dead,” Heinkel scoffs. 

“I know,” Subaru says. He had been completely helpless against Julius’ strikes. “You have a sword. Could you teach me how to use one?” There is a weapon hanging on Heinkel’s belt, and it doesn’t seem entirely unused. 

“You might do better learning magic, eventually. The Shamak you managed back there means you have lots of potential. If you don’t ruin it by breaking your gate, that is, so best to not cast any spells until you can have a specialist help you. Subaru, despite how you disparaged my good advice and endangered Emilia, your gate is extremely weak. Show respect for your body by avoiding ruining it,” Regulus says.

“Where does ‘despite’ come in!?” Subaru asks, drawing back and trying to make sense of Regulus’ words.

“You know what, I haven’t anything better to do,” Heinkel says, gesturing at Subaru. “Get out of the dress. We can swing swords around in the backyard.”

“Yes sir!” Subaru says. He would prove himself.

After he gets changed into his tracksuit, Subaru goes outside and immediately doubletakes so hard he trips over the steps. Regulus, who is back in his usual clothes as well, catches him.

“Careful,” he says.

“Regulus, we have to get out of here!” Subaru hisses, waving frantically towards— towards—

“First thing we’ll need to work on is your perception, ha,” Heinkel says. Subaru stops struggling; the red-haired, white-cloaked figure standing in the yard is not the Sword Saint. Regulus drops Subaru, and he lands on his face, still in shock.

“I thought you were Reinhard, what the heck?” Subaru asks. Heinkel isn’t in the knight uniform, but he has the cloak around his shoulders, and his face seems… way younger, somehow. “You don’t look wasted anymore.” 

“Of course I don’t, I washed all the makeup off. We’re going back to headquarters once they stop watching the capital borders, I want to look like myself to see my wife,” Heinkel says. He tosses a wooden sword through the air that lands in the grass in front of Subaru’s face. “Now, get up. Do you want me to teach you or not?”

“I do!” Subaru says, scrambling to his feet. Next time he runs into Julius, he’s going to beat that bastard into the ground. He faces off against Heinkel, who pokes him into a proper sword fighting stance. Regulus crosses his arms and watches very judgmentally as Subaru tries and fails to hit Heinkel, even with the man’s guidance on strikes. He isn’t beaten up, but his efforts are rebuffed mercilessly, and over the next hour the grass becomes Subaru’s home.

“My assessment is that you suck at swordfighting,” Heinkel says.

“Come on!” Subaru protests. 

“You have potential, but you’re so weak it would take a long time to properly teach you,” Regulus says. “All sword training does right now is waste your time and his. That’s not very considerate, especially considering why you want to train at swordplay in the first place.”

“What would you know about that?” Subaru asks.

“You want to avoid the previous result that arrived when you fought Julius. It is plain to see. Do not insult my vision by denying it,” Regulus says.

“Well—“

“What Emilia desired from you was consideration, not strength. You cannot improve your own image if you refuse to see past your own delusions. You disregard Emilia’s rights by refusing her desires and capabilities. She is not some damsel for you to rescue.”

“I know that! Shut up!” Subaru snaps. “And you don’t get to lecture me, you don’t have any friends!” Regulus freezes, and then both he and Subaru seem to have the same idea at the same time— they rush at each other, and in moments are wrestling in the grass. Green stains Regulus’ hair, and he kicks Subaru in the bruises that sword training had created, but Subaru jabs him in the shoulders with his elbows.

“Look here, you don’t get to attack me for saying something you don’t like! That’s a violation of my—“

“You attacked me first!” Subaru growls. 

“Did not!”

“Did too!” 

“Don’t try to protect others if you can’t even protect yourself!” Regulus says.

“Rich coming from you, you can’t do a thing without your Authority,” Subaru retorts. 

“And you can’t do a thing EVER!” 

“Boys, boys! Calm down,” Heinkel snaps, lifting them both up like kittens and holding them away from each other. He sets them on the ground standing up, and Subaru shuffles nervously. He doesn’t want to be treated like a kid. Regulus huffs and looks at the ground, also aware that the both of them got in a fight over nothing.

“Sorry,” Subaru says. He knows Regulus has a complex over friendship.

“Before you can prove anything to Emilia, you have a lot you have to understand first. Bullying you won’t help, however, I accept that. Just because you are not courteous does not mean I have to fall to your level,” Regulus says. Subaru… isn’t sure if that’s an apology or not, but he’ll take it.

“Is this what normal young adults are like?” Heinkel asks, looking utterly unimpressed with the both of them. Right, Heinkel was always dealing with Reinhard and Felt and Garfiel, wasn’t he? Those three were the exact opposite of normal. Although… Subaru could hardly say that he and Regulus were entirely normal either. “Flam and Grassis could teach the two of you some things about respect.” 

“Who are they?” Subaru asks.

“Normal young adults. Probably. We don’t speak often. They’re telepathic with each other, too, I’m not sure how normal that is,” Heinkel says. Subaru continues to look confused, so he explains further. “Twin maids at the Astrea mansion. They— and Carol, and Grimm— don’t think very highly of me, and I can’t say I’ve done anything to disabuse them of that impression.” 

“Cause they could tell Reinhard, right?” Subaru asks.

“Reinhard, Felt and Garfiel split their time between staying at the palace or at the Astrea mansion, which means I have to stay on my guard. Sometimes I wonder if Carol’s figured anything out. Maybe she’s the one writing me letters.” 

“If you could trust your staff, things would be easier,” Regulus muses. 

“It’s not that they aren’t good people. They are. But telling them would put them in as much danger as I’m in. Years worth of treason and working with the Witch Cult… Felt would have her excuse to have Reinhard kill me, that’s for sure.” Heinkel says. He swings his sword at the grass angrily. 

“He’s your son, though, maybe he wouldn’t—“

“He would,” Heinkel says, and he says it with such severe confidence that Subaru shuts up immediately.

“Sorry, man,” Subaru says. There’s not much he can say; he thinks about Louanna, who despite her melancholy still had hope for her son. The same did not appear true for Heinkel.

Nothing much happens the rest of the day; Subaru hangs out, trying to think of ways he could possibly get stronger with both sword combat and magic barred to him for the foreseeable future. Emilia had wanted him to be sent away, but he can’t leave her side. He can’t. She’s his reason he was sent to this world, isn’t she? Time loops keeping an entire planet trapped, the Witch’s hand on Subaru’s heart, Emilia being Satella’s vessel and the key to free her. What did that last part even mean, anyway? Subaru hadn’t ever gotten clarification. When night falls, all he feels is exhaustion. Today had been hard, but despite everything, he was still alive. He could build off the relationships he had made, and hadn’t lost all the time. The last loop at the chapel had been so stressful, trying to befriend everyone another time… he can’t take that again. He understood Regulus a bit, maybe. It was hard having no one, even if you have a power that means you’re immortal. But even Regulus had Sylphy— Subaru needed Emilia. The next morning, Subaru wakes to sun streaming through the windows, and breathes in the peace of knowing he had woken to a new dawn. He goes downstairs for breakfast, which seems to have been made by Heinkel.

“We’re going to Regulus’ place today,” he says.

“What?” Subaru asks.

“I am an Archbishop, you realize. I have my own base of operations with Sylphy. Guese and Fortuna manage quite a large army, but I have my own post of command,” Regulus says.

“What— an army?” Subaru asks.

“There are plenty more members of the Witch Church than live at the main chapel. They’re spread across the kingdom to better aid it,” Heinkel explains. “You can join Regulus and Sylphy’s contingent.”

“I don’t want to get sent away!” Subaru protests.

“I’ll drop you and Regulus off there before I go back to Louanna. Double the route distance until I can get back to Louanna, but we only have one dragon carriage,” Heinkel says. “Look, eventually you’ll meet up with Emilia again, it’s inevitable. For now, give her space.”

“Fine,” Subaru says, but there’s no way he’s accepting this. After breakfast, he follows Regulus into the back of the carriage, and they finally turn to leave the capital. After they stop at Regulus’ place, Subaru will just sneak into Heinkel’s carriage when he goes back to Louanna. Although… if the Witch Church has an army, Subaru might have to watch out. “Can you explain more about there being more members beyond those at the chapel?”

“It’s not immediately obvious, since we’re trying to keep evidence of our presence on the down-low, but I’m sure you remember how much Guese, Fortuna and Louanna were managing things? Most of the organization’s members don’t do anything so dramatic as spying and rescue missions. Just keeping society from being completely destroyed is enough work. Those on the top fail to realize that grinding the lower end of the hierarchy will only result in the foundations of the kingdom becoming dust,” Regulus says. 

“Is Lugnica really that bad?” Subaru asks.

“You saw the sadists running this place. Anastasia’s Hoshin Company is more than half the issue, it’s been a scourge on the world since Alec Hoshin founded Kararagi,” Heinkel points out. “And that’s not even getting into whatever Pandora wants.”

“The… Witch of Vainglory, right?” Subaru asks. 

“Most Witches and Warlocks in history have been good. Not her. The guy who had Greed before Regulus was awful, too…” Heinkel says. “Pandora’s behind the Sage Council.”

“The Witch Church has a lot of enemies, huh,” Subaru says. He shouldn’t be surprised— the group was apparently reviled by the world as a murderous doomsday cult— but every moment there seemed to be something new threatening them. Great green plains stretch out before him as wind blows past the softly rattling dragon carriage, and Subaru sees a gigantic tree towering into the clouds in the distance. “What’s that?”

“You’ve never heard of the Flugel Tree?” Regulus asks. “It’s an important landmark that the Great Sage planted many years ago. You should know this. You don’t know many things you should know. It’s very strange and causes us to have to explain common knowledge. I don’t mind doing so, of course, because I am a generous man, but others might think you were being discourteous on purpose.” 

“I’ll… keep that in mind,” Subaru says.

“Where are you even from?” Regulus asks. “You haven’t heard of the Witch Church, nor the Royal Selection, nor the very basics of magic. And now the Flugel Tree.”

“Oh. Yeah, I got summoned here,” Subaru says.

“What?” Heinkel asks.

“Never mind.” If he tried to explain getting isekaied, he wouldn’t be believed, and they already didn’t think the best of him. 

“We’re going to have to take a detour,” Heinkel says, looking over the road and shading the sun from his eyes. Subaru sticks his head out of the wagon, as does Regulus; both of them see a gathering of many carts up on the road ahead, and a flag is flapping in the breeze on the end of a pole. 

“Who are they?” Subaru asks. 

“Iron Fang. Looks like they’re trying to extort traveling merchants, but I don’t see why they’ve spread out so far across the plains… we can’t afford to have our carriage searched,” Heinkel says, directing the ground dragon away from the main road. “We’re also going to have to avoid the Valkyrie’s army, I heard they’ve been planning something. Times like these I wish the White Whale was around. Ha!”

“What is this White Whale thing, anyway? I keep hearing about it,” Subaru says.

“The scourge of the continent, according to a lot of people. Before I joined the Witch Church, I thought it had killed my mother. Gets blamed for a lot of things, but all it really wants is to travel and to help others,” Heinkel says.

“Roy and Lye usually manage it, but it goes off on its own often as well. Its power is similar to theirs— the ability to temporarily erase itself and others from existence,” Regulus says. “It’s probably waiting near the Flugel Tree right about now, that’s where it usually stays when the Archbishops of Gluttony come to the main chapel.”

“Why don’t we go get its help, then?” Subaru asks.

“In broad daylight? No way,” Heinkel scoffs. Subaru supposed that did make sense; with the White Whale as an important asset to the Witch Church, keeping it hidden was paramount. Subaru sighs, and the dragon carriage rumbles on.

It is a few hours before the carriage finally pulls to a stop in front of a mansion that stands alone in a forest on a hill, looking luxurious despite its remoteness.

“This is your place?” Subaru asks. 

“It’s too big for just two people. Sylphy and I will be pleased to have you,” Regulus says.

“I thought you commanded an army contingent, or whatever,” Subaru remembers.

“I said I had my own post of command, not that I did anything with it. Sylphy and I manage everything we are assigned to together. We are incredibly capable. Count yourself lucky to receive enough grace that you are invited to join,” Regulus says, crossing his arms. “This is very generous of me, you realize.”

“Thanks,” Subaru mutters, but he can’t really bring himself to be grateful. He’s just being pushed to the side by Emilia, no matter what opportunities are offered to him to make up for it. Regulus helps him climb out of the carriage, and as they walk around the back of it, Subaru claps his hands over Regulus’ eyes and hisses out a Shamak. He’d known the other boy hadn’t had his Authority on when they’d climbed down from the carriage together; Cor Leonis made Regulus feel like he wasn’t really there, and so he mostly only used it when it was necessary. Seeing as that currently isn’t the case, Regulus falls face-first in the grass with a pathetic squeak at being Shamak’d in the eyeballs, and Subaru swings surreptitiously onto the back of the dragon carriage as Heinkel begins to drive it away. He grabs at his chest; something inside hurts, and he feels exhausted and broken. That was the… he’s not supposed to cast magic without someone to help him, right? Well, he can get it healed later. He’s not staying out in the middle of nowhere when Emilia is waiting for him. Subaru watches Regulus struggle against the Shamak as the carriage rolls underneath the afternoon sky, and hopes the other boy won’t be too angry. Subaru likes Regulus, really, he does. But he won’t let anyone stand in his way. Hopefully it won’t be too long until the carriage reaches the chapel. 

It’s nighttime when Subaru finally sees roads he recognizes; Heinkel had been forced to take another detour around the Iron Fang on the way back. The rumbling of wheels over packed dirt paths is loud, but not enough to entirely block out the quiet sounds of the night. Crickets, howls, shuffling and twigs snapping. Unlike Subaru’s home city, Lugnica felt alive; the stars in the sky were brilliant, shining from a darkness unhindered by light pollution. As hard as being in this world has been, it has also been beautiful. There is magic, there are dragons, there are fantastical people and time travel and battles to save the world. Despite the pain that still shudders within Subaru’s soul, there is so much here that is wonderful, and Emilia is the most wonderful of them all.

“What the… ?” Heinkel says, his rough voice suddenly breaking the silence. “Hiyah!” He lashed the reins of the ground dragon, and it picks up speed. Concerned, Subaru looks down the road, and his eyes widen at the sight of the orange light of flames. He sucks in a quiet breath, horrified. What had happened while they had been gone? 

“Oh, God… no, no, no!” Heinkel cries out, for the dragon carriage is rolling through an utterly destroyed Arlam village. The night air stinks of decay and smoke, and blood and bodies decorate the darkness. Subaru chokes, barely able to breathe; everyone is dead, killed in horrific ways. He can feel the sensations of what it is like to be killed, so very strongly, as the dragon carriage continues past death unending. He feels it all in a terrible empathy for all the murdered souls. Heinkel is swearing a blue streak, and Subaru can barely hear him, because up ahead is the chapel. A tall figure stands before it, coattails moving faintly in the wind. The dragon carriage screeches to a stop.

“Father,” Heinkel says, and Subaru cannot move. He is terrified of death behind and death ahead, terrified of the silence that sings from the great stone chapel, of the innumerable figures that mill about, surrounding. The Valkyrie’s army is here.

“You must be the Archbishop of Lust,” the Sword Demon says; his voice is an angry calm. “I have heard of your abilities. To choose to face me as my son is a bold choice, but one you have failed at. He has never looked so well.” 

“What? No— you have murdered a village of innocents,” Heinkel says, his feet crunching against gravel. “What have you and the Valkyrie done, Wilhelm?”

“They were Witch Cult sympathizers. As you well know,” Wilhelm draws a sword from his belt, and Heinkel immediately does the same. After a few seconds, the two of them rush each other, and the clashing of blades is too fast for Subaru to make anything out. “You have lost, Lust. Wrath, Sloth and their followers are all dead; they did not stand a chance against Crusch-sama and the Finest Knight.” 

“I should have killed you a long time ago,” Heinkel growls. The flashing of metal makes sparks skip past his face, which is hardened into an expression of furious grief.

“You show a surprising amount of skill with the sword, Archbishop,” Wilhelm says. “It will not save you.”

“I’m not a bloody Archbishop, you—”

“There is no world where my son would dare to cross swords with me, nor where he had the ability to stand his ground. There is no world where he would defend Witch Cultists, nor where he wishes me dead.” 

“You’re God-cursed blind— I’ve been working against you for years. To defeat you, and the entire system you and Pandora have built! Of course I’m going to kill you— you killed Reinhard’s soul!” Heinkel shouts, and Wilhelm laughs. 

