"I'm sorry princess… I'll clean it right up."
In the back of the room, Al could be seen picking up wooden shards of what used to be his armrest as he had completely crushed it with his one good hand.
"It seems I got angry… Weird," said the man from beneath his helmet as he got on his hands and knees to pick up the wood from the floor.
The gallant red-clad baroness simply glanced downward at him with a present annoyance in her frown, "Worthlessness doesn't deserve such emotion, Aldebaran. You'd do well to remember this, mineself won't offer grace when you're caught by this parasite's web."
The one-armed knight stopped all motion, thinking through his master's words as she gazed above him in discontent at his implosion.
He had one thing to say, humor wasn't present in his tone or posture as he spoke.
"Don't call me that please, princess… And I think you're right about there being a parasite," Al nodded his head while continuing to clean up underneath the chairs he and Priscilla were sitting on. The baroness simply stared at his form in boredom, interested in what he had to say.
"That is only to be expected. Mineself is a divine gift on this world's surface after all-"
"But the parasite here isn't my pal, princess. It's the people who can't see his pain."
"... Insolence."
Priscilla moved and kicked the man on his metal-covered head with the heel of her shoe, having no heed for his cry as she was busy gritting her teeth and stomping him to the carpet floors.
After her steam left her nose, she seemed calm enough to get off of him and thoroughly prepare a response for his stupidity.
But he beat her to it, "Ah~ You don't have to be so harsh, princess. But I can't believe that you don't see it the same way I do. Thought you'd care for 'em a tiny bit, y'know?" Al shrugged and moved the wooden bits he raised to another empty seat by his only hand.
"Care for that swine? Are you daft, Aldebaran? Have your tiny brains finally given out? This pig you defend does nothing but cry and shame himself instead of working a way out and bringing his name glory. I find him worthless and without purpose in this world, my world. He should be put to rest for good away from prying eyes."
"... Princess… No one wants to be strong."
Al answered her rant with a simple statement that gave her nothing short of rage.
"What?!" She growled with her eyes seemingly staring through the helmet's opening into his eyes, into his soul.
"Nobody wants to be strong in this world, we just become strong because we wanna survive, or at least me and my pal over there did. You can be born strong, you can always have the talent presented to ya.. but people like Pal, uh… We aren't that lucky, princess. Just uh…. Give 'em a slight observational chance, yeah?"
"... Hm."
Priscilla's hum was the only response he got before she leaned in her seat once more and turned her gaze away from him. She didn't even wave to tell the man she was done with him.
"Good grief… At least she seems to be thinking about it," Al sighed and went back on his hands to lean down and pick up the rest of the wood from beneath their seats.
But he only heard a click.
Thank you, Al.
The helmeted man simply felt the wood in his hand disappear like it was air, all of the small shards and picks of wood were now off the floor and turning back to their original positions, becoming the armrest he once broke.
"Awesome…"
Al replied in a whisper as he sat down again feeling the new armrest.
"Wonder why he sounded grateful to me though… I don't really care about any of this as much as he thinks." Al shrugged offishly and leaned back in his seat to watch. He did have a slight resentment clear in his head, however.
Explains why he didn't want to turn to where the maids were sitting in his same row.
[After taking a moment to pass over his pain, Subaru seemed to have calmed his breathing and hid his bleeding hand away from himself.
He looked tired. His eyes seemed to be trying their hardest to close.
I don't want to be kill-
A rigid voice rang out through the room.
"That's quite a cowardly look on your face, I suppose."
Subaru slowly moved his head and noticed an unimpressed Beatrice standing in the doorway.]
"Beatrice…" Emilia weakly gasped as she turned from Subaru's shoulder to the screen, now having a calmer grip and no tears.
"Betty won't harm her Subaru… in fact," the library spirit sounded weakly from her seat while glaring towards Emilia.
The half-elf only kept her gaze on the screen and away from the loli.
"S-Sorry… I don't know what to believe an-"
"Save your effort, I suppose. I'm not an animal like those deranged girls you forgave so easily, I suppose. I won't kill you because you think badly of me, in fact."
At Beatrice's disgusted snort, Emilia simply glanced towards the girl with a tired glare, "I did NOT forgive them for what they've done to him,"
"You let them go, and now expect Betty to kill him like they did when she's the only person that can actually help him, I suppose."
"What do you mean?" Emilia glared heatedly at the little one, not liking the aggressiveness in Beatrice's tone.
"You'll only see him coming to Betty for help, this is because you were useless in stopping the maids, your own maids that serve under you."
"I never claimed to rule the mansion and you can't be-"
"I think both of ya should shut up."
Felt interjected the unnecessary argument between the two girls and held a gaze of command as if she was the eldest in the trio and had more power to order both of the girls to shut their mouths and put their differences behind.
["What are you doing here?"
"The brat and Bubby told me to come and check on you."
"Puck and Emilia?"
"Since you were acting strangely, they suspect I did something to you when you first woke up, I suppose. Talk about rude!" Beatrice turned away from him in upset.
"I get it. I'm okay now. You came to apologize. That's enough."
"Why should I apologize to you, I suppose?! I can't leave until I correct that notion." Beatrice glared at him and stepped closer.
She stopped once her nose caught the smell of…
"Not only do you look gloomy, but the scent is much heavier now, too." Beatrice held her nose in disgust.
"huh?"
"The scent of the witch, I feel like it's bending my nose, I suppose," Beatrice explained.
"Witch… You mean the Witch of Envy?"
"What else in this world would someone mean when they bring up a witch?"
"Why do you smell her on me?"
Beatrice shrugged. "Who knows? Regardless, as someone who receives special treatment from her, you're a burden." Beatrice turned away from him.
Subaru looked down. "It's not too comforting to hear I'm getting special treatment from someone whose name and face I don't know."]
