The screen went dark for them all in a moment, before turning on once again to start replaying the familiar flashing imagery that dashes across the screen like a storybook flipping through the pages.
Everyone's reaction had not differed in the few seconds when the viewing had been stopped.
As the lights flashed, the room's faces focused upon it without much being spoken between the cast.
"What the hell's aboutta happen to the kid?" Heinkel's grumbling from the top row earned him a glance of attention from Al, who was by the side of Priscilla in the same row.
"Didn't take ya for a big softie with anyone but Schult-kun…" Al said with a low grunt at the end of his sentence. "Not that I liked ya enough to keep watchin' what you were up to…"
"Watch it, helmet guy…" Heinkel growled under his breath. "This has already been some of the most confusing hours of my life and it's gettin' real annoyin' how no one wishes to answer my fuckin' questions."
Al sighed, a sudden defeat in front of the man's aggression. "Yeah, I'd be hella on my nerves too if I was in your place, Heinkel-sama… I don't like that you and Schult-kun were taken outta the loop for this one but… I can't explain anything with this bullshit playing again so suddenly…" Al pointed at the screen above, playing its images.
"What bullshit is playin'?! Why are there people dyin' around this kid who were alive and well in our world?" Heinkel looked dead serious at the knight, ignoring the red princess and pink-haired butler between them.
Al tilted his head away from the man. "To me… I'd have explained everything had there been a break like we usually get…"
"Ya watched this shit before, the monocle demihuman kid told me…" Heinkel glanced at Tivey, who held on to his sister's hand in the second row while Ricardo placed them both on his giant legs to keep them comfortable. "What is all this…?"
"Bro…" Al looked up as the screen's flashing stopped and the room dimmed suddenly. "This will not be believable to someone like you…"
Heinkel's body recoiled at the tone of finality in Al's voice as if the man was judged inside of the knight's mind forever. A judgment that cannot be refuted no matter what Heinkel does.
"You don't know shit about me, fucker!" Heinkel's glare was heated but Al's calm aura disengaged any effect of retaliation against the Deputy.
"I didn't say that to judge you, pal," Al said calmly without any hint of sarcasm or mocking, which made Heinkel stop his anger in its place with a confused blink. "I'm just saying," Al continued while casually leaning back and looking above them.
The screen's light returned to the theater as the starting image played across it.
"... No one in their right mind can believe the shit we're about to see… Not unless they are in the room with us and seeing the same shit… That's all, pal." Al's voice was friendly and supportive…
Heinkel could feel the hint of remorse and fleeting loss of hope within that voice without any effort needed. It's a voice he was accustomed to dealing with whenever he would be judged by people too afraid to reject him for his uselessness yet couldn't directly implicate his imperfections because of his heritage from the Sword Saint line.
He realized that if someone like Al could be bothered by whatever would be shown next, Heinkel deserved to drink all those drinks as soon as he found them in his room before the viewing.
"Fuck…" He moved his eyes to look down at the black-haired kid who was somehow at the center of all of this. "Fuck you kid…" His eyes narrowed and gazed toward the carpet floors when he remembered the scared boy as he crawled away from the White Whale and failed time and time again to conduct the plan to fight off the Archbishops…
"Fucking hell kid… Just run away at this point…" Heinkel sighed, apologetically looking at Subaru since no one was watching the drunkard.
His eyes would turn as soon as the screen above him changed lights and played the next scene.
[Season 1 Episode 10 Director's Cut.
Begin.
The screen lights up to show Betelgeuse and Subaru staring up at the sky.
Puck was revealed floating above them with a deep scowl as many spikes made of ice floated around him.
"Die."
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Puck sent the ice spikes speeding toward his enemies. Every witch cultist in the vicinity was impaled by the ice attack.
In a second, Puck had managed to kill everyone, with the exception of a terrified Subaru and a silent Betelgeuse.]
Ricardo whistled at the sight of the massacre, showing sadistic approval in the killing of the cultists.
"Now that's an increase within the casualty report the cult has to deal with…" Tivey widened his eyes, impressed.
"Go kitty go!" Mimi quickly cheered from within her seat, showing support for the killing of the people around Subaru. "Take them all outta 'ere!"
"Subaru-kun's saved by Puck-sama…" Petra looked hopeful for a moment, cleaning her previous tears but then she looked thoughtful for a moment. "But… If Puck-sama was enough to save Subaru… Then what will end up… This is not the right loop… I don't remember seeing Subaru without Felix-sama and the others when he came back to the village…" Petra's eyes widened and gazed forward to where Emilia and Beatrice were.