“You make your incompetence clear, shapeshifter! To try and have me believe that Heinkel has betrayed myself and the kingdom— I would be a fool to be taken in by such a ridiculous lie. I know him too well for that,” he says. Smoke rises into the sky as sparks fly, and Subaru watches in silence from the dragon carriage, too scared to make a move. He has felt a curse devouring his body, a knife in his stomach, his head being blown apart; he does not want to die, and the spectres of Arlam village are strong behind his eyes. He is afraid, and he only becomes ever more fearful when Wilhelm’s skill overwhelms Heinkel’s. A sword is driven through the younger man’s chest. “Now, reveal your true form as you die,” Wilhelm demands, but Heinkel sinks silently to the earth without a sound. Wilhelm responds to this by stabbing him some more to provoke a response. 

“Heinkel!” a voice screams, and Subaru sees someone staggering out of the chapel’s door; Louanna, blood in her blond hair and all down her clothes. She, too, has been fatally wounded. 

“Wh… what?” Wilhelm asks. The sword shakes in his hand, and he glances between Heinkel’s body and Louanna with a blank confusion. The world has ceased to be understandable, for the Archbishop of Lust cannot be in two places at once; to do such a thing is impossible and barred to even the Sword Saint. Wilhelm cannot accept what he sees; two impossibilities have frozen him in place, and he allows Louanna to stumble into his arms. It takes a few moments for Subaru to realize that Louanna has stabbed Wilhelm in the neck. She sobs as the both of them collapse to the ground. Subaru, unable to take it anymore, clambers out of the dragon carriage and walks across the blood-soaked grass. Heinkel, Wilhelm and Louanna are all dead or dying. Subaru stares down at them, eyes turned to pinpricks. Unable to do anything, he keeps on moving, walking through the chapel’s open door. The air is chill, and every step shows him a new horror. Where is Emilia? She has to be alive. Subaru has to save her. 

Sylphy has been slashed open, as if by a gigantic blade. Her body lies on the staircase, ribs and guts shattered and spilling. Geuse has been crushed by the collapsing stone ceiling, and a female form holds his hands, body so burnt as to be unrecognizable. Golden chains are wrapped around the arms, shining from the ashes; Subaru hears footsteps and voices, and slinks past a doorway. Julius stands in the center of the room, his purple hair grey from ash and blood dripping from his coat. He speaks inanely to an empty chair, walking back and forth as he gestures. Subaru keeps moving, and Frederica’s body nearly lands on him when he pulls open a door. Meili is in her arms. The both of them are missing their throats, and missing their eyes. Blood trails spatter the floor and the walls, and they lead to a door hidden in stone. Subaru pushes against it, and it opens with a grinding creak, revealing a tunnel full of glittering ice. Crusch and Felix stand as ice statues, eyes wide open. Subaru glances both of them briefly, but his next step causes him to fall. Looking back, he sees that his foot has frozen; he screams when the pain hits him, for his leg has snapped in half. Crying, writhing as he tries to run, the creeping ice nevertheless devours him, breaking his body and brain to pieces. It’s cold, why is it so cold? Every attempt at movement hurts, and scars crack and shatter from his skin down to his bones. There is nothing except the infernal chill, and it is so icy that screams freeze in the air and thoughts freeze in the mind. The only thing Subaru knows is pain unimaginable before he knows nothing at all. 

***

“Subaru?” Regulus asks. After asking Heinkel if Reinhard would truly kill him, Subaru had frozen in place, every line of his face showing a grief-stricken horror. 

“Kid?” Heinkel asks, worried. Subaru falls to his knees in the grass, and starts crying. “Hey, what’s the matter with you?” He takes Subaru by the shoulders and shakes him gently, but the boy doesn’t respond, staring into empty space.

“His Authority,” Regulus realizes. Heinkel looks at him. “Subaru can— receive visions of the future. His level of miasma increased significantly, just now.”

“Visions of the future…” Heinkel repeats. What was ahead of them that was so horrible as to place Subaru in this state? “I don’t know a lot about Authorities. How can we help him?” 

“Healing magic, as a diagnostic. Fortuna’s Authority could probably snap him out of it, but we’d have to make sure that doing so wouldn’t kill him. It is not fair that Authorities are so inconsiderate to their holders. Envy violated him by placing this Authority within him without him giving leave, and she does so every time he tries to speak of it. And now it does this? Subaru should not suffer so!” Regulus protests. 

“This is messed up,” Heinkel says, waving his hand in front of Subaru’s face to no response. The boy seems as though he isn’t even conscious of his presence in the world. Heinkel joined the Witch Church because they saved Louanna and made efforts to fix the kingdom, but when it came to Authorities and Archbishops and Witches, more often than not he felt out of the loop. Heinkel picks Subaru up, and when he doesn’t resist, Heinkel knows there’s something seriously wrong. Moments ago, he’d been full of energy and gripes, and now he’s shaking and crying without understanding the world around him. “Seems like we’re going back to the chapel early. He needs to be looked at.”

“Is it safe for us to go?” Regulus asks.

“We can’t leave him like this,” Heinkel says. Subaru was arrogant, reckless, and inconsiderate, but he had a good heart. Heinkel couldn’t help but be reminded of himself, and not only that, but of every young man he hasn’t been able to save. Has he lost another? If they start driving now, they won’t reach the chapel headquarters until the middle of the night. Best to start on the trip anyway.

They end up alongside a group of traveling merchants, and Heinkel pulls his hood over his face; technically speaking, he’s not overly recognizable, but he looks like an older version of Reinhard when he doesn’t have his ‘drunk’ makeup on. And Reinhard is extremely recognizable. 

“I can drive, if you like,” Regulus says. He’s sitting in the back with Subaru, who hasn’t shown any sign of recovery. Regulus looks really, really worried. “I was going to offer him a place with Sylphy and I. He has no understanding of respect and politeness, but— he could learn. Can learn.” 

“Thought he could be a friend?” Heinkel asks. He didn’t know Regulus all that well— their paths didn’t cross often— from what he did know, the kid often felt alone. 

“He’s annoying and doesn’t value human rights.” Regulus snaps, eyes fixed unceasingly on Subaru. “…I think he doesn’t value his own. How terrible is that? It spits in the face of all his friends, to refuse to see others as people, to refuse to see himself as a person. He does not view the world as real. He thinks he is the hero of the story… I wish he was. Heroes do not lose their minds, and I want him back!”

“It’s pretty bad,” Heinkel agrees. Regulus got all offended at the smallest things, but he became furious at true violations of humanity, such as the crimes Wilhelm had committed. When people were convinced not to value themselves, they became monsters. Reinhard had once been a kind child, with light and life in his eyes; Heinkel had loved him, and Reinhard had loved him in return. He had dreamed of becoming a knight like his father, of bringing hope to the world like his mother, and while he had shown glimmerings of an uncommon power, Heinkel had never believed ill of his heart. But then Reinhard had stolen the Divine Protection of the Sword Saint from Theresia, Wilhelm had stolen Reinhard from Heinkel, and Louanna had been stolen from the world. The worst part was that Heinkel had been grieving enough to let it happen— the weapon that Reinhard had turned into was Wilhelm’s creation, but was also Heinkel’s greatest sin. Ten years, he’d left that boy on his own, and by the time he’d dragged himself out of the misery pit it had been too late. When he looked at Reinhard, he didn’t see anything resembling a human soul. 

When he saw Regulus and Subaru, though— two boys fighting desperately against loneliness— he saw something that reminded him of how it had felt to be a father. Heinkel urges the ground dragon forwards. God help him, he’s not letting Subaru lose his soul too.

Chapter Text

Regulus doesn’t know what to do. He’s never been good at adapting to situations; while he is confident in his place in the world, he always becomes lost the moment things are shifted to the side.

“Come on, wake up,” Regulus says, snapping his fingers over Subaru’s wide eyes. Whatever Subaru is seeing, though, it isn’t reality; his mind is detached from this plane of existence. Regulus sighs; he was invincible, but to what end? Even the Sword Saint cannot harm him, but he cannot protect his friends. To think that Subaru’s own Authority had broken his mind enough to turn him cataconic… it was horrific. Who did Envy think she was, to do such a thing? What kind of cruelty was in the heart of the Witch who had eaten half the world— no, that question was something to which Regulus knew the answer well.

“Oh, no,” Heinkel hisses. 

“What is it?” Regulus asks, but then the carriage shakes. 

“Iron Fang. They’re heading to set something up around the main road, if we’d only left later we could have avoided them,” Heinkel growls. Regulus looks over his shoulder, and his grip tightens on Subaru’s sweater; the carriage is surrounded. Regulus hated the Iron Fang. A horrible organization, built on suffering, built of suffering, one woman’s manifestation of possession. A crime against personhood, against existence itself! Humans, demihumans, any beings with an Od-given soul— Anastasia Hoshin did not differentiate, and locked them all to slave collars.

“Well, what do we have here?” the Merchant Queen herself asks; she rides a liger, and riding behind her is a kobold of impressive size, a massive cleaver attached to his belt. Unlike much of the Iron Fang, Ricardo Welkin does not wear chains— no, he carries them for Anastasia as she produces them. Three orange-colored cat demihumans leap into Regulus’ vision; they are clearly younger than even he is, and shimmering jewels sparkle from the collars on their throats. One of them is wearing an eyepatch, another a monocle.

“It’s the Sword Saint!” one kitty says. 

“That’s clearly the Knights’ Vice Captain, Mimi,” another says.

“It’s really not that clear,” the third says, tilting his head. “He looks different.”

“I’m more interested in who he’s got with him,” Anastasia says, pointing over Heinkel’s shoulder at Regulus and Subaru. She smirks. “I never forget a face, y’see, and I remember these two pretty clearly. The idiot my knight beat up— although he’s not looking too well— and, ooh, I know exactly who you are. The Warlock of Greed. I haven’t seen you around for a while.”

“That’s very rude! You have no right to cast such aspersions on my character, by proclaiming me to be such a person!” Regulus snaps. He’s an Archbishop, not a Warlock, also! Having turned on his Authority, he can no longer feel the texture of Subaru’s jacket, nor the warmth of his pulse. Cor Leonis cut him off from the world, but Anastasia terrified him, and only with it activated could he be certain that she wouldn’t kill him, too. She and her army had killed and enslaved his entire home village, after all. Regulus often wondered if there was any decency left in the world.

“You’ll be whatever I want you to be. And as for you, Vice Captain… what’ll I do with you?” Anastasia asks. “Transporting an Archbishop and a Warlock. I never imagined that child Felt had a real reason to want you executed.” 

“How dare you accuse us of being in the Witch Cult! That’s an insult to us as decent men!” Regulus protests. “Take it back right now, and apologize.” 

“Lock them up. I want t’see what we can get outta them,” Anastasia says, and the kitten triplets suddenly are all pointing staffs at the trio. Regulus’ magical ability is weak, but he can sense the power the three possess.

“You have no authority to do this,” Heinkel says, not budging. 

“Oh? What’s that? Sorry, I don’t listen to Witch Cultists,” Anastasia says. “And don’t think for a moment that the Sword Saint’ll save you. We all know he belongs t‘the law. Besides, it might be fun to see how one Sword Saint fares compared to another.” Mana starts glowing at the end of the kittens’ staffs, and Regulus grabs Heinkel in time to pull both him and Subaru out of the way of a burst of energy that blows the carriage apart.

“You can’t just attack us! That’s a violation of our rights!” he shouts. Another burst of magic flies at him, but it dissipates on hitting him without any effect. Heinkel shrugs himself to his feet, and draws his sword. 

“Don’t assume I won’t defend myself, you bastard,” he growls. 

“Against the entirety of the Iron Fang?” Anastasia asks. An army mostly consisting of demihumans; some contracted, some in debt, some considered as property, and some lording their control over the rest. Most of them are indifferent to the commotion happening, and seem to be setting something else up. This was just bad timing and bad luck. It occurs to Regulus, as he holds Subaru over his shoulder frozen in time, that he could kill the so-lauded entirety of the Iron Fang all by himself. They had no weapon that could touch him, and with mere swipes of his hand he could turn them all into fountains of blood. Strangely, the Finest Knight did not appear to be present, but even if he were he would pose no challenge. Regulus’ Authority made him into an inviolable monolith. Anastasia had no idea that she looked her doom in the eyes. 

Of course, Regulus is a good man. The idea of slaughtering an entire army where they stood made him feel sick. Most of them were slaves, and many were debtors with either the collar or battle as their choice. Such things did not excuse their crimes, but it made Regulus falter at delivering judgement. So many souls, their rights so terribly infringed upon, and he was someone who used killing as a last resort. Even against those who had torn his life apart. He was a far, far superior man to all of them, and would not be dragged down to their level. Even so— there was one woman here he would not spare, and if he killed her, the rest of the chains would be broken. 

“Indeed,” Regulus says. He shifts his position of holding Subaru slightly, and raises a hand towards Anastasia, smiling confidently. This was justice; this was charity; this was the Merchant Queen getting everything she deserved. How honored he was to be the one to bring her the fate she has long since been owed. Regulus aims, and flicks a finger into air that has been briefly stopped in time. As expected, the result is an explosion of gore.

“Too slow,” Anastasia says. Regulus startles, and something smacks him in the back of the head and throws him and Subaru across the grass. The only thing Regulus has killed is Ana’s liger mount; in a second too fast to perceive, she had appeared behind him. How— ?

“Yang magic,” Regulus breathes. It was his affinity, though he hadn’t ever practiced it all that much, and he could sense it shining around Anastasia in a glowing storm. So much power— “What is this? What have you done, you despicable excuse for a human being? You make me sick, Anastasia Hoshin! Even your death will not pay the price for your sins!” Regulus is breathing heavily, despite his time-frozen body having no need to. The horror he feels at the thin lines of yang magic lancing through the air is unimaginable. Anastasia’s gate is twisted and broken, there is something wrong with it, and innumerable white threads are looped around its corners, cast out like a spiderweb. They find their homes in the gems that sparkle from the slave army’s collars; Anastasia, as the master, has a mental connection to everyone underneath these metias’ command. She can torment them with pain at will, or set it up as a response to a disobeyed order— or grant her soldiers a feeling of pleasure as a reward. She can command hundreds with nothing beyond thought, and their bodies will be conditioned to follow— or to be paralyzed by agony, otherwise. 

The usual slave collar is not to this level, this horribly fine-tuned for ultimate control and possession, made so that all locked to it feel the chains around their very soul, a violation that scrapes the foundations of life itself. No; this power is brought about by Yang magic, as is that that lets Anastasia blink across the battlefield and strike like a lightning bolt. It is power without limits, because Anastasia is limited. Her gate is stunted, malfunctioning, broken; but a clever twist through all the collars that have their seats of control in her soul means that using magic does not devour her life force, her Od. It devours that of the others— of those unfortunate enough to be trapped between iron-fanged jaws— all of their souls are fuel for a great machine, able to power their master to a staggeringly dangerous degree. The Merchant Queen drains the lifespan of her slaves in more ways than one, taking a terrible price to fulfill financial debt that will never be paid off. And draining someone’s Od entirely will not result in death of the body, but in death of the mind— leaving Anastasia with innumerable empty bodies under her command that still live, obeying orders that had long since been conditioned into their blood.

“Regulus!” Heinkel shouts. Regulus picks himself up off the grass, feeling shaky. Subaru is still unresponsive.

“I see,” Regulus says. Anastasia is a monster beyond comprehension. She is antithetical to every value that makes up Regulus’ being. He wants to see her dead, but he understands that he cannot fight her in a way that wouldn’t be a crime. “For you to use your power is to kill every soul under your command. Such a cruel, cruel thing, to have so many hostages. Such a denial of the rights of others. How can someone so morally corrupt dare to have the light of Yang magic shine within her soul! You do not belong on this planet, you ought to be destroyed, you are an anomaly and a rot. Mere words cannot express just how pitiful and disgusting you are. Do you think you have the right to do these things? Do you think you have the right to breathe after the sins you have committed? You are the lowest of the low, you are the dirt on my shoe, you are the excrement of a worm. I can barely accept that someone like you has been allowed to live. Is it not clear that Od Laguna itself wishes you dead, by cursing your gate as it has? You should die. I cannot suffer your presence any longer. Go kill yourself.” 

“Someone’s mad,” Anastasia laughs, and Regulus grits his teeth. There was only one thing they could do, and that was get out of here. Regulus runs over to Heinkel and grabs him tightly by the arm, locking him into the time-freeze as well. With one final glare at Anastasia, he jumps the three of them into the air as strongly as he can. After a few moments of soaring through the sky with lots of screaming on Heinkel’s part, they crash-land in the forest quite a distance away.