"See?! Beatrice-sama smells it on him, yet she doesn't try to kill him!" Petra was sure she had broken a few rules by nodding with Tivey's statement. She couldn't stand with a subordinate from another camp against someone of Rem's and Ram's caliber in her workforce. Yet she could only agree because of what the twins had done to Subaru for a stupid issue he wasn't even in control of.
But Petra only had a pat on her head as a warning of Frederica's disappointment.
"Don't get your nose into this, Petra-chan."
["If you have nothing to say, I'm leaving. I'll tell Bubby what you told me I suppose."
"Wait a minute! You feel sorry for what you did to me, right?"
"I do not." Beatrice ignored him and continued walking towards the door.
"I'm telling Puck!" he uttered, stopping her in place.
Beatrice growled and scowled deeply at him.
"Well, I might feel just a tiny bit sorry, I suppose."]
"He tricked the great spirit? Huh…" Julius sounded highly offended by this but he suddenly seemed more interested than outraged as his gears began turning.
"Well, he does seem to not care at all about this fact… But what we should focus 'n 's what he's afta'," Anastasia bit her inner cheek, swindling her flesh with her tongue as she found herself focused and thought of what the boy would do to get out of this infinite death loop.
["If you regret what you did and want my forgiveness, do me one favor that I ask."
"Let's hear it." Beatrice looked at him with a bored expression.
"On the fifth morning, the day after tomorrow… would you keep me safe until then?" Subaru pleaded.]
"So he went to Beatrice-sama for help since he couldn't get Emilia's?" Frederica was surprised that he could make a good plan so quickly.
"Wow, I guess Beatrice-sama was really connected with Subaru all along." Petra smiled and kept her jealousy in.
Emilia however… couldn't keep it in.
Ignoring the pouting half-elf, Beatrice looked up at the screen in sadness.
"This is where I fail you yet again, I suppose." the spirit whispered brokenly. She knew that Beatrice would be too stubborn to make a contract with him.
Oh how she would treat him with all the love and protection he needed should she be taken back to this moment on screen. She would be less snarky, less despicable, less lonely, and most of all, she would instantly heal those wounds on his hand.
["I don't want you bringing discord into this mansion, I suppose. This place is vitally important to me."
"I have no intention of doing anything. I just want to stop any sparks from flying."
"What an admirable motive for one who leaves even that in the hands of others," Beatrice responded mockingly.]
"Do you have to be so aggressive with him?" Otto found himself frowning at the little girl.
He earned nods from a few people in the crowd. But the spirit girl simply shook her head in disappointment and stared nonstop towards the screen.
[Subaru looked down again. "For once, I have no response to that."
Beatrice stared at the defeated boy and sighed tiredly.
"Hold out your hand," she ordered, surprising Subaru.]
Beatrice's eyes widened in shock. "What?…"
"Hmm, it seems Beatrice-san had already contracted with Subaru before," Roswaal sounded shocked beyond imagination as if he saw something akin to a miracle playing before his eyes. "Could be that you chose him to be 'that person' from the very beginning, Beatrice?"
Beatrice didn't answer the clown since she was far from him to hear the question.
If Subaru asked her for help in this reality, and she agreed for some reason…
"Then why did he die?" Beatrice's heart shattered as she realized something.
She had failed him once again.
This Betty wouldn't be able to save him from death.
[As she took his slightly blood laced arm in hers, the regal girl scrunched her nose as she inspected the many bloody stab wounds on his hand.
"Good grief… That you have the habit of self-harm makes you irreparably weird, in fact. Disgusting."
Subaru flinched and looked down away from the girl that held his hand and displayed disgust at his wounds.
"I… Just failed to make a tattoo, that's all."
"You have neither the aesthetic sense, nor the technique, nor the ability to lie, I suppose," Beatrice shot down his lie coldly.
"You are beyond saving, in fact."]
"Even when she notices she can't even bring herself to heal him, in fact." Beatrice felt nothing but disappointment fill her as she stared at her counterpart with shame, "Disgusting doll, in fact."
"Don't be too harsh… You were different back then… You weren't as close to him as some of us have been… "
Oddly enough, Beatrice just felt more shame because of Emilia's comforting words. The spirit had started to feel like she wasn't the only one who truly cared about Subaru in this room.
[Slowly, she intertwined their fingers together and closed her eyes.
"I shall grant your wish. I, Beatrice, on my honor, am henceforth bound by this contract. Temporary or not, a contract is a contract. I'll grant your nonsense favor." Her face shining in the sunlight, Subaru couldn't help but for once feel like there was hope.
"Seriously? I'm gonna cry because of a little girl… "]
"It is the most optimal solution." Anastasia mused to herself.
"Yes, having a great spirit protect you from the killer that lives with you in the same mansion is a good plan." Frederica smiled at the boy's constant efforts as she noticed.
"He doesn't want to leave the mansion…" she whispered while smiling sincerely at the boy, "Why is that, I wonder?"
[Having no sympathy for the rude crying bitch before her, Beatrice growled. "Don't call me a little girl! And if you tell Bubby, you'll regret it, I suppose! Hmph!"
"Is it that important to you?" Subaru smiled through his tears. "That desperation of yours is demonically inspired."]
Rem pouted a little at her phrase being taken away. But she understood that she had no say in this situation since he's asking Beako for help to protect himself from Rem.
The maid hugged her legs and tried to smuggle her mind away from the repeating memory of her torture to the boy.
[Beatrice just pouted cutely.
Scene change showing that Beatrice had left the room and now Emilia was sitting at Subaru's bedside.
"I see, so Beatrice has come to apologize properly. That's good to hear," Emilia seemed to be smiling in satisfaction, "It's great that she said that, mmhmm!"
"Emilia… I said some terrible things to you. I'm sorry." Subaru looked down in guilt.
"I'm sure it was a spur of the moment thing, no? Everyone goes through times like that. It can't be helped. I would be happy if you were to say this to Rem and Ram as well."
At this, Subaru seemed to go silent as his head dipped down.
Rem and Ram…
When I found out the truth that I was a hindrance to them, I was killed as an obstacle and also to shut my mouth…
However even so-
All of the memories of his past loops played out behind his head.