The simple village girl could tell when someone had a gaze of horror growing on their face. Petra was there when Frederica, her mentor, showed her that look as it grew on Rem's face before the brutal executions of Subaru's life began within the mansion grounds when he first came to the Mathers estate.
That same gaze of horrific realization and dread combined with innermost guilt was more clear than ever upon Emilia and Beatrice without distinction between them of who has it worse.
"What more…?" Petra questioned tiredly, slumping in her seat with a tremble overcoming her hands as she raised them to cover her mouth. "What more can you all do to fail Subaru? How much destruction can you impale him with?!" Her sobs were covered by her palms.
"Shhhh…" Frederica hugged the little girl as tightly as possible, looking at her with pity and guilt. "I'm sorry, Petra-chan… I wish you could not see any of this… I wish I could've helped him…"
Petra shook her head and let one of her hands fall on a chocolate bar placed by her side. Remembering how the Warden gave it to her after she took it from him when she rejected the one chance to get out of this theater and go home.
Her tear-filled eyes opened once again and glared at the screen above.
"I'm not wrong for staying!" Petra growled into her palm which still covered her mouth. "I'm not wrong for wanting Subaru to live! I just wanna see him live!"
Frederica's face was a mix of both defeat and admiration at the little one's brave determination.
"I wish he could see a thousand of your words in his lifetime, Petra-chan." The mentor squeezed her prodigy with as much love as she could.
["My brain trembles…" The archbishop mumbled to himself with displeasure.
"Puck!" Subaru shouts from within the jail of icicles stabbed into the ground but he gets interrupted.
"Be quiet, Subaru. I don't care what you— Agh!" The floating cat couldn't continue his admonishment of the boy as his body was twisted and malformed beyond recognition.]
"What the fuck?!" Garfiel stood up in his seat from the shocking sudden malformation. "NO! NO! Ya were meant t' save Cap'n!"
Emilia and Beatrice hitched their breath, knowing the truth but soaking in the unpleasant sight of Puck's manifestation getting malformed like that. It was the most preferred look the two girls liked from Puck, however, they realized what was coming next.
"This isn't enough to crush him… Emilia-sama's spirit is old enough to physically manifest itself after all." Julius nodded his head and pointed toward the body of the cat, making Garfiel look with increasing scrutiny.
[Subaru stared at the crushed body of the tiny cat in horror. Slowly… His eyes manifested the reason for Puck's sudden death.
A total of seven black long hands appeared twisting the cat in the air.
"Complacency! Negligence! That is sloth! You should have killed me right away! Even with the power you have you failed to do what you needed to do!" Betelgeuse shouted madly as he was revealed to be the one controlling the black arms that were crushing Puck in the sky.]
"What a fuckin' ability this is…" Heinkel's face looked like he was pleased for not being the one facing the madman on the screen. "Whoever taught the fuckers from the cult how to use this invisible hand shit, they must be stupid if they allowed a kid to be able to see them."
"Subaru-sama's the only one who showed an affinity to seeing them so far…" Tivey commented with a curious look aimed towards Puck. "I wonder if those hands could be specialized only to the Archbishop and his selected Fingers…"
Mimi shivered in remembrance of the assault they had to go through when defeating Peteleguese due to Subaru's detailed instructions.
["Foolishness."
All of Betelgeuse's unseen hands were obliterated with an explosion of magic. A snowstorm suddenly appeared and froze everything around Subaru and the Archbishop beside him. Trees, flowers, dirt, everything was covered in ice.
Both Subaru and Betelgeuse covered their faces to protect them from the heavy falling snow.
"If you truly want to kill me… "
A giant paw was shown stomping down on the ice-turned-witch cultists.
A huge fur-covered beast with yellow glowing eyes stared down at Subaru and Betelgeuse.
"Then grow a thousand shadows, half of what Satella could."]
"Don't mention her name!" Schult gasped in shock at the sight before him, muttering the first thing he could latch on.