“That didn’t go well,” Heinkel says, which is an understatement.

“I can’t fight her,” Regulus admits. “Every time she uses magic, she burns through the lives of those she has enslaved, and I can’t do that. I can’t.”

“Your Authority outdoes Yang magic, though, doesn’t it?” Heinkel asks.

“I cannot begin to guess the price of her becoming powerful enough to match me,” Regulus says. His own helplessness is a pain sharper than any blade. 

“Fair enough.” Heinkel sighs. “Subaru still isn’t reacting to anything?”

“No,” Regulus says, checking Subaru over. His fellow Authority-holder was still dead to the world. “Although… is your undercover mission shattered, now?”

“Without a doubt. It’s a pity, especially because of how much it was helping— but I can’t say it won’t be peaceful to leave that behind. I won’t miss Felt, or Wilhelm, or Reinhard,” Heinkel says, looking off into the distance. “Whoever was writing me letters, though… they’ll be alone now.”

“Tell me about them,” Regulus says, standing to his feet. The two of them continue their walk through the forest; one way or another, they will get home.

“It first started not long after Louanna and I settled into our new lives, and I was looking around and getting information for the Church to save people with. I started finding things better organized for me to discover them, doors unlocked that hadn’t been before, people distracted before I could be found. I wondered if my actions as a spy were known, and was afraid— but I found a note explaining I had no need to be. A note that supported my idea of doing away with the Kingdom’s ruling system that destroys the lives of its citizens. They had been watching me, the note said. They were proud of me. Despite the risks, I wrote a note back,” Heinkel smiles, reminiscing. “We have been communicating since then, for almost five years. No personal details are shared— if even one note was found by our enemies, we’d both be lost. Even so, I feel I know ‘em well, and I don’t doubt they feel the same. They have two younger siblings they love, they fear they do not do enough for the world and their family, they enjoy cooking and playing games though they rarely have the opportunity for either… I believe they’re young in age. Maybe they’re one of the child soldiers I joined the Witch Church to save.”

“Once they realize you can’t spy anymore, maybe they will join us,” Regulus says. 

“Maybe,” Heinkel says. “I’d like to meet them.”

The walk through the forest is tiring, but nice. Regulus lives in a forest himself, but the area around his mansion is different from the area around the chapel. All too conscious of how activating his Authority sets him apart from the world, Regulus takes the time to appreciate feeling sensations whenever he can. As Sylphy says, it is what keeps him human. He can’t even imagine having his Authority turned on permanently— not that such a thing would be even possible, considering it was a shared power— but to do so would be a detachment and a terrible inhumanity. As it stands, he feels leaves crunch underneath his feet and the wind in his hair. Walking all the way to the chapel will take a while. Subaru needed help, however, and Regulus and Heinkel were going to bring him to it. Provided nothing went wrong, of course.

“I have found them,” a voice says. Regulus turns around to see a nightmare; the Finest Knight of Lugnica, approaching deliberately and slowly. Julius! He has always been Anastasia’s knight. Why wasn’t he with the rest of the army? Why was he here now? It didn’t matter. 

“If you think you can fight me, you are sadly mistaken,” Regulus says. Julius does not have souls tied to his lifeline like his master.

“What you have done is unforgivable! I will kill you, kill you, KILL YOU!” Julius yells. He draws his sword from its sheath with the harsh sound of cracking leather. The blade is rusted and chipped, as ill-maintained as Julius’ physical form, but elemental energy swirls around the edges, all gathering in a brilliant rainbow light. The weapon’s condition means it is near-useless on its own, and instead functions as merely a conduit for Julius’ power. The spiritual prowess he displays is a jarring beauty compared to his unsightly appearance, and the ugliness of his soul.

“This is a battle you cannot win,” Regulus states, confident as he stretches out his arm. “Do you truly believe you can stand against me? You know nothing of what I can do, and even if you did you could not understand it. You understand nothing, a mad fool trapped in his own mind, a danger to himself and the world that it would be a mercy for me to kill. In a better world, your broken mind would have been healed, but your cruel master has kept you as a weapon so long that there is nothing left to fix. You care nothing for the rights of others because you cannot even comprehend your own. I feel true pity for you.” 

“Stop talking and just kill him already!” Heinkel barks. 

“Fine,” Regulus says, raising a hand— and then the world shudders, existence itself crying out in pain. Regulus staggers, grasping at his chest. He feels a deep, deep grief cracking his very soul. 

“Regulus!? What happened?” Heinkel asks, glancing between him and Julius with worry.

“Sylphy,” Regulus breathes, and even to say her name is unimaginable pain. She is gone; he has felt her heart ripped away from his, felt her Od be torn from his Authority with a finality that makes time itself bleed from the wound. “SYLPHY!” Regulus collapses in the grass, his heart aching from the broken connection. His best friend— the woman who has been with him for a full third of his life— the person he had granted his Authority of Greed to, even knowing it would never, ever make up for all that she had given to him.

“When Joshua told me of your attack on my Lady, I explained to Crusch-sama and Sir Wilhelm that the assault needed to happen early while I went to intercept the escapees. Honorless terrorists!” Julius shouts, swinging his sword downwards; Regulus feels himself get slammed into the earth alongside Heinkel and Subaru. Regulus activates his stuttering Authority, but without someone to share his heart, his power is weak. He lashes out at Julius, but the man easily dodges, laughing maniacally; a burst of shadowy yin magic lashes out to weaken the two. Beside Regulus, Heinkel screams out, and with a loud cracking sound blood and bone erupt from his back, his body snapped in almost half by Julius’ wild wind. “Wake up, wake up, wake up! How dare you remain still while your allies try to fight me, even though it is hopeless!” Regulus stares in horror as Subaru’s unmoving form is lifted into the air by the earth shifting underneath him. His eyes are glassy, still trapped in a tormented vision of reality.

“SUBARU!” Regulus screams. Heinkel twitches— is he still alive?— and he is in that instant engulfed in all-consuming fire. Regulus’ only ally is being burnt alive, and he reaches out to try and freeze the man’s time and save him, but the air freezes over with ice and blocks his attempt before the flickering Authority of Greed stops working again, the effort of using it taking a terrible toll on his heart. 

“Subaru? Is that his name, is that his name? Subaru, you are not a knight. You have been disgraceful. It is my duty to punish you for the insults you have thrown towards the Royal Family.” Julius walks forwards as the stone curls around Subaru, trapping him in place. Regulus digs his fingers in the grass and then lunges at Julius, his heart screaming at him; Julius sidesteps his blow without effort, and the earth opens underneath Regulus when he lands, dropping him into a pit that begins to crush him as it slowly closes. Regulus struggles upwards, but every second he can’t keep his Authority on is enough pressure to snap and fracture his bones. 

“No… no, no, don’t!” Regulus screams; a momentary flash of light from a blue spirit, and water begins to rain out of the sky even as he digs against the choking dirt and earth. It trails over the rocks and fills his lungs as he battles with shattered limbs and an intermittently beating heart. ”PLEASE!”

“Be grateful I am merciful to my enemies. To be a knight is to be gracious when winning as when losing,” Julius says, and the darkness begins to close in. “Thank you, Joshua. You do not have to tell me I am that wonderful, you know? You are too nice to me, too nice, MUCH TOO NICE! Also, there is one Witch Cultist left, I wonder why he pretends he has lost his mind…”

Julius’ insane chattering is the last sound Regulus hears. 

*** 

PLEASE!

A cry echoes through Subaru’s broken mind. He blinks his eyes, as if for the first time; he sees the brilliant green of a forest around him, the bright light of sunlight. Memories flicker through his brain— Anastasia, Regulus, Heinkel, Julius—

Subaru screams. He screams, struggling vainly against the stone that imprisons him, and tears fall down his face as great sons wrack his body. His friends, killed in front of him, and he did nothing! Those he has sworn to protect, all murdered, violently killed by the monster of a man that stands before Subaru now— the anger he feels is something he cannot even express with anything beyond wild cries like those of an animal. Heinkel lies twisted and broken in the grass, and Regulus drowned crying out for rescue, and Subaru had done nothing more than watch them die.

“Thank you for finally speaking,” Julius says. There is no light in his yellow eyes. “Now. My name is Julius Juukulius, and I am the Finest Knight of Lugnica, sworn as Anastasia Hoshin-sama’s sword. I am the pinnacle of what it means to be a knight, and you are a foul beast that ought to be executed immediately. Executed, murdered, killed, tortured, done away with!“

“Why?” Subaru asks. Julius seems surprised by this question. “Why did you kill them!?”

”I have not killed anyone,” Julius says. Subaru can still smell blood and burnt flesh; the sensations of the horrible pain his friends had experienced seem to hang in the air. “I uphold the values of chivalry to their utmost. I do not murder.” 

“You— what?”

“Joshua will explain,” Julius says, glancing at the empty space beside him. Absolutely nothing happens for a few long minutes. What the… ? Subaru stares at the placid face of his enemy, uncomprehending but feeling his heart boil over with hate. INFO: Julius is utterly insane, the world itself seems to say; the words appear in Subaru’s mind like a pop-up in a video game. He vaguely remembers hearing Julius’ voice back in the ruined chapel; this madman was at fault for all the pain, and he needed to die for it.

“I’ll kill you,” Subaru says.

“That is a most dishonorable statement—“

“I’LL KILL YOU!” Subaru screams, trying to wrench his way out of the stone. His muscles twist and he feels his skin scrape as he feels his fingers clench against thin air, but all of it useless. Julius watches him impassively as he struggles, crying and breathing in short bursts wracked with a staggering grief. “I’ll kill you, Julius, I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you!” Subaru feels infernal anger, a monstrous sense of revulsion, and an agony of loss worse than anything he has ever known. 

“You show a strange desire for vengeance when I have never wronged you. Well, no matter. You will be returned to the capital where you will face a trial and be executed, after I retrieve my Lady… you will watch him, Joshua? Thank you.” With these words, Julius begins to walk away, the trailing ends of his ripped cloak fluttering in the soft wind.

Sunlight continues to glimmer at the edges of Subaru’s tear-filled vision, making everything gleam with a dreadful light. Slowly falling leaves land in Regulus’ muddy grave and on Heinkel’s charred corpse. It is a beautiful day to die. Subaru doesn’t know how long he waits, imprisoned by stone chains and his own broken heart; he doesn’t know how long it is until the sky turns shadowed, and stars shine in constellations unknown. It must be hours full of nothing more than loss before Subaru hears something move. Lifting his head, he sees cracks slowly lancing through the stone that is binding him.

“What?” Subaru asks, his voice hoarse from screaming, and the stone crumbles enough that he falls to his knees on the ground. Subaru stares with lidded eyes at a dagger jabbed strongly into the base of his stone prison; Heinkel’s hand is grasped tightly around the hilt. After what Julius did to him, how was he— “Heinkel!” Subaru cries out, but the man lets go of the dagger that very same moment. Subaru shakes him, but whatever final strength he had managed was the end of it. His skin crumbles to ash underneath Subaru’s fingertips, and blood paints the grass red. “No, no…” Subaru turns to the watery pit, and starts scrambling and digging, bloody mud splashing all over his tracksuit as he searches through Regulus’ shallow grave. Effort brought about by a hopeless desperation allows Subaru to drag his friend to the surface. Regulus’ body is twisted, even more filthy and broken than that of Julius’, and his eyes are open and his skin pale. Subaru cries, curling himself into a ball between his two dead friends, and he doesn’t know how long it is before he stands to his feet. He picks up Regulus, but cannot carry Heinkel.

“I’ll come back for you,” Subaru says, and walks towards the chapel. He has to bring his friends home. There’s no sign of the Great Rabbit in the forest, and smoke rises into the night sky along with a terrible orange light. Arlam village has been massacred for the second time, all blood and bones, and the chapel is surrounded by dead men and women. An icy storm suddenly starts up as Subaru takes in the nightmare he was unable to prevent, freezing snow and rain falling without any apparent cause. The sun’s light has vanished into dark clouds, as if ashamed of shining uncaring over the atrocities that had occurred. Subaru looks up as he attempts to find light once more, but a blizzard covers the sky. The last rays of the sun glance off newly formed ice crystals at his feet; intricate patterns dazzle with a blue brilliance, spilled blood reflecting into snowflakes. Once again, Subaru has lost everyone, and once again, he is the one at fault. The icy wind whips mercilessly at his jacket, and a colossal feline monster suddenly bursts from the chapel roof. 

Sleep, the creature says. Along with my daughter. 

At least freezing to death goes by quickly this time.

***

Subaru wakes up in the safe house’s backyard with a single goal; he’s going to kill Julius Juukulius dead. 

“Subaru?” Regulus asks. “Your miasma just increased drastically.”

“What’s that mean?” Heinkel asks, frowning.

“The chapel is going to be attacked,” Subaru says. His voice is steel like a blade. “The Sword Demon, Crusch Karsten, Julius Juukulius. They are leading an army to kill everyone, and they will do so by tomorrow evening if nothing happens to speed their timetable up.”

“What would Julius be doing with Karsten and my father?” Heinkel asks.

“Subaru’s Authority allows him to see the future, but that is incredibly strange. Only Anastasia can control Julius. Without her, he kills indiscriminately, and accepts no orders beyond those of his own hallucinations,” Regulus says. 

“He’ll be there. He will,” Subaru growls. The bright sun cannot erase the shadow in his mind.

“I believe you. I wouldn’t disrespect your rights like that by refusing to. The question is, why?”

“Anastasia is also going to set something up on the road to the chapel. If we try to pass her and the Iron Fang at the wrong time, we’ll get caught.” Subaru continues.

“Why would Anastasia send her strongest fighter away from herself if she is planning something? This doesn’t match up,” Heinkel says.

“I’m telling the truth!” Subaru shouts, barely stopping himself from dragging Heinkel down to his level. “It seemed like the Iron Fang was looking for something around the whole area, anyway, and blocking the road was just a result of that.”

“You’re telling us what you saw. I don’t know how Authorities work. I do know those bloody Gospels are always misleading, though,” Heinkel says. He slides his sword back into its sheath. “I’m not saying you’re lying to us, I’m saying you’re missing information. Making a move without knowing everything is what kills people.”

“If we don’t make a move, everyone will die!” Subaru says. “Emilia’s in danger, Sylphy’s in danger, Louanna’s in danger. And if we fight them, we can’t win. Neither will everyone else. We need more allies.”

“We’ll go to the Flugel Tree, then. The White Whale, Roy, Lye and Capella might be there, that’s where they usually rest before coming to the chapel,” Heinkel decides. “We’re going to have to wait until nighttime, though. If the Whale is seen in daylight, that’ll disrupt the whole issue, and— as you said, timing is everything.”

Once they finally start on the way there, Subaru has to admit to himself that Heinkel is right. There’s too much he just doesn’t know. How did Anastasia manage to communicate to Julius that the Iron Fang had been attacked? How could Julius and Wilhelm be stopped, if the entire force at the chapel had fallen before them? Where had the ice come from? What was the Iron Fang up to? The biggest problem was if Anastasia and Julius had some kind of instantaneous communication over distance— it would explain him still following her orders, but also meant that if Subaru rode in on a White Whale to save the day, Julius could call for Anastasia and the Iron Fang to arrive as backup. And Anastasia seemed to be almost as powerful as Reinhard, with her life-fueled magic. Ideally, they could defeat the Valkyrie’s army without any communication getting sent outwards. How strong was the White Whale? And what about Lye, Roy and Capella, for that matter? 

“There’s Anastasia, you were right,” Heinkel says, making to turn the dragon carriage off the road before they get near the Iron Fang. “Wonder what she’s up to… nothing good, that’s for sure.” The Flugel Tree towers overhead in the distance. A traveling merchant riding nearby looks at their route divergence curiously.

“Iron Fang up ahead! Don’t go that way!” Subaru calls out. 

“What? That’s the— man, I hate them,” the merchant says, turning his carriage off the road to follow the trio. He leans over his reins and squints at them as his carriage comes alongside. “Hey, you look kind of familiar.”

”You don’t,” Heinkel says. The merchant shrugs.

“Well, we can get to know each other, mysterious people who know the Iron Fang’s movements! There’s no way to tell what that gathering is from all the way back here unless you knew who was gathering there already. I’m Otto Suwen. Nice to meet you.”

“Now we’ve met and you can go away,” Heinkel responds, but Otto’s carriage continues to roll alongside them. 