Was there really never a moment where we had built up feelings for each other?]
"Was there?" Otto asked while glaring half-heartedly towards the twins.
"Head of Interior affairs, that's enough. I confirmed their feelings myself." Crusch came to Rem's defense and sternly turned the boy away.
Otto simply shook his head in disappointment and looked away, but not before delivering one final glance towards Ram, one of disappointment.
Ram was starting to grip her maid skirt a bit too tightly, hearing that statement coming from Subaru made her snap in a lot of ways.
Rem stayed in her same position without change.
[As he was thinking in silence, Emilia felt uncomfortable by his gloomy look. She gazed all around the room for some distraction until she found something.
"As I thought… The food hasn't been eaten, right?"
"...I'm sorry," Subaru whispered while looking away, disgruntled.
"If you don't eat even for a little bit, it won't be good for your body you know, even though it might be hard for you to do it."
"My stomach won't accept the food," Subaru kept his gloomy look even though he chuckled darkly, "If you were to feed me with an 'A-HHH', I might be able to eat it."
"..."
"Alright then!"
"Eh?!"
Emilia had a bright smile on her face as she quickly stood up and picked up his tray, placing it on her lap as she took her seat at his bedside. She had a bright smile as she upheld the food-filled spoon towards his mouth.
"A~hhh."
"E-Eh?!"
"Like I said, A~hhh."
Subaru quickly leaned back in shock, "NO NO NO…! HOLD ON A SEC!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
Emilia looked deadpanned at this, "What are you on about, didn't you just say if I did this you would be able to do it? So eat since I'm saying A~hhh."
Subaru seemed to squirm, "Erm, that was just an expression we use for embellishment, but what it really means is that ultimately I'm unable to eat… Even if you were to do it, I kind of promised myself I wouldn't be able to make a girl blush again."
"How could there be something embarrassing about feeding you? Come on stop saying foolish things," Emilia seemed to ignore him completely and kept the spoon to his mouth.
"A~hhhn."
Relenting, Subaru opened his mouth and accepted the spoon.
"Alright! Now swallow! Let's continue one spoon at a time! Alright!
Next!
Again!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH! YOU STARTED WITH A~HHH BUT NOW YOU'RE JUST NOT PAUSING OR ANYTHING! P-PAUSE! I REQUEST A BREAK!"
Subaru heeled over his forearm and coughed into his sleeve, "This has gotten a bit weird."
"Jeez, even though things were going so well."
Subaru continued coughing into his arm, his face was dipped down, "No no * cough* No. My throat just hurts, y'know?"
"Hey… You look a bit strange."
Subaru's face was shown with tears in his eyes.
"Hey. Subaru?"
"Yeah… Yeah, Ok. I'm ok. I think I've probably become okay now."
Emilia smiled warmly as the boy's teary face showed up with a bright smile, "I think I'm back to normal now."
"Rem and Ram prepared this meal such that it won't shock your stomach when you start eating again. They are good girls after all. Right?"
Subaru's smile became a sad one as he looked down.
Emilia placed the tray away and stood up from the bedside. "Well then, since staying here for too long will tire you out, it's about time I got back."
"If you wanted, you could sleep beside me."
Emilia simply grinned, "Good. Good. It seems like you've recovered, eh?"]
"This is oddly… cathartic to watch?" Reinhard nervously commented as the scene seemed to be concluded in too much silence from the crowd of watchers around him.
He got them to break this tense silence as Mimi and Petra seemed content with letting soft giggles fill the room.
"It's a break of sorts," Felix sighed as he acknowledged how good this scene did to his lady's mood and his.
"It was unneeded," Priscilla snorted, elevating just how bored she was with this repeated display of affection for people she barely recognized as breathing bags of flesh.
"It was simply… fixing to watch at best," Anastasia mused with an unimpressed glare, "Why do we have to watch useless events? We all know this will all end up being unremembered."
"I agree with the Boss." Tivey nodded.
Roswaal shook his head in silence at this newfound crowd that had decided to round upon this scene and how it served no purpose… but he knew how much of this scene's importance reflected not on the crowd, but to two people in said crowd.
Only these two would've found significant importance through this entire play of Subaru being spoon-fed by Emilia.
Firstly, the half-elf herself who, right now, seemed to be staring at the screen with her hand on her mouth in an attempt to muffle her soft gasp.
And secondly, the blue-haired girl in his house's maid's outfit is situated beside him. The girl seemed to look at this scene in both incredible amounts of guilt as well as sadness and envy.
"I really lost this memory… lost it because I wasn't good enough to keep him breathing beside me? How many times would you have made this offer to me, Subaru? I would've gladly fed you if you wished for this…" Emilia seemed disturbed and filled with frustration as she realized that this was supposed to be a private memory between her and Subaru, yet it was taken away from her by this cruel power he possessed.
"Are you going to wake up to let me enjoy feeding you this time, Subaru?" Emilia's soft wish went unanswered.
"I'm sorry… I wish I would've taken care of you myself without causing you this much hurt, Subaru-kun." Rem's wish was also unheard by everyone since she was hushing it out of her mouth and against her knee, keeping herself muffled.
[The princess winked at him with an encouraging smile, "There are various things for me to do as well since I sneaked away to meet you in secret after all."
"Ah…" Subaru looked shocked by this.
She went as far as to use her valuable free time for me-
"Emilia-tan… Lock your room securely at night," Subaru seemed to have a serious expression on his face, "Don't let anyone enter."
"I see… because you will be entering?" An amused voice humored the darkened Subaru.
"That's not what I meant…!" Subaru shouted, "In any case, you're Puck right?"
A gray ball of fur flew out of Emilia's hair, "Wow, you noticed me! Good job!"
The gray cat looked a bit drunk as he rubbed his eyes, "Your expression became serious so I was a bit concerned."
Subaru looked away, "I just have a bad feeling, guard Emilia-tan closely."
Puck's entire demeanor seemed to become more hardened, "Yeah, I'll do that."
"I totally don't agree with being left out of this conversation though!"
Puck and Subaru suddenly laughed together as Emilia growled in annoyance at them.]
"I can't help but feel Emilia-sama's frustration here," Frederica voiced what the half-elf was thinking.
"Yeah, they both seem to treat big sis as if she was some kid, it's degrading!" Felt huffed in annoyance.
Emilia seemed to be surprised by how many supported her inner thoughts on this matter as she found herself to also be of objection to the way Subaru and Puck were treating her abilities as of this moment.
"I hope you've changed this attitude of yours toward me, Subaru."
[After the two left, Subaru laid back on his bed and seemed to grow more despaired as his eyes closed for the first time in a long while.
.. I don't want… To sleep…
The screen shows Subaru as he struggles to sleep at night, his head filled with nightmares.
Memories of the time he died in the hallway.
Memories of the blood that gushed out of his neck when he was killed by Rem and Ram in the woods.
Subaru ran through the woods. The black-gray woods. The white distorted woods. The ever-changing woods bearing nothing but negativity.
He stopped when a blue-haired maid stood before him with her mace beside her at the ready.
Glaring, the blood-covered Rem shook her chains and sent the mace at the scared Subaru.
"Stop!"
As the mace was about to hit him, he closed his eyes and a memory began to play. A memory that showed his sleeping form before he woke up.
As he trembled in his sleep… two soft pale hands were tightly grabbing his own hands from each side.
Those two hands held his own. Brought him comfort. Brought him to safety from that demented forest.
Subaru was able to sleep without any nightmares.
Darkness…]
"Who was that?" Otto asked in a relieved voice. He was happy that someone comforted his friend while he was having that terrible nightmare.
"It seems whoever it was, they were able to bring him comfort." Ram finally spoke, breaking her silence. She had a faint feeling of hope in her chest that burned through her desire to gain redemption for both herself and her sister.
"He's been havin' nightmares," Anastasia mused briskly, having a small frown.
"Course he is havin' nightmares," Felt snorted sarcastically to the merchant lady, before freezing like Emilia once Ana hit back with her own response.
"Wonder fer how long them nightmares have lasted… Maybe months? Days? Intriguing," Anastasia simply pointed out for everyone around her to think while going back to watching without a care for what they might say about her.
[a voice…
"You can't keep sleeping forever, I suppose."
Subaru's eyes slowly opened up to reveal an oncoming foot.
Beatrice kicked him in the face, waking him up and forcing him to drop on his back in the forbidden library.]
"Goddamn! She is mean!" Al laughed out loud while some chuckled at Subaru and Beatrice's dynamic.
Beatrice grunted lightly but kept her glare on the screen. Everyone was picking on her! This wasn't what Subaru told her would happen when she left the library!
["Bombardier!" Subaru shook from the frighting wake-up while Beatrice looked down at him with an unimpressed elegant look.
"I came against my will because it's the designated time, yet you seem awfully unconcerned."
Subaru realized just what happened and slowly got up with his eyes wide open in understanding. "Falling asleep on the fourth day… What kind of reckless idiot am I?"
"Quit your grumbling, I suppose. Just sit wherever you want." Beatrice sat on her stool reading her book.
Subaru looked around. "The forbidden archive? Did you carry me in here while I was asleep?"
"I'd rather not stay in that room filled with your stench, I suppose. The forbidden library is the only place for me. You need to observe proper manners, I suppose."
"Beatrice, I'm sure I'm wrong, but you didn't hold my hand while I was asleep, did you?"
"You're wrong, indeed. Even if Bubby asked me I would refuse, I suppose."]
Beatrice held his hand and leaned to hug her contractor close.
"I was wrong, I suppose." she softly whispered.
["Flat-out denial, huh? I'm not sure what you mean by proper manners… " Subaru began looking around the many books in the library. "So, hey, are you-"
"Ugh!" Subaru quickly caught a flying book, aimed for his face.
"You're annoying me with all your questions! Just be quiet, I suppose."
Subaru sighed and looked at the book she threw at him.
Subaru began reading while sitting down beside Beatrice. In silence the two sat for some time upfront, enjoying the books they were reading.]
"What happens now?" Mimi asked in boredom at the events.
"We see if someone attacks them in the library." Crusch softly spoke, very well aware of Rem's flinch.
[Suddenly…
"Calling… "
"Huh?" Subaru looked up at the alarmed Beatrice as she looked at the door to the library.
"I've been summoned, I suppose." Beatrice quickly stood up and began activating her door-crossing ability.]
"What?" Otto asked in confusion.
"Is thi's because they couldn't find Natsuki-kun?" Anastasia asked while pointing her thumb towards the maids behind her.
"The only one with the power to summon Betty would be the lord of the manor I suppose," Beatrice stink eyed the clown.
"Don't loooook at meee. I wouldn't call upon you unless it is an urgencyyyy." He kept up an open smile, setting everyone off from how creepy he was.
[Subaru gasped in pain making Beatrice look at him in disinterest. "Oh, right, you're here. I forgot, I suppose." Beatrice began walking out the door while ignoring Subaru.
"W-Wait! If you go out there now…"
"I don't care if you want to stay here. You'll be safe here, I suppose." Beatrice closed the door behind her and left the boy alone in the library.
Subaru slowly moved his hands to the door and tried to open it but he found himself shaking with fear. Closing his eyes as he tried to get his nerves under control.
"Damn it! What the hell is this?"
Subaru slowly opened the door and waited for the pain of dying to come.
Only light hit his face as he was faced with a window in a hallway of the many in the manor.
"Did I… make it through the fourth night?" Subaru stared at the window in shock and surprise.
Disbelief. He laughed in disbelief.
"And I thought it was so far away. It was that easy… " Subaru slowly fell on his knees and smiled in relief at the long-awaited sunrise of the fifth day.]