“I’ve already made enough mistakes, I’m not missing on following someone who seems to know what they’re doing. Iron Fang will take any excuse to enslave someone, and with my oil problem, my chances don’t look good,” Otto sighs.

“Oil?” Subaru asks.

“Bought a lot of it just before the price dropped. Should have bought weapons instead. Iron Fang is stocking up,” Otto explains.

“That’s not a good sign,” Regulus says. “Who are they planning to attack?”

“God only knows, but I’m staying well out of their way,” Otto says. “Where are you headed? Do you know anyone that might buy some oil? Seriously, if I don’t sell it off soon…”

“We’re just going to the Flugel Tree. No place for merchants,” Heinkel says. Subaru wonders how they’re going to get this guy to stop following them.

“Aha!” Otto says, snapping his fingers. “You remind me of the Sword Saint! I knew you looked familiar.”

“It took you that long to figure it out?” Regulus asks, unimpressed.

“The Sword Saint’s the only reason I’m alive,” Otto says, but does not elaborate. “Well, I know where I’m not wanted. See you!” With that, he finally drives in a different direction, although he still is keeping away from the Iron Fang in the distance.

Finally, Heinkel stops the carriage next to the Flugel Tree. It’s so tall that nighttime clouds cover the top, and surrounded by glorious fields of yellow flowers. Crickets chirp in the darkness, and fireflies flicker. Is this where the White Whale is hiding?

“How are we getting up there?” Subaru asks, and Heinkel slides off the carriage before walking up to the tree and knocking on the trunk in a certain pattern. 

“No need,” he says. “The Whale will come down.”

Chapter Text

A great shadow begins to descend from the tree. Subaru steps backwards, in awe at the sheer size. The beast is truly massive, its great yellow eye shining like the moon, and it has a halo around its horn and monstrously webbed flippers. A colossal flying whale… Subaru’s enemies wouldn’t stand a chance against this thing! Look at the size of it!

“The White Whale can crush everyone who dares to stand against us,” Regulus says, proudly. Heinkel has a strange expression on his face as he watches the creature wind through the air.

“I spent ten bloody years terrified of this thing,” he says. “Thought it was a monster, but it guides and protects. The Witch of Gluttony made it to save people.”

“It does look pretty menacing,” Subaru agrees. The White Whale was scary, but Subaru had known true horror that it couldn’t ever match. Something occurs to him; if the Whale was really so helpful, why hadn’t it shown to defend the chapel? Why hadn’t it attacked the Iron Fang? Trying to compute the size of the mabeast before him, Subaru sees two small figures leap from the creature’s back. They land in the grass beside each other; one is Lye, and the other looks almost exactly like him, but with a different hairstyle. Must be Roy. 

“Meet the Sin Archbishops representing Gluttony. Two out of three of them, anyway,” Regulus says.

“We are grateful to see you again, Heinkel Astrea! Regulus Corneas! Natsuki Subaru!” Lye calls out.

“Where’s Capella?” Heinkel asks.

“Capella is making the world more beautiful! Her gift means there are so many delicious people to meet,” Roy says. Subaru vaguely remembers that strange speech quirk from so long ago. Sin Archbishops were odd people, even if they meant well. Was that a side effect of getting an Authority? Was Subaru going to become strange? (Had he already, and hadn’t noticed?) 

“Right. Usual for her,” Heinkel says, and then he pushes Subaru forwards. “Explain.” Subaru recounts the information he knows of the future, doing his best to underline the severity of it. Arlam village would be slaughtered, as would the rest of the Witch Church; Crusch Karsten and the Sword Demon had the Finest Knight by their side, and unless something was done, the future would only contain agony.

“I need Julius dead,” he spits.

“The hatred in your eyes is incredible, truly incredible! Tell us of your hatred, tell us of your fear, let us taste it! Share, share!” Roy says, clapping his hands. “We need to know who you are.” 

“Can you two not?” Regulus asks. “How you make any friends when you approach people like that, I will never understand. You sound ridiculous. I’m ashamed to be in the Church with you.” 

“I can’t explain what exactly Julius has done, but I can tell you how much it hurt. He murdered everyone I love. I can tell you how much I need to kill him,” Subaru says. He can still feel the stone binding him in place, can still smell burning flesh in the air, can still touch the bloody mud that had covered his fingertips. He can still taste the frozen tears he had died with, and the peaceful wind of an afternoon forest that had been marred by malignant atrocity. He can still hear Julius’ polite, carefully enunciated tones, occasionally bursting with a wild scream. He can see Regulus’ and Heinkel’s ruined bodies when he closes his eyes. “He needs to DIE!” All of a sudden, Subaru realizes that Roy is holding his hand.

“Then we will kill him, Natsuki Subaru,” he says.

“A battle for revenge, to avenge a future that must not come to pass; what an exquisite manner of preparation! Knowing you has the chance to be worth the taste of it,” Lye says. 

“What are we waiting for, then? Let’s go!” Heinkel orders. Roy pulls Subaru closer to himself, intending to jump the both of them up to land on the creature’s back. Unfortunately, the White Whale is sliced in half lengthwise before he can do so.

“WHAT!?” Regulus shouts; the gigantic creature, bisected by a blade of wind, is beginning to crash to the earth, blood spilling everywhere like a waterfall. Horrified, Subaru pinpoints the culprits— a ground dragon is running at the group at a fast clip, two very familiar figures riding it. Rem and Ram. Was this why the White Whale had never shown up to help!? Ram raises her arm in the air, and Subaru remembers just how powerful this duo is; the group does not stand a chance.

“RUN!” Subaru shouts, and everyone flees for their life out of the way of a second burst of wind. It’s enormous enough to carve a many meters-long trench into the ground where they’d all been standing. Bright lights on Rem’s and Ram’s foreheads shine like stars. Those horns… how do they work? How does Ram have so much power, and Rem so little? Why is Rem brought to the fights at all? 

“I’ll hold them off,” Regulus says, slashing his own bursts of time-frozen air at the Oni twins in return; however, their wind-driven speed allows them to avoid even those. Regulus is the only person that can take Ram on without instantly dying, but how is everyone else supposed to escape? Even Lye’s forgetting magic won’t help, with the corpse of the White Whale right here, shaking the earth as it lands. Blood rolls in waves, but it parts like a red sea when Ram swings her arm once more. Subaru and Heinkel are trying to gain distance, but the pink-haired Oni god leaps from the back of the ground dragon, descending towards the group like an unavoidable doom. Lye and Roy rush to meet her, dashing on either side of Regulus, but a single line of wind blows all three away. Heinkel manages to shield Subaru with his body, and though the wind knocks them both over, the older man doesn’t seem damaged. Durability off the charts! Subaru looks up as Ram lands back on top of the dragon, pulling it to a stop in a spray of dust as all three of her opponents attempt to recover. Regulus was powerful, Heinkel was powerful, Roy and Lye probably were too— but Ram was on a whole other level. So much of a whole other level that saying ‘whole other level’ didn’t even come close to cutting it! Neither normal humans nor superhumans nor even Great Mabeasts could hope to stand against her. Shaking with anger and fear, Subaru feels entirely hopeless. 

He feels significantly less so when Ram and Rem get run over by a dragon carriage.

“Get in!” Otto Suwen shouts.

“What— what are you doing?” Subaru asks. Confused, he and the rest nevertheless scramble into Otto’s carriage, which crashes away from the battlefield in a spray of blood. Ram will catch up to them soon, as soon as she’s certain her sister is unharmed.

“I heard most of your discussion,” Otto says.

“You weren’t anywhere near us,” Regulus points out. 

“Never underestimate a merchant,” Otto says, which is unenlightening. “But I’d like to avoid massacres just as much as slavers, and you all did stop me from running into the Iron Fang, and I was heading to Arlam to try and sell my oil there next. If I make sure you guys are able to save Arlam, that’s just profitable, as is doing away with the Finest Knight. Never mind that if the White Whale likes— er, liked— you, you’re already in my good books.” The blue ground dragon pulling the carriage runs faster and faster, taking the team away from the Oni twins at a quick clip. 

“Most of the world is terrified of the White Whale,“ Lye says, suspiciously.

“Most of the world can’t do what I can. I’ve known for a while it’s harmless, which really helps for shortcuts on trade routes. But now it’s dead, and I’m going to have to figure out a whole new trick!” Otto whines. His hat nearly blows off, but he catches it.

“If we get out of this alive, I promise I’ll help you with that,” Subaru says. 

“I’ll hold you to that.” Otto says. Thunk-thunk-CRASH, goes the carriage, and Subaru holds on for dear life. He looks back at Lye and Roy, who are both holding identically designed daggers. Otto sees them too, and doubletakes. 

“Those are Witch Cult designs!” he yelps. “Please tell me you stole those.”

“That would be the part of our conversation you missed,” Subaru says, swinging himself into the driver’s seat beside Otto. “Maybe we can get Ram and Julius to fight each other, or even drag the rest of Karsten’s army into it too.”

“You’re not— you can’t be Witch Cult!” Otto cries, looking panicked.

“Don’t worry, we’re not,” Subaru says, grinning. He likes this guy; ready to rush into a situation to save people he’s just met without even knowing half of what’s going on. “We’re Witch Church!”

“Subaru!” Regulus chastises. 

“That doesn’t explain anything!” Otto yells. Regulus leans out the back of the wildly clattering carriage and manages to stop a wind strike from Ram with a burst of frozen air just in time.

“I’ll get someone to buy your oil if you get us to Arlam as fast as possible!” Subaru shouts back. 

“Yes sir!” Otto agrees. “Forwards, Froofroo!” It denies logic that a full dragon carriage can outrun a dragon with just two people, especially when one of them is ultra wind-powered— but without Felix to heal Rem, the Oni twins have a time limit, and they soon fall behind.

“We don’t want them showing up to kill us all once they’ve recovered, though,” Subaru says.

“Then I will take care of them while they are weakened,” Regulus says. He jumps out of the carriage. Subaru isn’t worried about him; Regulus is fully invincible unless he loses Sylphy, since his Authority connected to her somehow. So, in order to make sure that Regulus won his fight— Subaru would have to make sure that Sylphy, and everyone else at the chapel, stayed alive. He wouldn’t fail them all again.

The ground dragon carriage rolls up to the village by morning, and Subaru is glad to see it is unscathed. Everyone looks at it curiously, probably because of the copious amounts of blood covering the sides. 

“It’s Subaru-san!” one of the villagers calls out. “What happened?”

“We’re going to be attacked,” Subaru says. Otto stays in the cart as everyone else tries to organize the village into an evacuation to Elior Forest. The Archbishops and Heinkel are trusted figures, so things are set up quickly, but even so it seems that half the village will have to be sent to a place called Sanctuary, as Elior cannot hold all the residents.

“Come on,” Heinkel says, standing over Subaru ominously. “We’ve got to see everybody else.”

“Right?” Subaru says. He’s worried about running into Emilia again, even though his heart cries out to see her; she’d told him to go away, he was going to be sent away where she wouldn’t see him again. He had wronged her and everyone else. It might even be Subaru’s fault that this attack was happening. The Royals wouldn’t have even known of their presence if he hadn’t spoken up. No wonder they were searching for the Witch Church. Subaru had to fix his mistakes— he had to kill Julius, the one who had beaten him into the ground and murdered his friends. Subaru had to prove himself as powerful as he had proclaimed himself to be, and then Emilia would take him back. He follows Heinkel to the door, and stands behind him when Emilia opens it.

“Oh! Heinkel-san, welcome back— what’s wrong?” Emilia asks, looking confused first when she sees his expression, and then she frowns when she notices Subaru. “Why are you here?”

“We’re going to be attacked. He had a vision. We need everyone to be ready for defense,” Heinkel explains. 

“I told you I would protect you,” Subaru says.

“Not the time, kid,” Heinkel says, nudging him. Subaru nods, and takes a step back. This wasn’t going particularly well— but what mattered most was that all Subaru’s friends survived, and his enemies all died. The main group of Witch Church warriors move to Arlam to face the upcoming battle; others, however, are going to stay hidden. 

“I want to help!” Meili says.

“You don’t have to kill anymore, dear,” Elsa says. Subaru is still mixed on what to think of Elsa, honestly, but he can now understand the all-consuming fury that comes from trying to protect the people you love. How can he hold that fury against her, after the ice he has known? He watches, also, as Heinkel speaks to Louanna. Two people who have, one way or another, proven themselves to each other. Subaru won’t let them down.

After a few hours, the battle arrives. Subaru feels his energy and courage suddenly increase, even despite the way Julius’ magic cleaves through buildings in search of targets; Fortuna’s Authority makes everyone’s eyes shine red, and a reverberating cascade of positive emotions empowers the Witch Church until they feel unstoppable. It’s not a lot; Fortuna had explained she was incompatible with her Authority, and unable to bring out its full power, but it would have to do. Golden chains carve through Karsten’s undead soldiers alongside tens and tens of grasping purple hands, and Emilia and Puck throw lances and crystals of ice everywhere alongside them. Frederica is leaping around the battle in lion form as well; despite all this power, however, every enemy killed rises undead mere moments after their death, in full strength and figure— often stronger than they were before they died. Felix’ abilities are unassailable; he is not making zombies like he had made before, but actually spending the mana to make dangerous soldiers out of them, meaning the Witch Church cannot gain ground. There are one-on-one fights happening, too, aside from an endless battle with the undead. The Sword Demon faces off against Lye and Roy simultaneously, his flashing sword skillfully defending against the two of them despite their speed, skill, and habit of abruptly erasing themselves in the middle of the fight. (This seemed to knock off an opponent’s game more than anything else.) Crusch crosses blades with Elsa, who has an incredibly furious expression on her face. Subaru and Otto stand a distance away from Heinkel, who takes on Julius Juukulius himself. Heinkel had lost terribly to Julius last time, but they’d been taken by surprise— now, he appears able to hold his guard, if barely. It might have something to do with Fortuna’s Authority, or maybe all the bugs that keep flying into Julius’ face.

“Is that you?” Subaru asks, noticing Otto’s concentration.

“Just doing what I can,” Otto says. So that was how he’d heard the discussion! He had some kind of bug power!

“It might not be enough,” Subaru says. Julius severely out-powered Heinkel. Something had to be done, and soon! Julius’ area of effect is massive enough to start having consequences on all the fights around him. Not only that, but Felix stands surrounded by his endlessly resurrecting warriors, and despite all the advantages the Witch Church has they will soon be overwhelmed. The zombies are powerful, capable, and unable to be kept down— won’t Felix ever run out of mana!? Subaru can’t help but cheer from his hiding place, though, feeling a vicious triumph when Elsa rips Crusch’s stomach open. The green-haired woman falls to the ground, gasping in pain as blood and organs spill gruesomely from her wound. 

“You are avenged, Felix!” Elsa yells, grinning with pleasure and pointing her dripping blade towards the Valkyrie’s pet. “I have killed your master!” When Subaru looks at Felix, though, he does not have the expected reaction.

“Don’t be silly. Crusch-sama cannyot die,” Felix says, and the next thing Subaru knows, Elsa’s head is flying from her shoulders. A blue light shines around Crusch like a halo. “Do nyou really think I wouldn’t support my Lady in every way I am capable of?” Whatever sleeping magic has been activated on Crusch, it heals her much faster than Elsa’s own regeneration ability, as well as vanishing all sensations of pain; Elsa fights back, but Crusch’s wind-powered sword is tearing her apart faster than she can reconstitute, now that Crusch is no longer attempting to defend herself. She attacks with full trust in her Knight’s power, no longer fearing for her life— and on the other side of the battlefield, Julius launches Heinkel into a building before raising his sword into the air as if to catch everyone’s attention. What… ?

“Joshua has notified Anastasia-sama of this predicament. If all of you surrender, she may yet be merciful,” Julius says, his voice carrying clearly across the ruined remains of the village. Oh no, no, no! The weird instant communication Julius has with her! Subaru panics, but it’s too late. The Iron Fang, with their malevolent master leading the charge, have become visible cresting a hill. The number advantage was already difficult to deal with— to give Felix this many more bodies to command, and destroying those he is currently controlling so that there’s nothing left of them is hard enough— never mind the sheer power Anastasia herself held, this fight was as good as over. Regardless, they had to keep on fighting anyway.

“SUBARU!” Otto shouts, and Subaru startles in time to see Julius charging in his direction. There’s no time to react, but someone else reacts for him. Subaru feels a strong force against his back, and he’s thrown forwards as the bright rainbow of Julius’ attack sears through the space where he had just been standing. Where Otto is standing. Was. 