"I'm kinda happy for him…" Al sounded as he sympathized with Subaru on the screen.
Otto and Garfiel looked down in sadness at the state their brother was in.
"He's been reduced to this from the sheer pain he's endured… If I was there-"
"You couldn't have known any of this would happen, Reinhard. I want to help him as well as you. But this has already come to pass and Natsuki did not need any of us both to get through it," Julius commented sternly, surprising Reinhard with his interjection.
[Subaru laughed in relief and closed his eyes in the middle of the hallway.
"Subaru?"
Emilia was standing right beside him with a worried look on her face.
"Emilia?"
"Subaru, where have you been?"
"Oh, I was just… "
"You know… No never mind. Come with me." Emilia quickly took his hand and started walking while pulling him along.
Her face was shadowed by her hair as she refused to look up.
"W-Where are we going? Emilia-tan, Why are you making that face? Everything will be fine now. Right? I'm alive and you're… oh, I know! Let's go to the village! There's so much I want to do and tell you! So much has happened!"
Emilia stopped walking.
"Subaru… " Emilia turned around with a betrayed look on her face as she looked at Subaru.]
"Somethin's wrong?," Anastasia concluded by the look on Emilia's face.
Emilia herself didn't know what was going on as she grabbed her knight's hand and watched with fear filling her.
How did he die in this one
["Emilia?" Subaru wanted to ask what was wrong? What happened to make her look at him like that?
But then… a scream of despair sounded out across the manor.]
"Sister?" Rem looked at Ram with surprise.
The pink-haired maid's eyes hardened as she knew only one thing that would make her scream in such a way.
[Subaru rushed towards the voice, finding an open door, he stared into the room…
It was Ram.
The pink-haired Oni was crying on her knees over her sister. Rem was lying unconscious in her bed.]
"What….?!" Mimi shouted in confusion.
"Why is Rem nee sama dead?" Petra looked on with horror.
"The hell?!" Garfiel shouted his extreme shock at this as he and Otto both leaned forward with confused looks.
"Sister..!" Ram's eyes were wide enough to resemble plates as she was met with the daunting reality that she had her sister die in front of her. The pain Ram was feeling was enough to match the night when she'd lost her horn. As if dictated by Fate, both of these events had a link to her sister. Her dear old sister.
"I can't lose you again, Rem… I can't… " Ram shed tears in the theater as she hugged her balled-up twin in both arms. Referring to how much time she had missed with her sibling because of the Gluttony attack.
[Roswaal and Beatrice were standing to the side with heavy expressions of pity for the twins.
"How?…" Subaru was shocked as he looked into the room. "Why is Rem dead?"
Slowly, he moved to touch her but his hand was slapped away by the crying Ram.
"Don't touch her! Don't touch Rem… Don't touch my little sister!"]
Rem looked horrified at the prospect of her own death. But seeing her sister in such a state because of her death made her so angry with herself.
"I'm such a failure." Rem whispered angrily.
[Subaru slowly looked down in guilt and began walking away as Emilia entered the room.
"She died of weakness. It was as if she just fell asleep."
Subaru stopped walking as he heard what Roswaal said.
"The method was more of a curse than a spell."
Subaru slowly looked back at Rem's dead body.
I thought it was Rem who used that curse. So she wasn't the shaman?]
"So it was the mabeast?" Frederica asked.
"We forgot about that!" Otto realized.
"We were so caught up in finding the killer's identity that we forgot what threat Natsuki was truly facing!" Julius seemed aggravated by this as if he was failing a duty he should have.
"The mabeast invasion and Rem's assassination attempts were two different threats that Subaru needed to deal with on his own," Reinhard spoke in a stern voice.
"Not like we remembered them so of course, he forgot about one threat to focus on the other… Not to mention how much of a brutal and cruel one this 'other' threat was for him." Felt continued to throw shade at Rem but also defended Subaru.
[Roswaal noted the look on Subaru's face and narrowed his eyes. "My dear guest, have you any idea what might have haaaappened? After this happened to a dear member of my staaaff, I seem to be a tiny bit angry."
"Subaru." Emilia held Subaru's arm and looked at him with a pleading look.
"If you know anything, tell us." Emilia stared at him sternly.
Subaru looked away in guilt and frustration.
I just want to spill it all and get it off my chest.
The horror of the black hand crushing his heart came back and made him gasp in place. He couldn't tell them.]
"Man, this kid has it rough!" Ricardo grimaced at the situation before him.
Many nodded as they wouldn't want to be in Subaru's shoes right now.
[* WHOOOOSH *
"UGH!"
Subaru suddenly felt a force of wind pass by his cheek, cutting it and making him bleed, even the lamp on the hallway's wall was destroyed.
This same force… was the one that had slit his throat and killed him.
"If you know something, spill it all!"
Subaru slowly looked at the pink-haired maid as she glared hatefully at him.
"Wait, Ram! That's …"
The maid only growled and shot another force of wind towards him.
Subaru closed his eyes and prepared for death.
But it never came.
"I keep my promises." Subaru opened his eyes to find Beatrice standing between him and Ram with a force field of sorts shielding him.]
"GO Beatrice-sama!" Petra and Felt cheered while Beatrice watched the screen with a forlorn look.
How is he going to die in this one? She thought to herself again.
"You're… trying to kill him, nee-sama…" Rem shook her head and tried to get out of her sister's strong hug. But Ram kept a tight hold.
"Please… Please don't watch, Rem. Just keep me… Keep me in your life for a few more days… Please."
Rem was shocked still as her entire body froze. Her sister's begging continued to which the blue-haired twin could only listen without any way of breaking the hold she was in.
"I don't want you to hate me because of this… I don't want to kill him…"
Rem's eyes widened in horror as she understood… Ram was scared of being responsible for another death to Subaru.
"S-Sister…" She tried to comfort Ram, but Rem found out that there was nothing to say here. Both of them committed a horrible crime against someone they both clearly enjoy being around.
["As long as he remains in this mansion, I am contracted to protect him, I suppose."
"Beatrice-sama?" Ram asked, shocked and angry.
Beatrice looked at Roswaal with a bland expression. "Roswaal, he spent last night in the forbidden library, I suppose. So he surely had nothing to do with-"
"There is no further need to emphasize the situation at hand."
The greatest magic user to have ever lived suddenly had eight colored orbs of mastered magical arts at the ready as he towered over the spirit girl.
"However, to guard him with your life, you must have taken quite a liking to him."
Beatrice didn't back down from the menacing sight of Roswaal powered and at the ready. She stood in his way with an unimpressed look.
"Save the jokes for your makeup and weird fetishes, I suppose."
As the two stared down at one another, Ram cried and yelled out her frustration.
"None of that even matters!" she stood up and glared hatefully. "Get out of the way!"
"Let me through."
"I must avenge Rem. If you have anything, tell me. Help me."
Ram cried and pleaded with Subaru. "Help Rem!"
Subaru looked down with a frustrated face.]
"Cap'n…" Garfiel growled in frustration at his captain's situation. He wouldn't know what he would've done in a situation like this.
"Just run!" Otto yelled out as he immediately noticed how Roswaal deeply cared for the twins. Enough to pull out nearly all of his powers to face down Beatrice.
[Ram glared and extended her hand at him.
But then Emilia stood in her way. "I'm sorry, Ram. Despite all this, I choose to trust Subaru. Subaru, please."
Emilia looked behind her at the surprised boy. "If you can save Ram… if you can save Rem… please do."]
"Emilia-sama is always trusting of her knight… But this will only serve to push him into more guilt," Frederica commented as she disliked how hectic things started to become.
Emilia frowned at the maid's words.
She trusts him… but he doesn't.
"This one really needs to work on her anger," Tivey commented on Ram's escalation nervously.
"I mean… She had her sibling taken away from 'er… I would've done the same if you or Hetaro got taken out…" Mimi interjected in fairness to the maid. Understanding her anger completely.
[Subaru looked away from the pleading Emilia. "I'm sorry."
Emilia and Subaru stared down at one another, Emilia looked betrayed while Subaru struggled to turn around and face her with his back.
Slowly.
Subaru ran out of the room.
Roswaal shot his magical arts.
Ram shot her wind blades.
Beatrice stopped both of them with her own magic.
Subaru ran out… and a magical battle began in the room he just left.
"Subaru!" Emilia ran after him.
"I'm going to kill you!" Subaru closed his eyes and ears as he ran away from the enraged Ram.]
"Natsuki… " Julius looked at the boy with pity in his golden-hued eyes. Even for a knight, such a situation can be hard to navigate through.
"Pathetic…" Priscilla commented in disgust at the boy.
"Running away again? Can't use that power of yours for the good of everyone huh?" Felix seemed to mutter with a tight feeling around his chest.
[I ran.
I ran away.
I ran away from them.
I can't go back there again.
"What choice did I have?! What could I…
and I was… having so much fun!"]
Petra held her heart as she sensed the pain Subaru was going through.
Emilia frowned deeply as her knight cried alone in the woods.
Beatrice felt guilty that she was going to let him get killed after all of this.
And Rem… She hugged her trembling sister and let the screen introduce another reason for the twins to be called monsters with inhuman hearts.
"I'm sorry… I didn't stop us from doing this to him. He may be himself but we- I am so much more disgusting to let an innocent boy go through this much pain. He'd have been killed with no one the wiser if not for his power because of me."
Rem couldn't believe what she was hearing… Was Ram blaming this all on her?
"No… Sister… No no no…".
[Subaru yelled in frustration and gasped for air. He ran from the mansion all the way to the dense forest where he was tortured.
Subaru ran into the forest with the memories of his last death playing as Rem brutally struck him down and tortured him with her mace.
This looks like the place where I died.
"Where I died?"
Subaru stopped right at the spot where his life was ended.]
"What is he thinking nayow?" Felix glared at the screen.
[If i die]
"Oh my…!" Frederica gasped in shock as the others began understanding what the boy was thinking.
[Will I be saved from this whole situation?]
"Holy shit!"
"He's going to kill himself!"
Al and Ricardo couldn't believe what they were seeing.
Suicide is the most cowardly way to go in a warrior's eyes but this kid was planning to actively harm himself to control a power that thrives upon death.
["Of course… if I die, everything will change."]
Emilia's eyes were wide open as she truly saw how broken Subaru was.
[If I struggled and fought so much only to end up here,
Then what's the point?]
"No!" Felt shouted as she saw the ledge on the screen.
[Subaru looked up with a look so broken.
Subaru looked ahead and noticed a cliff.
He slowly walked towards it and stopped just at the edge. Looking down,
It was high… really high. With spikes and rocks at the bottom.
He wouldn't survive this fall.]
"Ghk!….."
"What is it Julius?" Anastasia demanded of her knight as the scene began getting on her nerves.
Everyone looked at the knight in expectancy.
Julius looked down with a deep scowl of frustration on his face.
"I understand now… why he said those words."
"What is it Julius?" Emilia pleaded as she had never seen the look of pure helplessness on the elegant royal knight before.
"When we fought sloth… it was at the bottom of that ledge… when Sloth was led there by Natsuki Subaru, he asked why the boy led him to a place such as this… Subaru told him that it was a place where his time once ended."
The sheer gravity of the words made everyone's hearts drop.
"Subaru-kun…" Rem looked at the boy with a horrified look.
"No… N-…" Garfiel stuttered in despair but kept his face head behind his hands as he leaned down in utter horror.
"What is this, I suppose? Every time I try to help you out of it, you still keep treating your life like it was not worth it, in fact," Beatrice begged, broken by this event happening as she realized it wasn't her failure that led him to his doom, but his own self-destructive tendencies.
[If I close my eyes and take one step, it'll all be over.]
Wilhelm looked down with a sad frown. He didn't want to see this boy take his own life like this.