“Otto?” Subaru asks. The merchant— or half of him, anyway— topples dead at Subaru’s feet. He pushed Subaru out of the way, even though they’d only just met? And now he is gone. “JULIUS! What more will you take from me!?” Subaru turns to face his opponent, but Julius is already gone, diving into the fray of battle. The new warriors are overwhelming, and both Crusch and Anastasia are shining with magical light, but maybe if Felix is killed— Subaru dashes through the waves of warriors, desperate, and manages to slide through an area cleared by Fortuna’s whirling chains. His advance is stopped handily, however, and he slips on blood; Wilhelm van Astrea stands in the way.

“Your weapons mixed up their rhythm, and tangled themselves,” he says. Fortuna’s chains wrap around each other, whipping into a useless knot, and Wilhelm lunges with his sword aimed towards her head. Guese’s Unseen Hands reach to defend her, but Wilhelm guesses their position from the dust and blood in the air, leaping side to side. Wait. Where are Roy and Lye? Subaru catches sight of a discarded red-designed dagger in the mud, and his eyes dilate with fear. No. He scrambles over to it, grabbing the weapon, but it’s clearly one of those that had belonged to Roy and Lye; reflections of white light from Anastasia’s incredible power bounce off the edge of the blade as she uses it to shred Subaru’s friends not too far away. His mind is blank with grief and fury, but he tightens his grasp and makes his move— Subaru aims, carefully, a strange calm filling him like a flame in a void. He breathes in deeply, in the midst of sounds of death and magic and weapons clashing; he breathes out, and with all the strength that remains available to him, throws the blade.

Wilhelm is using all of his focus to avoid magical hands he cannot see; too occupied with effort and the invisible, he misses what is right in front of him, spinning as it flies flashing through the sun. The metal blade sinks smoothly into his back.

“Ha!” Subaru shouts. It is a small victory, and he is surrounded by loss. Even so, Wilhelm staggers, and Subaru smiles. The Sword Demon turns his head, his blue eyes fixing Subaru with a strange focus. Something strange shivers him, feeling like a scale played on a xylophone of his ribs. 

“The blade missed,” Wilhelm says. Subaru tilts his head.

“It did not—“ He cuts off when Fortuna screams; the blade has sunk into her shoulder, where it might have landed had Subaru’s timing been slightly off. Wilhelm is not injured whatsoever. “What?” 

“Vainglory,” Guese breathes, and Subaru remembers chains that Regulus had snapped suddenly becoming fixed. He remembers a sword shattered to pieces suddenly restored. And now—

“So this is what Pandora has been up to. Making a Warlock of her own,” Fortuna growls. “But how could she give her Authority away without losing it herself?”

“My manifestation of Vainglory only works on inanimate objects, unlike hers, but no swordsman does not use all that he is capable of. Pandora shares her Authority with me so she may better observe the world,” Wilhelm says. He whips his blade around, pressing the attack, and Subaru stumbles backwards, fearful and in shock. Why was there always something else!? Julius and his instant communication with Anastasia, Ram and Rem killing the White Whale, Crusch’s immortality, and now the Sword Demon had an Authority? That had to be it, there couldn’t possibly be—

Emilia screams.

The world seems to slow down as Subaru turns his head; Julius’ ruined form stands inches away from Emilia, his brilliantly shining sword driven all the way through her heart. They stand there for a second like two sides of a coin— Emilia, a silver-haired and amethyst-eyed figure of beauty, surrounded by sparkles of ice as rainbow light bursts from her back like a pair of wings; Julius, dirty and bloodied, his uniform shredded and his hair lank over a mad grin on a shadowed face. He draws his sword back, and she falls to the ground, in an instant as stained as the evidence of all of Julius’ sins. The world blurs and spins into focus, the sounds of screams becoming indistinct as Subaru feels his heart boil over with despair.

“Lia,” Puck says, floating down to touch his niece’s face. Julius swings his shimmering blade at the flying cat, but his powerfully intertwined energy shatters uselessly. “You killed my Lia.” 

“It was my duty to do away with her, as a knight. Satella’s vessel could end the world,” Julius says, resolute. 

“No,” Puck hisses, and Julius is iced in place. Frost is flashing across the battlefield, freezing allies and enemies without distinction, crawling like a plague and devouring like a flood. I will. 

“Wh— what?” Subaru stammers out; he tries to flee, but he cannot escape the snow, cannot escape the cold that crystallizes his skin and blood and bones.

Lia is dead. I will fulfill my contract, and end the world, Puck says, and the sky darkens along with Subaru’s life. Julius, your death will be the worst of all. You have committed a sin that no amount of torture can ever erase. Your companions in arms will be killed as well. And as for everyone else, you could not protect my daughter from him. None of you deserve to live. The ice that wraps crackling around Subaru, around the undead soldiers, around Julius and Geuse and Fortuna and Anastasia and Wilhelm and absolutely everyone in the vicinity— it is horribly, horribly slow, a death that arrives by one cell at a time. Julius is screaming, suffering a living nightmare as frost blooms in bursts from his skin, piercing his eyeballs in thousands of needle-sharp shards. Subaru twists in the snow that has begun to fall, his body snapping with every movement, and all around him he can only hear more agony. Puck towers over the entire village, having transformed into an apocalyptic herald, and Subaru finally understands the information he was missing.

It is with an emotional pain worse than the chill of the ice that he dies. 

***

“Subaru?” Regulus asks. “What happened?” The afternoon sun beats down on the safe house’s backyard; such a jarring warmth. So too is the concern in Regulus’ and Heinkel’s eyes. Subaru feels grass underneath his shaky legs, but most of all he feels afraid. He feels terrified. Turning tail, Subaru dashes away from his friends, banging through the house’s door as he rushes upstairs. Hiding in his bedroom is not enough, but it’s all he can do for now. He can’t save everyone— he can’t save anyone— all he wants to do is run away. He can’t even ask Regulus or Heinkel to come with him… they both have women they care about, and are so much braver than Subaru in that they’d never leave Sylphy or Louanna behind. But Subaru is weak, and he is a coward; he cannot fight Julius, or Felix, or Ram, or Crusch, or Anastasia, or Wilhelm. He can’t save Emilia, and her death will doom everyone else around her. Better that Subaru runs away instead of dying again and again to a force he can’t ever hope to fight. For a few moments, he’d thought they could win— but that hope had been dashed with hammer after hammer. Their enemies were too much for them.

“What did you see? Your miasma increased,” Regulus asks, the door creaking open as he enters.

“Looks like he saw something worth runnin’ away from,” Heinkel says, following Regulus in.

“Just… leave me alone!” Subaru shouts. “We’re all doomed, do you understand me? I can’t do anything. None of us can. I talk so big, and act so confident, but my pride is a sickness. I’m nothing. I’m no one, I’m useless, all I do is make everything worse and bring down the people around me. I’m going to run away, is that what you want to hear!? I’m going to run away and leave everyone else behind and I hate myself for it!”  

“You could just ask me for help, you know. It’s the right of any human being not to be left alone. And I’m invincible—“

“YOU’RE NOT!” Subaru shouts. He remembers Regulus dying, screaming for help and for mercy. He remembers Heinkel barely surviving incineration only to die without a word. “If you want to live, pack up and run. We can’t face what’s coming, any of us.” 

“What happened to the kid that wanted to prove himself to the girl he liked?” Heinkel asks, unimpressed.

“There’s nothing to prove! I’m pathetic! I’m exactly the failure Emilia said I am— I put everyone in danger with my own stupid actions, and I’m the reason everyone will die. And I’m too useless to be able to fix my own mistakes,” Subaru finds that he’s crying, and presses his face into the bed. “Don’t go back to the chapel, please. We can live if we run away. I can’t save everyone, but maybe I can save both of you.” 

“Hey,” Regulus flicks Subaru in the back of the head. “You haven’t given up completely. Don’t disrespect yourself by claiming such a thing. If you had truly given up, you would not take the energy to tell us to run. Don’t contradict yourself. It’s very unfair and inconsiderate.” 

“I’m telling you to give up, haven’t you realized that?” Subaru asks. “I lost everything! Over, and over, and over again! And there’s no way to save any of it!”

“I can’t take that seriously when it comes from you,” Regulus says, annoyed.

“WHY?” Subaru shouts. “There’s NOTHING about me that makes me great! I can’t do anything like you can!” He’s surprised when Regulus grabs him by the jacket, pulling him up into a sitting position.

“Do you know why I was mad when you didn’t listen to me at the Selection Announcement? Do you know?”

“Because I was an idiot,” Subaru says, still frozen in shock. 

“You had shown up at the chapel after saving Emilia, and immediately taken control of everything. You tried sincerely to connect with everyone there, becoming closer to the rest of the group than I ever have, and when Elsa was in danger you didn’t hesitate and dragged me out to help you save her. When Emilia was in danger after that, you looked to me again— and both times, you asked something of me no one ever has. You didn’t ask for my power, you asked me to talk. You treated me like someone normal. You’re terrible at being polite and respectful and reasonable, but you listen to me. And then you didn’t listen, and Emilia decided to send you away, but I decided then I wasn’t letting you leave. I’m not letting you leave now, either. Maybe it’s greedy, maybe it ignores your rights, but the only friend I ever made was someone who refused to let me go. I can do the same.” 

“I’m not worth holding onto,” Subaru says, but he hadn’t imagined that even at this lowest point someone would want to hold out their hand to him.

“Telling me what is and what isn’t worth it to me is a grave violation of my rights, you know,” Regulus says. “Only I get to choose those.” 

“You literally just said you were ignoring mine—“

”When I felt I had lost everything, I made the mistake of losing even more. I ran away from my responsibilities, and people were lost whom I could have saved. I spent ten years with nothing except my own sorrows,” Heinkel says. “You think you’re useless, try wasting a decade while the kingdom burns down around you and you’re too stubborn to look up and see the flames. You haven’t lost enough to try running away now. I still managed to turn around. You never know what will fall out of the sky when you feel like you’re at the end of the world.”

“A Deus Ex Machina isn’t going to—“

“Look here, you’re being stupid. What do you think you are, some kind of hero? That’s a horribly disparaging insult to both of us and yourself. You’re just Subaru, and that’s enough,” Regulus says. He lets go of Subaru’s jacket collar to swing his arm dramatically. “You’re someone who cares, who has clever ideas and sincere effort, and who I truly want as my friend.”

“Why are you insulting me while you’re making me feel better about myself!?” Subaru protests. It seems like Regulus actually values Subaru’s existence, which is ridiculous, but—

“You can never restore what has been lost. But you can take the hand of that which hasn’t. Don’t slap it away when it’s been offered, no matter how much it scares you,” Heinkel says. Regulus steps forwards, and holds out his hand right in front of Subaru’s face.

“Understand what you owe those you have wronged. Understand what the world owes for what it has taken from you. Understand that you can’t base your actions on such a balance— all that it makes together is a zero!” he shouts.

“What?” Subaru asks. He feels like all his breath has been knocked out of his chest. Could the past, both extant and lost, be cleared away? Could he really stand up from where he had fallen, could the end of the world not be a foregone conclusion? Instead of fixing everything he has broken— instead of being granted recompense— could he hold onto what remained in front of him now, and drag himself into the future, and refuse to ever let it go? 

What a thing, to escape the doom of always starting over! What a thing, to wipe the record all the way to zero! 

“Okay,” Subaru says, and it is an acceptance of all the flaws and all the fragments in his soul. 

Chapter Text

“What are we up against?” Heinkel asks. 

“Lots of things. The biggest problems are that Ram is heading to kill the White Whale, that Felix and Crusch are immortal and have an undead army, that Julius has instantaneous communication with Anastasia over long distances, and that Wilhelm has the Authority of Vainglory,” Subaru recounts.

“And you thought something as small as that would have me running away instead of saving Louanna?” Heinkel asks. “Ridiculous.” 

“Now I just think you’re crazy,” Subaru says, but who is he to talk? He sits up in the bed, curling his legs into a cross. “Come to think of it, a lot of these problems could be solved if we had an instant communication system of our own. One team to watch the approaching enemies and give the second team directions. Oh! The observers should be on the White Whale, and the creature can coordinate its dives with guerrilla attacks from the other team. Fighting a pitched battle won’t go well at all, but if we get as many bodies out of Felix’s vicinity as possible, both living and dead… well, we have the whole forest.”

“A good plan. It does depend on an instant communication system suddenly manifesting, which is an imposition on the world. Are you expecting us to pull a metia or a Divine Protection out of nowhere?” Regulus asks, scoffing.

“Well,” Heinkel says. Both boys look at him.

“You have a metia?” Subaru asks. 

“Flam and Grassis share a Divine Protection of Mindspeak. They can only activate it once a day, however,” Heinkel says, sounding unsure about what his point is. 

“I think the bigger issue would be convincing them to help us at all,” Regulus points out.

“How does ‘once a day’ work? Every twenty-four hours?” Subaru asks.

“What’s an hour?” Heinkel asks. Subaru blinks at him. This… must be a cultural miscommunication, Lugnica surely has measures with which to tell time. 

“Is the power determined by passing time, or sunset and sunrise?” Subaru clarifies.

“As far as I can tell, it resets every time one of them goes to sleep,” Heinkel remembers. 

“Really? Then I can just knock them out by freezing them in time briefly— don’t worry, it won’t hurt them!” Regulus says, changing tack when Heinkel begins to protest. 

“We’ll have to get to the White Whale before nighttime. That’s when Ram and Rem arrive. How can we deal with them… wait. Their magic is clearly connected, maybe they have something like Flam and Grassis do? And Rem can barely do anything— so if we take her out of the equation, that might just nerf Ram,” Subaru says, thinking.

“Nerf?” Regulus asks. Subaru waves a hand dismissively.

“Lye and Roy are with the White Whale,” Heinkel says. “I don’t want to suggest it— but having one of them temporarily eat Rem’s name is probably our best chance.”

“That’s the forgetting thing, right? And if Ram forgot about Rem… yes, that’s great!” Subaru agrees, punching his fist into his hand. “Why wouldn’t you want to suggest it?”

“To permanently eat another’s name is a horrific violation of their rights. An incredibly awful action that as far as I know can never be justified. Roy and Lye regularly eat their own names and return them, so to eat the name or memory of another is a terrible sin that they understand intimately. If your name is eaten, everyone in the entire world forgets you, and all evidence of your presence is erased. The Archbishops of Gluttony, therefore, collect as much experience interacting with others that they possibly can. They learn from their friends, and teach things to new friends in return. They wish that everyone in the world could be connected, so as to never know the pain of the loss of it, and to bring their sister Louis into existence where she might one day experience the lives they tell her about. Lye searches for the greatest stories, the most powerful moments, for people worth knowing and histories worth telling; Roy, in contrast, laps up every little bit of interaction he can get his hands on,” Regulus explains. His hands move all over as he speaks, emphasizing the importance of his statements. 

“So, what would temporarily eating Rem’s name involve?” Subaru asks.

“Only to keep it as long as we could take her where her sister would never find her. Their power clearly necessitates some degree of proximity,” Regulus says.

“It might be our only option against the Oni god. I wonder why Margave Roswaal would send her to kill the White Whale— and also, how she can even find the thing,” Heinkel says. That was strange, Subaru realizes. Eh, it was a problem for later.

“Onwards, then!” he announces. “Any ideas as to how we’re going to go about talking to the telepathic twins?”

“Yes,” Heinkel says. “First, I must speak to Carol.” 

*** 

Start where you are. Or so Heinkel had told Subaru, anyway. It was fitting that he would also have to take on such a task himself. With these thoughts in mind, Heinkel pulls the dragon carriage silently into the Astrea mansion’s driveway, and then further around the back. Judging by the absence of Felt’s ground dragon Romy, she was currently at the palace— as were Reinhard and Garfiel. Wonderful. Heinkel motions Subaru and Regulus to follow him so they can get through the back door unnoticed.

“And who are these two young men?” an authoritative voice asks once they reach the living room. Heinkel freezes.

“Hello, Carol,” he says. Subaru waves to the old woman excitedly, and Regulus grabs his hand to make him stop. “I have… some things I need to explain.”

“I’m getting the impression this might take a while,” Carol says, looking the three over. “Sit down, all of you. This is about the treason, isn’t it?”

“What?” Heinkel asks. 

“Grimm, Flam, Grassis, come over here! He’s finally admitting it!” Carol yells. 

“You knew?” Heinkel asks, shocked. He sits down in one of the living room chairs, overwhelmed. “This whole time, you knew that I…” 

“You’ve been at this for three years at the very least,” Carol says.