"Pride or not, you've dealt with far too much to be giving up this easily, Subaru-dono!" He did have one last disappointed grunt to give.
[Subaru closed his eyes in agony and looked up in frustration.
What will happen to me if I die again?]
Emilia hugged her knight tightly.
[This boy began trembling, struggling to place his foot forward and take the step.]
"Natsuki… " Crusch had a few tears in her eyes at the scene. A confused kid in another world, taking his own life like this.
It was inhumane of her to not shed tears at the sight.
Especially for someone that did so much for her yet received barely the minimum of what he deserved.
[Slowly… his foot backed away and he fell on his behind away from the ledge. His body rejected the attempt. He didn't want to die.
"It's just one more step… I can't even… I can't even do something so simple… " The boy's tears fell as he rejected Suicide.]
"So he didn't do it?" Ram asked softly as the whole scene brought conflicting feelings in her heart.
"But then how will he die?" Felt asked tiredly and in sadness.
"It's just so morbid to talk about his death." Reinhard closed his eyes and sighed tiredly.
This scene had been playing with all of their emotions too much.
"By far this is his most pathetic stance yet," Priscilla commented, full of snark and glanced at her silent companion, "So? Let me see how you will defend this insolent cowardice and groveling, Aldebaran. This weakling's been getting on mine nerves for a long time."
"... Still not giving him a chance, princess." Al dignified his lady with a simple response that enraged her even further.
[Scene change…
darkness….
"I finally found you."
Subaru opened his eyes and looked up.
The sky turned orange as the sun began setting.
He had slept on the ledge.
"Why… "
"What, I suppose?"
"Why did you come for me? I… "
"The contract I entered into was to protect you."
"I thought you were only supposed to be my bodyguard until this morning."
"You must be mistaken, I suppose. I don't recall discussing a time limit."
Subaru looked up at the empathetic Beatrice. "Clinging to faint hope only serves your own convenience, I suppose."
Subaru's eyes widened as Beatrice glared at him.
"What was lost can't be reclaimed. You'll have no more chances to explain yourself to the older sister. You threw that away. No matter which is lost, those sisters will never be complete again, I suppose."
Subaru looked down.
"But I cared about those two, and I wanted to protect them… "]
"Even after they killed him?" Anastasia asked in surprise.
"This guy is an idiot!" Felt shouted in outrage,
"Natsuki-san…" Otto just smiled a sad tired smile at his brother's big heart.
Even Garfiel peeked from between his fingers in surprise.
"Oh, are you a fool… You're such a fool," Beatrice had to shake her head in disgruntlement.
"Thank you…" Roswaal felt compelled to at least give Subaru this. For there was no treasure in this entire world worth what Subaru had given the lord. Even though Roswaal's guilt stretched far for he was the one to condition both maids into these problems that confused them and turned them hostile, Roswaal wouldn't ever let them die because of it.
He loved those two. He wanted to protect them.
Not just because of their importance in his destiny.
"See? Ya forgot that this kid isn't like the normal idiots you deal with, Princess." Al bitterly pointed at the screen and glanced towards his master.
Priscilla simply glared at Subaru's face with a bit of her jaw slackened. As if she was taken aback.
"What is this?"
"That's him being an idiot with a good heart." Al sighed as he answered his lady's question in an annoyed tone.
"... Good… Heart?" Priscilla repeated with a disgusted expression while looking at her knight.
Al shrugged.
"Ya, kid's a freak. But that's why I'm telling ya to keep an eye on 'em. He might have more to interest ya, princess."
"... Hm," Priscilla hummed and turned her eyes back on Subaru as she cooled her expression of bewilderment.
'Maybe… There's something for mine divine eyes to notice here. This is the World's decision to help me… There must be something to please me greatly if mineself has to go through this trouble to look for it.'
["What do you know about them, I suppose? No matter which is lost, they'll never be restored to what they were. They can't be."
"So in the end. I was just making a selfish, disgraceful fuss without knowing anything?"
Beatrice held her hand out to him. "At the very least, you need to die where I can't see you, or I'll have bad dreams, I suppose. So I'll help you escape this domain."
Subaru slowly touched Beatrice's hand…
And then he remembered that dream…
That feeling of safety brought by someone holding his hands…
Subaru stared at his hand, unsettled…
"Come to think of it… back then… someone was holding both my hands…"
The image of both twin maids standing by his sides, holding his hands.
"Ram… Rem…"]
"Oh?" Emilia's shock was visible as she couldn't believe the number of shifts Subaru had to go through just to remember this one scene, and she was more shocked because she could apparently tell how he was going to die now.
"You'll be dying for them… That's-" Emilia clicked her tongue as she looked away from the sleeping boy with anguish in her heart.
"Why is he doing this…" Rem seemed to nestle deeper into her sister's neck as she muttered.
"He still wants to save us?" Ram asked her question as she finally turned around to face the screen once again. A look of wonder and hope shining through her reddened face.
[If they couldn't bear to see me suffer, and held both my hands…
If that's the kind of people they are, how can I leave them?]
"He's just actively looking for an excuse to die nyow!" Felix grunted in disgust at this tonal shift.
"He… Wilhelm-sama, it seems you were incorrect about one thing," Crusch turned to the old man as he nodded to her respectfully.
"That is, Crusch-sama?"
"Natsuki never thought about giving up on the mansion once this whole time…"
At her revelation, Wilhelm could only widen his eyes and blink rapidly. Crusch nodded her head and turned to the screen with a small grin appearing on her face.
"Should'ah noticed tha' before, Princess-san~" Anastasia mused while smirking in a wolfish manner, securing another obscure detail about Subaru that she had beaten Crusch for.
The duchess simply dignified herself by not responding and keeping watch on the screen.
["I'm going to kill you!"
I heard a voice filled with hatred. But more than that…]
"..." Ram simply flinched momentarily. Understanding that she really needed better control of herself… But also understanding how much she could lose by losing her cool over her own sister's death. She would've killed an innocent.
'Would that matter to me if Rem was gone anyway?'
[Subaru closed his eyes and thought back to her haunting scream as she held her dead sister.
Her cries won't leave my mind. I've always been the type to drift toward whichever path was easiest.
Hey Subaru, you're thinking of something pretty stupid here.
The image of Rem's smiling face during his second loop played in his mind.
"And after I managed to save this life… "
Subaru remembered the twins teasing him in the kitchen. He smirked…
"That's right. I saved my life so…"
What's wrong with taking the path that's easiest, that will let me live longer?
I'll decide… how I use my life!]
"This guy is…" Felix gritted his teeth at the selfish boy.
"He's gonna do it… " Anastasia uttered her face now, turning to disbelief as Reinhard and Julius smiled sadly.
"… To save the sisters that were torn apart," Crusch smirked and shook her head tiredly. She didn't want to play this game with Anastasia, but hell, this merchant girl could be so dense with the important details in Subaru's mentality.
"He really wants to be a hero?" Al spat while shaking his head in frustration, Seeing his pal go through so much and decide to throw away a chance for survival just so he can help the ones who killed him? This was disgusting.
"This one… is a fool?" Priscilla seemed uncertain as she just stared at the screen in puzzlement.
[Beatrice looked behind him. "You were too slow."
Subaru looked back…
He was met with an enraged Ram, completely powered up and ready to use her wind blades to cut him limb from limb.
"I finally found you. I won't let you get away." Ram slowly stepped towards him with her wind blowing dangerously.
"Stay back, I suppose. So long as my contract exists, I won't hold back, not even against you." Beatrice warned as she stood in front of Subaru.
"And you, Beatrice-sama, seem to forget that we're not in the mansion now. We're away from the forbidden library, in the forest. Are you certain you can protect him from me?"
Ram and Beatrice stood, facing one another.
The moment was serious.
The moment was about to turn into an epic fight.
Until this wonderful dumbass stepped closer and took hold of both drills on Beako's head.
"Boing!" Beatrice shrieked as the boy let her drills jump up and down.
"Oh, that feels good!"
"Wh-Wh-Wh-What are you doing?! D-Do you want to die?!" Beatrice turned around and yelled at Subaru while he looked down at her with a 'Duh' expression.]
Even through the grim situation and the hopeless atmosphere, Subaru managed to make everyone chuckle and smile.
["Don't be dumb. I don't want to die in the slightest. I'm fine with dying just once at the end of a long life. That's how I really feel." he smiled at the girl.
Ram watched as Subaru stepped in front of her. "You've got guts. So you've finally accepted your fate?"
"I wouldn't call it that. If anything, I'd say I've made up my mind."
Subaru bowed before Ram.
"Sorry. I caused a lot of grief for you guys by being such a loser."]
"Barusu…" Ram softly said as she looked down.
"Save my sister. Please," the pink Oni was crying for the second time in the theater.
["So you do know something about Rem?!"
"No, sorry, but I honestly don't know a thing. Frankly, there's too much I don't know. But… "
Subaru looked at Ram with a brave face.
"I decided to learn more about the things I don't know."
"How can you say that now? Rem is already dead! What can you do by learning anything now?!" Ram shouted enraged.
"I won't make any cool statements about what I'll be able to do. This is what happened when I couldn't do anything, after all. I know better than anyone that my words aren't convincing in the least. But I do remember. I know parts of you two that you've forgotten!"
"What do you know about Rem and me?!"
"You're right. I don't know anything that's really important. But you don't know either, do you?!"
"Know what?" Ram growled confused and angry.
Subaru took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"That I love you guys!"]
"... You idiot," Emilia said as she resembled the ensemble of people around her by her slack-jawed expression and eyes filled with disbelief.
"You absolute moron," Emilia breathed heavily as her nerves became a mess from her frustration at this scene.
"You can't just forgive something like that for this small of a reason, I suppose!" Beatrice seemed on the same boat as she now held on to Subaru's arm tightly and grit her teeth in fury.
The two guilty twins seemed to be catatonic as both girls couldn't believe what they had heard. Both Rem and Ram felt their hearts collapsing or freeing themselves from the tight hold of fear and guilt for a single moment.
Before Rem remembered that she was dead in this reality, and Subaru had to die for the third, possibly the fourth time because of her.
"I'm so sorry… Subaru-kun," she whispered with an ashamed frown. She couldn't help but feel grateful for this. She had to be. Or else Emilia would have one more reason to be better than her for Subaru's heart.
'I'm so selfish… I'm so disgusting…'
[Ram stared at the boy in shock.
Subaru turned around and ran towards the ledge.
"Wait!" Beatrice called out in shock.
The memory of them greeting him in his room.
The memory of when Rem bandaged his cut finger.
The memory of him and Ram studying together.
The memory of Emilia doing warm-ups with him.
The memory of him helping Beatrice with her books.
Subaru's mind played these, solidifying his conviction. He ran faster, barefoot, towards the ledge and jumped.
"This is something only I can do!"
As he fell through the air, the memories of the twins broken apart by death played.
It was followed by a memory of Ram shouting.
"I'm going to kill you!"
With that last memory on his mind… Subaru plummeted towards the spikes and rocks at high speeds.
"I'm going to save you!"
Closer…
Closer…
The spikes came closer.
*CRUNCH *
Natsuki Subaru… died.
Title card:
Natsuki Subaru's Restart]
"H-Holy shit…"
"Subaru…"
Everyone was staring at the screen with expressions of shock.
"My hero…" she whispered with her heart filled with warmth and guilt.
Emilia and Beako just stared at the dark screen with angry glares and frustration towards the boy's horrific end.
Ram… she was crying… and smiling.
She was happy that her sister was going to be alright.
"Thank you… Barusu."
The screen lit up again.
"Thank you so much, Natsuki Subaru-kun." Roswaal warmly said under his breath, feeling nothing but relief in his heart.