“Five years,” Heinkel corrects. Five years since he had begun to dig himself out of the hole he’d almost drowned in, since he became someone who could feel worthy of Louanna’s love, since Reinhard had proven himself an irredeemable monster. Since Heinkel had saved his wife but lost his son; since he had decided to save the whole world to make up for his failures. 

“Then… after Louanna,” Carol says, her voice softening slightly. “That makes sense. Even if it’s entirely stupid.”

“How did you find out?” Heinkel asks. He shrinks from the rest of Carol’s family as they enter the room; the twins and her husband all seem to dissect Heinkel with their gazes. 

“You fell asleep while holding the most blatantly treasonous notebook I have seen in all my life,” Carol says. Heinkel winces. “But it’s the duty of a noble to manage their estate, and I couldn’t say you weren’t doing that as well as far beyond it. This country is getting ripped apart from all sides, and I wasn’t about to stop you from trying to sew it back together.”

“Also, if she never confronted you about it, there would be plausible deniability if you were caught,” Grassis says, mercilessly.

“You’re putting us all in danger by admitting it now, you know,” Flam says.

“[Why now?]” Grimm signs. 

“I’m hoping you have a good reason,” Carol says. She frowns, but then smiles slightly. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you either drunk out of your mind or pretending to be.”

“You knew I was pretending too?” Heinkel asks. This was… really embarrassing. Or maybe it just meant that the people who he’d truly been close to knew him better than he had thought. What would Theresia say, if she could see him now? She had never wanted him to be a warrior, even though she was as feared of a murderer as her husband.

“I know that you’ll always be a stubborn fool no matter what. Even so, you’ve clearly changed, and for the better. You might not want to hear this, but— I believe Louanna would be proud of you,” Carol says.

“She is, she talks about him whenever she gets the chance,” Regulus says. This statement produces a stunned silence, and Heinkel sighs deeply. That was one way to break the news, yes.

“What,” Carol snaps.

“WHAT!?” Flam and Grassis yell. Grimm doesn’t say anything at all, but starts coughing as he tries to cry out from sheer surprise.

“I guess you guys didn’t know about that one,” Subaru says, weaving his fingers together. 

“Louanna is alive?” Carol hisses. “And awake?”

“Since five years ago—“ Heinkel starts, and Carol smacks him.

“You didn’t tell us?”

“I’m sorry,” Heinkel says. He means it. “I didn’t realize you’d take us joining the Witch Church as well as you have, though…” He trails off upon realizing from Carol’s expression that maybe there is another piece of information that had not been communicated.

“Please tell me that the Witch Church has absolutely nothing to do with the Witch Cult,” Carol says.

“Calling us a cult is slander,” Regulus mutters. 

“I don’t know what I expected,” Carol sighs.

“Better, maybe?” Flam asks.

“It’s a mistake to expect better from Heinkel-sama,” Grassis says. 

“A big mistake,” Flam agrees.

“[Explain. You are not allowed the benefit of the doubt,]” Grimm signs, which frankly is entirely fair. Regulus takes over at this point, pulling himself up straight as he begins to clarify.

“You seem to already have some idea of what Heinkel has been up to. The Witch Church, in general, does not do much different— even if we are forced to hide our affiliation when we try to lift up those parts of this kingdom that its rulers constantly trample on. Do they have no understanding of all the souls they should be caring of? Do they have any decency, or are they simply cruel wastes of air that can never make up enough to balance all their sins? We fight against foul injustice. We are not the evil that rumors make of us. I am Regulus Corneas, the Sin Archbishop representing Greed, and I sincerely plead for your aid in preventing a vicious massacre!” he announces, bowing deeply to the four servants of the Astrea mansion.

“Our help?” Carol asks.

“How do you feel about riding on the White Whale?” Subaru asks. There is no response to this from Carol, mostly because formulating one is impossible. 

“You two are not helping. And Carol, the Whale isn’t what killed Mom, I promise,” Heinkel says.

“Is that right? You need our help?” Carol finally asks. She crosses her arms consideringly. 

“You don’t seem very trustworthy,” Flam points out.

“You didn’t before, and you really don’t now,” Grassis says.

“[He may have earned some trustworthiness,]” Grimm argues.

“He may,” Carol says. “For Louanna, if nothing else. He would never misrepresent her name— so to claim that she lives, and that she joined the Witch Cult alongside him— well, we’ll just have to go and talk to her, won’t we?”

“[Are you sure?]” Grimm asks.

“Not entirely,” Carol says. “If the Witch Cult is truly good, what about Stride Vollachia? You know full well what the Archbishop of Pride did to our family— to me.”

“He wasn’t an Archbishop, he was a Warlock. An Authority holder unaffiliated with the Church. He was being controlled by someone else, too,” Heinkel says, remembering the very same explanations he’d demanded from Capella. 

“What— mind control was Stride’s power!” Carol snaps. Heinkel winces, because it sounds pretty implausible.

“I swear to you. The Church never figured out who had managed to turn his Authority backwards, but either way he was never ordained. Not all Authority-holders are Witch Church,” Carol stares at Heinkel for a very long moment.

“I want to meet Louanna,” Flam says, interrupting the silence.

“So do I!” Grassis says.

“Elaborate on what you said about the White Whale, please,” Carol finally demands. Subaru rubs his hands together, and leans forwards.

“We’re going to save everyone’s lives,” he says.

Before long, the entire group has traveled to the Flugel Tree. Subaru had said they needed to be quick, to catch up to the White Whale before Ram and Rem arrived. As soon as the beast descends, he has Regulus lift the entire dragon carriage on top of it. The Whale, sensing a need for transport, breathes mist all over itself and those riding it as it flies higher into the dark sky. Heinkel looks over at Carol, who is holding both Flam and Grassis’ hands tightly. (Grimm had chosen to stay at the mansion, as it couldn’t be left entirely unmanned.) They are all understandably scared by the situation, and the sensation produced by being erased surely didn’t help.

“It’s all right,” Heinkel says. “I was scared of it before, too.”

“It truly didn’t kill the previous Sword Saint?” Flam asks.

“No. That was Pandora,” Heinkel says. Carol sucks in a horrified breath. “Yes, her.” Most people weren’t aware, but the Sage Council was not the true power behind the Dragon Kingdom of Lugnica; when the Royal family had all died, a Witch had wandered into the waiting space. She did not have an overly active presence, but proclaimed herself an enemy of Satella and the Witch Cult, and claimed she would help the Council restore the world to its former glory. Even before that overt announcement, it was she who had encouraged making the Royals’ terrible systems even worse, and she who had supported Wilhelm on his quest to create stronger and stronger weapons in his path for power. Power, and revenge; against the White Whale that had killed Theresia, and all the knives that hid in the shadows of the world— but the truth was that Pandora was the one who had killed Heinkel’s mother. The Astrea family (and its servants) were aware of Pandora’s existence, as were other noble families closely connected to the government, but she was depicted as a secret weapon and not the true malicious controller she really was. 

“Wilhelm respects Pandora. Possibly more than anyone else alive,” Carol says, horrified.

“She gave him an Authority, too,” Subaru says.

“What?” Heinkel asks. “You mentioned that before, but I didn’t really… what?” Subaru waves his hand vaguely in the air.

“He can turn back time on inanimate objects,”

“That’s…” Heinkel trails off, because it would explain a lot. Even so— “You can trust what your Authority tells you? You’re sure?” Future-seeing seemed like a load of cryptic nonsense. The Gospels were never clear. Speaking of which— “Regulus, did your Gospel share anything interesting?”

“Right. You follow the Witch,” Grassis sneers, glaring at Regulus as he flips a small black book out of his pocket.

“Fun fact! Satella and the Witch of Envy are different people! We’re going to save the hero and kill the villain. Don’t worry, we aren’t aiming towards the apocalypse. In fact, we’re actively trying to prevent it,” Subaru’s gaze darkens after he speaks, and the Whale continues flying forwards into the night. Lye and Roy had already slipped off; they wouldn’t be much help on a pitched field of battle, but chances were high they could catch Ram and Rem by surprise and erase at least one of them for a little while. The Gluttony siblings, theoretically, had the ability to be the most powerful of any Archbishop— when they ate names and memories, they would also obtain the skills and knowledge of their victims. Of course, to forever erase a life from existence is a sin they could never commit; they know all too well how it feels to have their own connections erased. And all the friendships they make are not only to please their own tastes for the most glorious or varied of social interactions, but to also one day see their sister free from the Hall of Memories— but that is a different story.

“Prevent it?” Carol asks, and Regulus rattles off a summary of the timeloop issue as the Whale lowers itself before Arlam village. At the speed it can travel, they’ve surely gotten back in time to outrun their enemies. It isn’t even sunrise yet.

“Half the village can evacuate to Elior, the other half to Sanctuary,” Heinkel says.

“I’ll stay and help manage things here. Emilia doesn’t want to see me, and— she wants everyone to be safe. I’ll talk to her only once that is the case,” Subaru says. In a short time, he’s put his pride aside in the name of purpose, and helped Heinkel put aside his own pride and actually speak to those he considers family, as well.

“You’ve grown,” Heinkel says. Subaru blinks at him, but he hasn’t anything more to say. The boy will figure the rest out the way or another when the battle reaches their location. Heinkel turns to Carol and the twins, helping them climb down from the Whale. They still seem in shock at the recent turns of events, but are not pulling back. “I’m sure Louanna will be happy to see you again.” 

“I can barely believe she’s alive. Even after…” Carol says, trailing off as she looks back at the White Whale’s gigantic figure. “You always would do anything for Louanna, but I never thought that anything could mean something like this.” 

“Neither did I,” Heinkel admits. The future of the Astrea family was impossible to predict. However, with Wilhelm arriving at the head of Crusch’s army, another important reveal was certain to happen today. Heinkel was going to face his father on the battlefield, and it was inevitable that only one of them would return alive. Wilhelm was incredibly powerful, and his death seems unlikely, but it must occur— because Louanna is in danger, and all those threatening her cannot survive. She is awake, and not for Wilhelm, not for Reinhard, not for the world itself will Heinkel let her be lost once more. 

***

Subaru watches Heinkel Astrea walk off with the Remendises, and wishes them a good reunion. There are enough dragon carriages in the village to get everyone out, as had been proven last time, but this time the fight would be very, very different. They had Regulus and the White Whale now, for one. Subaru briefly wishes they could have found Otto again, but the timing to run into him wasn’t right, and Otto had died last loop. Subaru couldn’t live with that— leaving the merchant out of the battle was safer for him, even if he had cool bug powers. Hopefully he’ll find somewhere to sell his oil. Now… the main problem with last loop’s fight was that they hadn’t the White Whale nor Regulus’ invincibility, and with both they could take the fight to the approaching army instead of the opposite.

“Our biggest issue is Felix,” Subaru explains to Regulus, who is listening intently. “He can turn Crusch’s soldiers into zombies— er, undead— as fast as we kill them. Dangerous undead, too.” Wait, there was an inconsistency there. When Felix had made zombies out of the villagers at Arlam, they had been extremely ineffective combatants. Yet, those made of Crusch’s soldiers could still wield swords with skill. Maybe there was some prep time involved? Since the army was Crusch’s army, then there could be a spell set up on them ahead of time, one that took longer to cast than a simple curse?

“Surely if we kill his master, he will be too mindbroken to continue. Crusch has already ground his soul into dust, a most horrific violation of his existence— with her gone, there will be nothing to hold Knight Blue together.”

“Won’t be easy. Crusch is immortal. Felix probably is as well, come to think of it,” Subaru says, remembering the sudden burst of water magic that had let Crusch regenerate faster than Elsa.  

“Healing magic is a wonderful thing that allows for many blessings, but the fact that Felix uses it for the sin of necromancy is horrific. I pity what has been done to him, but it would be both a mercy and a justice to destroy him. Crusch should face her dues as well, of course, and she deserves far worse than he,” Regulus says, lip twisting. “But perhaps our most terrible enemy is the Sword Demon. He is the cause for Crusch and Felix; he is the cause for the Finest Knight; he is the cause for the Sword Saint. He has been chosen by the Witch of Vainglory, and is utterly and entirely unforgivable.”

“Yeah,” Subaru agrees. If everything was Wilhelm’s fault… yikes. “Felix is an issue, Crusch is an issue, Wilhelm is an issue— and then there’s Julius.” Subaru can’t stop himself from growling. He didn’t have any emotions towards Wilhelm or Crusch besides simple hatred, and Felix only inspired a mind-numbing fear, but Julius made Subaru feel a white-hot anger. He had killed Regulus, he had killed Heinkel, he had killed Emilia. Subaru takes a deep breath; he can’t let fury ruin his concentration. If he was calm and approached the problem with a rational plan, Julius was sure to be defeated. The man was so delusional that he was already at a huge disadvantage compared to all of Subaru’s other enemies. “We have to separate him from the rest of the group so he doesn’t call Anastasia when they’re getting defeated. How does he call her, anyway?”

“Your Authority didn’t tell you that?” Regulus asks. 

“Nope,” Subaru sighs. He looks up, hearing footsteps; Heinkel, the Remendises, and the rest of the group from the chapel are walking up the path. Louanna is smiling, clearly happy to be reunited with Carol, and the twins seem to be getting along with Frederica and Meili. Elsa watches them, looking content.

“We’re ready,” Heinkel says, his hand on the sword in his belt. He seems determined; Subaru can’t even imagine having to fight his own father. He really misses his dad. 

“Here we go, then,” Subaru says.

The White Whale floats slowly over the forest canopy, mist rolling over its body; Subaru and Flam ride behind Meili, who uses her Divine Protection to direct the mabeast in specific directions. According to Heinkel, the creature could sense the thoughts of those near to it, and even occasionally beam its own memories into the heads of others; in this way it could be counted on as a transport system. However, it was not exactly suited for the specificity of being air support for a battle, which was where Meili came in. Subaru had been warned that the White Whale was unused to fighting, so if Crusch or Julius started throwing magic up at it, it was likely to flee. Luckily, Subaru had come up with a solution; Meili could tell the Whale to intermittently erase itself, so that anyone who saw it below would immediately not see it as it was erased from their memory and flew from their view. Come to think of it, on that note— 

“Could we get the Whale to hit Crusch or Felix with the mist? It’s clearly some kind of setup done ahead of time… as with the undead soldiers. So the mist would make the waiting magic forget to activate.” Subaru says.

“He can’t,” Meili says. “He wasn’t created to be a monster… he was created as a gift to the world, like the Rabbit and the Serpent.” There is something reverent in her eyes. “Regular mabeasts are… different. I get the impression they used to be wonderful creatures, too, but something corrupted them and all their generations. Not so for these big brothers.”

“Great,” Subaru complains. 

“Don’t worry, though! I had that idea, too!” Meili says, and she shakes the messenger bag she’s wearing. It jingles as she holds it out towards Subaru. “The Whale can’t send his mist out, but we can do that for him.” 

“Lots of glass bottles?” Flam asks.

“Oh, yes!” Subaru cheers. They could bomb Crusch and her army! Subaru grabs one of the bottles before climbing to the side of the Whale’s head, where the mist vents are; he holds the bottle up against it to collect some of the terrifying emissions, and corks it once it’s full. 

“You can use this too, Flam! The mist effect is only temporary, so I can ask the Whale to make it extra short for you— you’ll just be out for a moment, and then you can use your Divine Protection again,” Meili offers. 

“You’re pretty proactive,” Subaru says. Meili smirks at the praise.

“It’s for Elsa nee-san,” Meili says. Of course; the sisters would do anything to protect each other, and upon their place in the Witch Church becoming precarious, Meili had locked in. Subaru looks down at the movement visible in the forest below; Crusch’s army weaves its way through the trees.

“Any updates?” he asks. Grassis would be with the guerrilla group for coordination with the sky-eyes. “I wish we could have just used the communication devices in the chapel.” The Witch Church headquarters owned a metia powered by mana crystals for conversing across long distances, but it was a large device not easily transported, and connected to other devices belonging to Witch Church groups across the kingdom, making it entirely useless as a walkie-talkie.

“Positions have been shared. Now we just have to find Blue,” Flam says. “Why is Wilhelm-sama doing this? I mean, it is the Witch Church, but… Carol always said we couldn’t trust Wilhelm after what he did to Reinhard-sama, and there are all these people in Arlam who have nothing to do with any of this, and— we shouldn’t have been brought into it, either. We serve the Astreas, but which ones?”

“The ones that aren’t trying to kill the others,” Meili says, pragmatically. 

“It’s Wilhelm’s fault that that absolute Witch Felt-sama has been tormenting the family. She taunts us by parading Reinhard’s shell around, and it’s her fault that Louanna is dead— but Louanna is here— and Heinkel-sama has always been distant, but it is Wilhelm who has destroyed Theresia’s memory, no matter how much he claims to be working in favor of it,” Flam says. She holds up one of the bottles of mist Subaru has been collecting, watching it swirl before her face in patterns like the lines of soldiers weaving through the forest below. “Crusch Karsten is no better, and yet even as I abjure her I sit atop one of the worst Mabeasts of all— and you tell me that it does not want to fight. You tell me that the Witch does not want to end the world, that Heinkel’s hidden goodwill has been alongside Archbishops of Sin, and Louanna herself tells me that she is happy,” Flam sighs deeply. “I’m very conflicted, but l do feel complete when I fulfill my tasks, and there is no task to a maid more important than making sure her superiors are well.”

“I think you’d get along with Frederica,” Meili says. Flam responds to this by drinking the mist, and Meili blinks in surprise at the girl’s sudden apparent appearance and subsequent passing out. After a few seconds she wakes up again, no longer erased and Divine Protection ready to roll. Subaru snatches up a glass bottle, and pitches it into the forest now that the battle has begun in earnest; a good portion of Crusch’s soldiers were undead before the battle started, meaning that once the magic that kept them animate forgot itself they would disintegrate. Birds fly up from the trees when slashes from Regulus or strikes from an Unseen Hand cause damage, and Fortuna’s Authority allows everyone to be aware of and empowered by each other; this time around, weapons confusion and clever tactics was sure to give the Witch Church the win.

“There he is!” Meili says, pointing; the Sword Demon is cutting himself a clearing, the strength of his weapon swings splitting trees as it splits through every attack aimed at him. He stands beside Crusch, and her wind-sword carves great furrows through the shadows of the greenery. They are incredible threats with the capability to easily tear Subaru’s victory apart. 

“We have to stop them!” Subaru shouts, and the Whale changes direction, its massive body twisting as it swims through the air towards its targets.

“Whale-san! What are you doing!?” Meili cries, and Subaru realizes that the concealing fog that had previously been rolling over the Whale’s body is trailing to nothing. “He won’t listen to me!” The White Whale is a beast far too old to be commanded by a mere Divine Protection. Meili’s directions have been advice, not orders. Subaru and Flam hold on tightly as the Whale dips towards Crusch and Wilhelm— the latter is glaring at the mabeast with a hatred beyond comprehension, the vainglory of vengeance carved into every line of his face. The Whale opens its mouth, and Subaru doesn’t know what he expected, but singing wasn’t on the list. 

The vibrations of the Whale’s song shudder through Subaru’s skin, and then he cannot feel anything at all. He can sense Flam and Meili next to him in this strange incorporeal location, but they are not the only ones; Wilhelm and Crusch are also here, wherever here is. The image of a field covered in wildflowers stretches from the White Whale’s perspective, and wind blows multicolored petals past the sun. The Witch Church’s chapel stands in the distance, and Heinkel and Louanna are below Subaru’s point of vision, standing together in the sunlit field. They are holding hands, and both look the picture of health and are smiling. This was a memory, Subaru realizes, of when the Whale saw these two one weekend or another. He feels the strong beat of powerful emotions, somehow through this memory-vision state, and cannot look down at what he sees with anything less than the sensation that it is truth. In the same instant as the vision is given, however, it vanishes; Subaru once again finds himself within his own body. The Whale hovers menacingly over Wilhelm and Crusch, casting a great shadow. 

“DIE, MONSTER! I will absolutely not perish from your nonsense curse!” Crusch yells, swinging her sword; bursts of wind flash in the sunlight, slamming into the side of the Whale. Meili screams as the creature starts turning around, afraid of being harmed and unwilling to fight. Even so— it had done something, given that vision, but why— what had been the point? And then he realizes; Crusch is attacking furiously, but Wilhelm stands frozen and unmoving. What has the sight of his son and his daughter-in-law done to him? Subaru sees movement in the trees around the clearing, and grabs a few bottles of mist before taking his chance. 

“See you guys later!” he shouts, running down the length of the Whale’s body as it twists away from Crusch’s strikes. Subaru ends up sliding down the tail, which whips around at speed; he screams as he’s flung into the air, arms and legs windmilling. The ground looms ever closer, and Subaru only just manages to hurl one of the bottles of mist as he’s falling, making a cloud of white erupt all over Crusch. Subaru himself is saved from certain death by Elsa, who bursts out of the trees with blades raised and a vicious smile. She leaps up facing the quickly descending Subaru, flipping in the air above the mist-disoriented Crusch before landing into Subaru’s arms; he grabs her around the waist from sheer reflex, and his velocity carries them both forwards at a speed Crusch is hard-pressed to avoid. Elsa crashes into the Valkyrie as Subaru holds on for his life, and his momentum finally ceases with a spray of blood that is thankfully not his own. Elsa’s knives have found their target deep within Crusch’s chest, and blood spills all over the grassy earth while Felix’ magic is too forgotten to reverse it. The mist has done its job well; Subaru stumbles to his feet, and Elsa drags her blades from their enemy’s flesh with a sickening sound. Crusch drops to the earth; her wound is fatal, and without the possibility of healing, she is done for. The sounds of sword clashing illuminates her visage just as the sunlight shines in her fading eyes; her expression is one of pain and regret. Elsa deliberately turns away from Crusch’s dying convulsions.

“For the monster you have made of Felix, and the monster you have made of me, I have killed you— but I refuse to find any warmth in watching you die,” Elsa says.

“Ferris,” Crusch says. “FERRIS!” she screams, begging for her mindbroken knight to save her with her final breath. Subaru has no time to wonder whether Blue has heard her dying cry— for Wilhelm and Heinkel are crossing swords, and Subaru knows exactly how that ends. Except— something is different this time.

“How dare you. How dare you show me such a cruel lie!” Wilhelm is screaming, and his emotions make his strikes fly wide. “You aren’t worth the sword you swing, you thief!” 

“I always knew you were blind, but to deny a vision that by its very nature must be true is surprising. I thought you were smart,” Heinkel growls.

“Louanna is gone, and Heinkel is lost. You will neither trick nor defeat me; I have devoted myself to the sword in an effort to—“

“HYPOCRITE!” Heinkel roars. “You have an Authority, for God’s sake! All you devote your life to is ruining those of others! Destroying just my life wasn’t enough, was it? Didn’t fulfill your vainglory? You accepted a power from the Witch who killed my mother, and you broke Reinhard’s heart.” Swords crash against each other at blinding speeds, and Subaru realizes why Wilhelm is losing; the sheer disconnect of refusing to believe the undeniable truth of the Whale’s vision has weakened him. What does denial of reality mean when an Authority that commands reality rests within your soul? The result is surely an inner conflict beyond belief, one that can break one’s conviction and stance to pieces. 

“You know nothing of Theresia, you fool. Who are you?” Wilhelm asks, his voice shaking with rage. He does not understand where the true focus of his fury should lie, and is moments away from killing his own son as he continues on his misguided quest. He has turned his blood into blades, and spends his existence cutting everyone around him; but all the swords in the world will not fulfill him.

“You know exactly who I am,” Heinkel says. The tragedy here is that no part of Wilhelm does.

Subaru lifts Crusch’s bloody sword from the ground. He doesn’t know where Elsa has gone; she saved his life and killed the Valkriye, and her smile had been peaceful as she had disappeared into the darkness— for somewhere in the shadows of the trees Felix is screaming, and his magic and his undead have all gone haywire. So here Subaru stands, holding a sword he cannot wield; but it seems to him that swords are very much the problem. So he throws it at Wilhelm’s head. 

The climactic battle between father and son is thus concluded with a mildly loud clunk. Wilhelm’s rhythm staggers from the hit, and Heinkel drives his sword through his father’s ribs; it mirrors a death the other way around in a loop long gone. Subaru stands in silence as the second enemy falls silently to the ground. He looks at Heinkel, who wears a resigned expression.

“I always knew it was going to come to this,” he says. He kneels in the grass, and closes Wilhelm’s eyes. “May your soul be filtered through the Od. Very thoroughly.” Heinkel’s fist closes tightly on thin air, and Subaru realizes there are tears on his face. The Sword Demon was going to kill every last member of the Church, he has killed more people than Subaru would ever know… but he still was Heinkel’s father.

“I’m sorry,” Subaru says.

“It’s fine,” Heinkel says, but his voice grates. He turns to look at Crusch, who is also lying still in bloodied dirt. “She never had a chance, you know? She broke Blue, but my father and her father put her on that path, and unlike Reinhard there wasn’t ever someone who could have gotten her off it. I could have saved Reinhard, and instead— Dad is dead by my own hand, and not once did he realize he was looking at me. Not once did he wonder whether he was wrong— if maybe, just maybe, some of his family could be happy without him.”

Chapter Text

“Felix,” Elsa says. After stabbing Crusch dead, she wasted no time trying to find the Valkryie’s victim— the boy who had once been her friend, the reason she had hope, the reason she had survived long enough to save Meili, the reason she had sworn to never give up. She looks down at him now, sniveling in the dirt at the sensation of his master’s death, and only feels revulsion. His intestines will warm her very nicely, she thinks. A gift from the Felix who once had been. Elsa is sure he would have liked to see the current Felix dead.

“Ferris,” the catboy snarls. “My name is Ferris!”

“If that is the name you choose to live with, it will be the name with which you die,” Elsa says, striking out like a snake. Unfortunately, Felix is faster, and with a single touch her nerves are burning, blood boiling like a fire crystal dropped into water; Elsa’s regeneration fights the pain, but for a few moments she can only twist and scream, and soft footsteps indicate her opponent is fleeing. When the agony finally ceases, Elsa takes a few deep breaths; Felix will be difficult to fight. His regeneration outmatches hers, and the rest of his powers even more so; but it was her failure to not escape early, to save his soul, or even to cut him down before he had figured out how to become immortal. Before the healing powers that he had held in such high regard had become as twisted as his mind, and before he had commanded an army of corpses. Elsa wants to live, and Felix lives like he is dying; he cares for nothing at all beyond his master, beyond the one who had utterly broken his heart. She leaps to her feet, and chases after the boy in the blue dress; spiraling leaves fall through the afternoon sunlight like rose petals, which is appropriate. She does what she does now out of love; for the Felix she once had known, for Meili’s protection, for her own desire to live a beautiful life. For the space of safety that the Witch Church has carved into existence that she would be remiss to lose.

Elsa finds Felix standing between Crusch‘s and the Sword Demon’s fallen corpses; blue light shines around them both, and they are rising from the earth. Of course, there is no such thing as true resurrection— not with Felix’s talents, not with the cursed blood inside Elsa’s veins, not with any metia that may lie deep within some secret vault. The dead stay dead, but even so, their bodies can bear a mockery of life. Felix stares with stars in his eyes as Crusch gets to her feet; there is no breath between her lips, and neither is there light within her soul. Also standing is the Sword Demon, but many things about him have changed— the spell that is reserved for the army’s greatest warriors brings them back at the peak of their strength, and the Sword Demon’s hair is no longer white but is instead as dark as his soul. His form is youthful in undeath, and he stands as silent as Crusch while Felix throws himself into her arms.

“You will not find warmth there,” Elsa says. As always, she pities him; instead of breaking his chains, Crusch’s death has only imprisoned him further.

“Crusch-sama is alive!” Felix cries. “She’s alive, she’s alive, she’s alive, I need her!”

“A corpse will not give you orders. Although both she and the Sword Demon are under your control now, you are still bound by what they have done. They are dead— it is your turn to live.”

“Crusch-sama is alive,” Felix repeats. He speaks as though he can deny reality with mere words.

“I’m afraid it will not manifest for you in that manner,” a voice says. Elsa, startled, whips around in shock; standing at the edge of the clearing is a woman barely taller than Meili, with pale blue eyes and pale white skin and long, straight, silver hair. She walks barefoot in the bloody grass as though she hasn’t a care in the world.

“Who are you?” Elsa asks, but the woman ignores her, walking up to Felix and his undead.

“You’ve been wonderful, Wilhelm van Astrea, and I loved you, but your time is over. To die rather than let your resolve fail you! This strength is exactly what I have always admired you for. As for you, Ferris Argyle… the Valkriye Crusch Karsten was proud of you. She was very, very proud of you, and the love you both share is glorious. You don’t want to let her down, do you?” the woman asks.

“No!” Felix says. “Nyever!” Elsa watches as the strange woman reaches into Crusch’s jacket pocket, and takes out an insignia with a jewel that bears no light.

“This will shine for you. Carry on your master’s mission as you carry her love for you in your heart,” she says, handing the insignia to Felix; it glimmers in his palm. “What is it they say? Looks female enough? A gift from the Valkriye Crusch Karsten, a gift from Wilhelm van Astrea… you and your dead masters were never in this forest, Ferris Argyle. And neither was I.”

With those words, the woman and the broken trio are gone. 

“What?” Elsa asks. The space where they all stood is as empty as a cloudless sky. Who had that woman been? She hadn’t even bothered to look at Elsa, considering her less than insignificant. Elsa hadn’t dared to make a move either; she could tell just by looking at the woman that trying to kill her would prove useless. She could smell the power in the air. 

“Elsa?” a voice asks. Elsa turns to see Frederica, her hands grown into gigantic paws.

“She took him,” Elsa manages. “Did you see— ? She took him!”

“Do you actually want to kill Felix?” Frederica asks. She walks forwards and places her hand on Elsa’s shoulder, and Elsa can’t help but collapse into the grass, falling to her knees. There is not a single drop of blood in the green.

“I want to slice his bowels open. I want to slice my bowels open. One way or another, I don’t want him to be so cold,” Elsa says. Necromancy was worse than any icy river, and Felix had plunged directly into it. “He promised me, did you know that? He promised he wouldn’t become what they wanted to make of him, that he and I would break free, that we could go and live together. That he would be a healer, that I could be a hunter, that we would be far away from the Sword Demon and the Valkyrie and everyone who wanted to turn us into knives. When we held hands inside that nightmare, I stopped wanting to kill. I stopped wanting to die.”

“And you couldn’t save him,” Frederica says. She holds out a hand for a moment, but then pauses, unsure of the motion. “I understand.”

“How could you possibly?” Elsa snarls.

“My brother is the Gore Tiger,” Frederica tells her solemnly, and— yes, that would do it. More beast than boy, the Princess’ shield, always wanting to kill and devour those before him— Elsa knew exactly who he was, and what the Sword Demon had done to him. He had been brought to the dungeons with a desire to protect, and had left with little beyond animalistic violence. Just like Felix, Garfiel Tinsel had been twisted into a monster. Elsa had not known him personally, nor had she ever tried to save him— but she had seen his soul die.

“What do we do?” Elsa asks.

“I don’t know,” Frederica says, the weight of years of searching hanging over her every word. “But I’m going to find out.”

“There is no saving Felix,” Elsa says. That is something she had learned long ago. “However, I do not believe your brother is entirely lost.” She had saved Meili, after all. She could not let another older sister lose the will to keep on trying. 

***

“I think we’ve won,” Heinkel says. He’s running through the forest, Subaru alongside him; with Crusch’s death, the sounds of battle are fading into cries of fear and the snapping of broken magic. Whatever Felix had set up on the soldiers to make them zombies after death is snapping with the rebound of him going wild; wherever he is, he felt his master die, and his warriors both alive and dead are suffering the consequences. The Whale’s mist and the twins’ battle coordination has brought the Witch Church a victory; with Felix’s infinite army either fleeing or done for, Subaru allows himself to feel triumph. The only problem left was—

“Julius,” Heinkel says. An explosion of white light has torn up the earth ahead of them in a burst of brilliance; swinging his sword from side to side, the Finest Knight carves destruction through the woods, caring not for the presence of allies or enemies. It is clear that his power is overwhelming; without any restriction on his sanity, he can draw energy from his six spirits without fear. 

“Don’t worry. Regulus can stop him,” Subaru says. Julius was powerful, and a match for almost every member of the Witch Church— but Regulus was entirely unbeatable as long as Sylphy lived, and this time those who had stayed at the chapel would be fine. As if on cue, the Archbishop of Greed himself slides out of the trees, his Authority carrying him at a fast clip. He waves towards Heinkel and Subaru before catching up to Julius, who is surrounded by a ferocious storm of energy that will shred anyone in the vicinity. Anyone who isn’t Regulus, at least; ice, earth, wind and fire all glance off him without leaving a mark.  

“Ha! Look here, do you really think your insanity can stand against my majesty? You cannot even perceive the world around you, and your soul is in shreds! Say goodbye!” Regulus calls out, swiping a hand through the air. Julius’ death is very anticlimactic, for all the trouble he’s caused; his body lands with a splat in pieces on the ground. Despite how revolted Subaru is by the sight, he can’t help but stare at the messy gore. Was Julius really gone for good? Could it be that easy? 

“Hah,” Regulus says, brushing a hand through his hair and smirking before suddenly leaping backwards. “How dare you disrespect me so, even in death!” Julius’ blood has gotten on Regulus’ otherwise white shoes. 

“Why’d you turn the Authority off, kid?” Heinkel asks.

“I like breathing,” Regulus complains. Then he stops moving. 

“Regulus?” Subaru asks. His friend’s arms have suddenly dropped to his sides, dangling weirdly.

“You okay?” Heinkel asks. Regulus turns to face them, smiling strangely widely, and some part of Subaru understands exactly what has happened. The truth is ice inside his bones.

“This is quite the power. It will serve,” [Regulus] says, the twinkling lights of six spirits flickering around him. “Do you think I look presentable like this, Joshua? I hope Anastasia-sama will not mind.” [Regulus] steps over the body he used to inhabit, and raises a hand in the air; Subaru barely has the presence of mind to dive out of the way of the following deadly strike. He only just manages it, though, which is more than can be said for Heinkel.

“NO!” Subaru screams; Heinkel somehow resists being slashed in half, but the wound he has received is far too great for any hope of survival. [Regulus] turns to face Subaru with Julius’ mad eyes, and Subaru is ashamed of himself, but he runs. He’s terrified of Julius— he was completely helpless against the man, who could toy with and humiliate him without any effort, who murdered Subaru’s friends without even realizing what he was doing. Who called himself honorable even though he swore his life to a slaver. And now he wore Regulus’s face, had stolen his body and his Authority along with it, because even killing Julius hadn’t gotten rid of him. He had to get to Sylphy, Subaru understands, running towards where he knows the chapel is; she would not take the Authority away from Regulus while knowing he was in battle, but it would have to happen now if there was hope of anyone surviving. They could figure out a way to get Julius out of Regulus— Heinkel could be healed if someone reached him in time, probably, and Emilia and Fortuna were still somewhere in this forest— everyone could still be saved! 

Subaru hears a strange wooshing sound from behind him as he runs; it is quiet, but something about it feels deep. He turns around, dreading what he will see, and it seems his heart leaps into his throat; the forest has been wiped away. Where there once stood a thick wood there is only a field of perfectly cut stumps, and every now and then a splatter of red. Subaru stumbles, trying to keep running; he can barely process what has just occurred. Was this what it meant for Regulus’ power to be in the hands of a monster? 

“What’s happening?” a voice asks; Elsa is here, her body regenerating from being torn in two. “Did Regulus just—“

“It’s Julius. Julius possessed him,” Subaru says. Elsa’s face curves into a grimace.

“Go find Sylphy. I’ll hold him off,” she says, and Subaru has no other choice, so he keeps on running. He cannot make out the voices behind him; Elsa’s calls for blood mix with Julius’ mad statements in Regulus’ voice, and in the midst of it all are Emilia’s screams. Subaru runs, and his legs and chest are burning with the effort of it, but to stop moving would be an even worse fate. Images of all his failures flash through his mind; why did Julius always wait at the end of the line?

“I’ll kill you,” Subaru says furiously. “I’ll kill you!” When he reaches the chapel, he crashes through the door as fast as possible. “Sylphy! Take Cor Leonis back, now!” 

“What? I did, but why?” Sylphy asks, walking into the hallway. Louanna and Carol appear beside her; these three, as well as Beatrice, have stayed out of the fight. Louanna… Heinkel had been in a terrible state when Subaru had last seen him.

“Regulus… Julius possessed him,” Subaru says, breathing heavily with his hands on his knees. “We need to rescue him, and everyone else.”

“What!? No!” Sylphy cries. Face set with determination, she rushes out the door, Cor Leonis making her literally run right through it.

“Take me with you!” Subaru says, and she grabs him into a bridal carry as she dashes at an inhuman speed— he refuses to leave his friends to fight alone. The two of them skid to a stop in the wasteland that used to be the woods; the forest is not entirely destroyed, so Subaru still has hope for those who are missing, but many unrecognizable fatalities dot the clearing. Are they truly all soldiers from Crusch’s army? The White Whale is nowhere to be seen, either. It must have fled, and Subaru cannot blame it— for the scene before him is desperate. Emilia, Puck, Elsa and Fortuna battle [Regulus], whose spirit powers seem to have lost much of their accuracy.

“My sword, where is my sword, where is MY SWORD!” [Regulus] screeches; earth, ice, wind and fire all briefly flicker into the shapes of weapons as he tries to rationalize himself a focus. Nevertheless, he still presents a difficult force to battle against, even once Cor Leonis has been taken from him.

“REGULUS!” Sylphy yells, running up to her friend, but his eyes carry the madness of a different soul. She charges through all of his attacks before grabbing him by the collar and slamming him into the earth. “Get out of my friend, you demon!” 

“You will never win, Witch Cultist,” [Regulus] says. 

“There’s only one of you, and quite a few of us. Give up before we make you regret it,” Sylphy growls.

“No true knight will surrender to such dishonorable enemies. My sword will not fail against the likes of you! Anastasia-sama has placed her trust in me, and I will not let her down,” [Regulus] says, but try as he might, he cannot break out of Sylphy’s time-frozen grip. Fortuna walks over, and kneels down before placing her hand on [Regulus’] head.

“I can’t activate my Authority on him, but I can tell he’s still in there,” she says.

“Maybe I can heal this!” Emilia says, running over. Unfortunately, it seems that possession is not in the purview of healable injuries. Julius’ six spirits float around the gathered group like a mocking crown.

“Come on, Regulus! Fight him!” Subaru encourages.

“You can’t leave me. I won’t allow it,” Sylphy demands. “We’ve been through too much together for this! You’ve always said you don’t know what you’d do without me, but— I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“The Archbishop whose body I have stolen is weak and insecure. He will never regain control, because he does not feel he is worthy of it,” [Regulus] says. He looks very confident despite how surely he is trapped. “Although… there is something I could do, something that would be amusing, something that would hurt you hurt you HURT YOU!” [Regulus] smiles, and then he closes his eyes. Sylphy starts shaking him, but she jumps back when a spike of stone suddenly bursts through his chest, impaling himself fatally. 

“What— NO!” Sylphy shouts. Subaru stands frozen, staring as [Regulus] dies with a death-rattle full of laughter. Did Julius just— he killed himself, and took Regulus with him! 

“Lia!” Puck suddenly shouts, and Subaru snaps his head up; Julius’ six spirits are now swirling around [Emilia], and a sword made of ice manifests in her hand. No, no, no! [Emilia] swings the sword, and an explosion of ice erupts outwards from her that knocks everyone off their feet.

“Emilia….” Subaru manages. Was he doomed to fail her every time? 

“Quite the gate here,” [Emilia] says. Puck is staring down at her with an expression of unbridled fury.

“Give my Lia back,” he growls. ”We have a contract, how can you possibly— ECHIDNA!” 

“Not a name I expected to hear,” a voice says. Subaru, trying to get to his feet among all the ice, stands up to see Anastasia and her army beginning to fill the clearing. “Looks like my knight’s the last one left standing, as usual… an’ he caught the Devil’s vessel fer me as well, how nice.” 

“So this is where you’ve gone, you fox. Let Lia free, or suffer the consequences. You face the Beast of the End,” Puck threatens. Anastasia just wags a finger at him.

“Spirit contracts are connected to gates, and I’ll have my threads in that girl’s gate soon enough. Already do, with Julius’ six and Echidna hanging on. Come and get that Devil collared, Julius,” Anastasia says.

“Yes, Anastasia-sama. Be careful not to slip, Joshua!” [Emilia] says, holding out her hand to someone who isn’t there as she walks across the ice. Puck responds to this by firing off bursts of ice at Anastasia, but she shatters them all before they can reach her while barely moving her hands.

“You’ll be mine in a few moments,” she says. Subaru rushes at [Emilia], tackling her; he can’t let Julius take her near Anastasia!

“Emilia, wake up!” Subaru shouts, but [Emilia] just slams his head into the ice. Ears ringing, Subaru can barely make out Fortuna, Puck and Elsa trying in vain to kill Anastasia; Sylphy has lost her access to Cor Leonis with Regulus’ death, but rushes over from her best friend’s body to try and help Subaru hold [Emilia] down. Her beautiful face is twisted by Julius’ mad expression; Subaru would rather she decry him a thousand times over than see that horrible man’s soul inside her eyes. The rainbow light of six dancing spirits blind his vision with their brilliance, and the life underneath him is as freezing as Emilia’s body is warm. They press against each other as they fight a battle for which there will be no winner. 

“You do not stand a chance,” [Emilia] says, and the ice buckles behind her; bladed spikes drive themselves through Subaru’s chest. He gasps out, his grip failing, and [Emilia] shoves him off of her, standing to her feet with a posture that does not become her. Subaru’s own blood trails down her silver hair, dripping onto his face as the icy pain that sears his nerves and sensations blooms throughout his body. He reaches after [Emilia] as she continues to walk away, her ice overpowering Sylphy’s earth and transforming the blond girl into a spatter of red. Subaru struggles to push himself along the ground, and every breath makes him feel like he’s falling apart. His vision blurs as he watches [Emilia] walk towards the woman with the fox-fur scarf, but even worse than the pain of the ice through his heart is the heavy weight of failure.

***

As always, Subaru wakes up. Death will never be the end for him. He blinks awake to a shadowed forest in midday, to Crusch’s and Wilhelm’s corpses. Ah. Mere moments before everything had fallen apart. 

“We can’t kill Julius,” Subaru says.

“What?” Heinkel asks.

“He can possess people after he dies. I don’t know how, but— we can’t kill him, not until we figure out how to stop that,” Subaru says. He starts running into the forest after scooping up Crusch’s sword; they had to get to Julius before Regulus did.

“Only spirits can possess people. Only the strong ones, too,” Heinkel says. 

“We also can’t surround him. He calls Anastasia when he’s outnumbered,” Subaru says, his mind spinning; he cannot see Julius’ soul behind Regulus’ and Emilia’s eyes, not again. A worse torment than any death was what had happened to his friends where he could not save them. “We need people on damage control since Felix is crashing out, but— Julius is our final boss.”

“Speak clearly!” Heinkel snaps. 

“Regulus!” Subaru shouts, seeing his white-haired friend within the trees. “We need to lure Julius away from the main battleground! Don’t kill him, trust me!”

“You demand a lot from me. Luckily, I am a very patient man, which you should be very grateful for. I have placed much trust in you already after your outburst at the Selection Announcement, trust that has proven to be worth bringing to fruition, but at this juncture we are in a fast-paced situation where any wrong move might be our last. When I looked at my Gospel earlier, it claimed that I would be needed to do away with the insanity-blinded Finest Knight, so note that any strategy that does not include me is doomed to fail. However, telling me that I cannot kill him seems to be conflicting, so I wonder what your advice is at this point,” Regulus says. 

“We’ll figure something out!” Subaru yells. Almost as if on cue, there the man is; Julius Juukulius, surrounded by a storm of energy enough to shred anything in his path. Illuminated by the vile rainbow light that dances along his ruined sword-blade, Julius is a mess of a man; covered in blood and dirt he cannot perceive, he tears everything around him apart while he speaks of honorable knighthood.

“Witch Cultists. There you are,” Julius says, and Subaru raises Crusch’s sword in the air.

“I challenge you to a duel!” Subaru announces, smiling with the anticipation of victory; his friends are alive, and they stand by his side. “Let’s call it a comeback.” 

“I did not expect one like you to know of such things. Very well. I accept,” Julius says, and Subaru skips backwards and jumps into a surprised Regulus’ arms.

“If you wanna catch me, catch up!” he shouts, and a second later he feels Regulus lock him into time and start to run. Julius’ whirlwind follows, launching bursts of ice and leaping off suddenly jutting stones, but the time-freeze speed outpaces even the magic underneath his feet. Six spirits weave in and out and around trees, and Subaru tries to make sense of all he has learned so far. Echidna… where has he heard that name before? And if only spirits can possess people—

“Regulus,” Subaru hisses, hit by a sudden suspicion. “How many spirits does Julius have?”

“We can see all six of them—“ Regulus starts, and then his eyebrows furrow. “There’s another one! It’s not contracted to him, it’s not even near him, but it’s got its claws in his gate. And it’s a powerful one, too.”

“Think it could shove his soul into someone else if he died?” Subaru asks. 

“Without a doubt,” Regulus says. “As long as they were standing close enough— the amount of energy manifested from a six-spirit contract when its user dies would easily allow an uncontracted third party to place both the soul and contract into a nearby Od, and take over that body’s gate. Provided there was some way it could manifest to him over distance from where it truly is, anyway. It would have to have some kind of presence that he allowed.” 

“Frick, that’s how he’s communicating with Anastasia!” Subaru realizes. In the failed loop, Puck had turned towards Anastasia while speaking to her spirit— if it’s not contracted to Julius, it’s contracted to her and is a direct line between the two of them. And as for manifestation… Joshua has notified Anastasia-sama of this predicament. The spirit was inserting itself into Julius’ hallucinations! 

“Freezing you in time won’t stop a separate spirit— however, Yin and Yang magic might,” Regulus says. He skids to a stop, dust flying up in a swirl; Subaru stands to his feet, and sees that they’re at the rocky base of a hill. A menacing and appropriate place for a final fight. Julius arrives with all six elements in clashing auras around him, the very earth shuddering at his approach.

“How about this for a dueling arena?” Subaru challenges; his hand shakes as he points his sword towards Julius, and his heart shakes as he looks into the man’s yellow eyes.

“Two on one does not seem very honorable,” Julius says, glancing at Subaru’s ally.

“Ha!” Subaru laughs. “Two on one? You’ve brought your brother!”

“And so I have,” Julius says, glancing briefly over his shoulder. “How kind. Few acknowledge Joshua, but I always appreciate his aid.”  

“He keeps your spirit up, doesn’t he?” Subaru taunts.

“I am Regulus Corneas, the Sin Archbishop representing Greed. This is Natsuki Subaru; he has the potential to become the Sin Archbishop representing Envy. We fight to defend our friends, to defend the innocent, and to one day free Satella from her seal and thus save the world,” Regulus says.

“Then know me to be Julius Juukulius, the Finest Knight of Lugnica, and Anastasia Hoshin-sama’s loyal protector. Alongside me is my brother Joshua, whose role is one of support, but is important to our ultimate goal of making Anastasia-sama King all the same. Know the name of the man whose sword will cut you down!” Julius shouts. 

“You have no idea what it is you’re truly fighting for,” Subaru sighs. Julius responds by flourishing his blade and rushing them; Regulus dashes forwards and blocks the strike before the battle devolves into a quickly flashing set of attacks that Subaru can’t hope to keep up with. Julius is much faster than Regulus, but he can’t hope to harm him— meanwhile, Regulus is making an active effort to hold back. 

“I’m not very good at this!” Regulus shouts.

“Just do it!” Subaru shouts back. 

“Very well,” Regulus says; he hisses a spell underneath his breath, and his hands shine with the white light of Yang magic. He grabs Julius by the collar, and lifts him up into the air. “This spell will increase your perceptive abilities. Do you see now? Do you understand yet what you have been blind to? You are not a knight, you are Anastasia’s dog! You are reviled, you are feared, you are a pathetic excuse for existence that ought to have been put down long ago! You kill indiscriminately, you support a slaver, you don’t even realize your body’s ruined state!” Julius struggles against Regulus’s grip, throwing spells of all varieties at him, but his Authority makes him inviolable.

“Slander and lies! You are completely incoherent,” Julius snaps; he sounds breathless, furious. Regulus’ spell is affecting him. Seizing the chance, Subaru sprints over, getting as close as he safely can to the purple-haired knight. 

“Rationalize this!” Subaru shouts. “SHAMAK!” A burst of black smoke billows out of him, enveloping Julius in shadow. Yin magic conflicts with Yang, heightening Julius’ perception at the same time as removing it entirely. It is like the beat of a drum enough to shake the entire earth, and Subaru almost feels as though he can sense the subsequent shuddering within Julius’ soul. Regulus, unaffected by the Shamak due to his Authority, lets the confused Julius stagger around and takes a few paces away.

“Now what?” he asks.

“Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing,” Subaru says. With that stated, he rushes forwards and stabs Julius in the back.