"Figures a beast like that, a spirit, would be alive when the Witch was alive…" Heinkel's body shivered in his seat just from the thought, he looked at Puck's form with something akin to immediate respect and fear. "Why the fuck's this kid meetin' all these monsters…"
"That thing…" Garfiel slowly turned his head towards Emilia, eyes widened in the realization that made both Emilia and Beatrice flinch in their place. "That fuckin' cat is the one that did my Cap'n in… The time with Rem in his arms…"
"Ain't ya got somethin' to explain to us, Big Sis?" Felt's words were a lot more cordial than the looks Crusch and Anastasia gave Emilia and Beatrice, seeing as both candidates were already suspicious of the spirit from many viewings before this was shown to them.
"Could it be…" Reinhard muttered under his breath, he locked eyes with Julius for a moment. "Emilia-sama…" His voice made a lot of eyes fall on him, including the nervous, shocked half-elf. "Is Puck-sama… The Great Beast of the End?"
Julius narrowed his eyes at the screen, assuming the answers immediately when Emilia's face contorted to a panicked one that seemed to be a confirmation on its own.
"What the fuck's that?" Felt looked at Reinhard as Anastasia and Crusch gave Emilia shocked glances. "Ain't the cat just a great spirit who controls fire magic?"
Reinhard nodded his head, now having adopted an expression of seriousness. "He's more than that… In our world, only four spirits are anointed with the title of 'Great'... Commonly mixed with 'great', but there are differences."
"What's that 'bout?" Felt tilted her head, having Reinhard explain to her with a deadly glance being effective to keep her attention on him.
"'great' spirits are those who have become so old that they can manifest physically in our plain of existence. Something lesser spirits cannot do without contracting with high-affinity spirit art users." Reinhard's move to look at the beast on the screen, as did Felt. "But the 'Great' spirits… They are spirits so powerful that the world itself could be affected by their will. Spirits that are so great, only four have ever been recorded at a time in every era… Some say even before the calamity of the Witch had destroyed half of our world."
Felt's eyes widened in shock and understanding, as most in the theater began staring at the beast and Emilia. The half-elf held the hem of her dress, hiding her guilty expression.
"What the fuck…" Felt's words were clear in her agitation. "Where the fuck was that power when this guy was fightin' with that bitch Elsa in the loot house?! Old Man Rom wouldn't have been injured if he used this form!" Felt glared at Emilia this time. "Explain, big sis!"
"P-Puck's power was greatly hindered and limited to fit our contract…" Emilia winced under all of the stares. "And yes… He's one of them… But… I didn't know he would…"
"Ah, so he's weaker because he was tyin' himself to ya…" Anastasia nodded her head and narrowed her eyes at the half-elf. "Watchya hidin'?"
Emilia noticed the looks of confusion on Crusch and Rem's faces, making her feel more pressure inside of her chest.
"I… I don't know if this is true or not… I want Puck to have saved Subaru… I…" Emilia remembered Subaru's last death as Rem's corpse was hugged by him, the snow covering his frame as his head rolled to the side without a single sound heard from him forever.
Emilia held herself by bringing her legs together and putting herself in an extremely vulnerable position where she hid her head from everyone and put it between her knees.
"Please… I'm watching like all of you…" She said with a trembling in her voice that was clear.
Anastasia sighed and glared at the screen above, seeing the beast for what it was. A hindrance to anyone who wanted to help Subaru.
Meanwhile, Crusch and Felt locked eyes with each other. The duchess gave Felt a small nod of comfort, knowing the blonde girl wanted what was best for Emilia alongside Subaru just like Crusch. So both agreed to leave her alone for now.
"Sorry, Big Sis… Didn't mean to overwhelm ya."
[Opening Theme 2: Paradisus-Paradoxum
The scene opens on the beast's sharp ferocious eye glaring at the two before it.
"Are you… Puck?" Subaru uttered while staring at the beast towering over him with amazement.
"Can't you tell? Maybe it's cruel of me to ask that." The beast mused while glaring down with shining yellow eyes. The freezing storm increased in tenacity as the snowfalls colored the forest white.
"Unbelievable." The Archbishop growled as he glared up at the beast.
"This is unbelievable! It cannot be!" The man slid his hand into his mouth and began biting on it so hard that blood sprayed all over his face.
"A mere spirit… My faith… Everything I've devoted my love to… " Betelgeuse shouted as his eyes widened so far that blood started coming out from underneath his eyeballs.]
"What's wrong with him?!" Frederica asked while holding on to a glaring Petra.
Emilia and Beatrice had teared up and could only stare in horror at what had become of their dear friend.
"Guese…" "No…"
Both girls could only look on at the once kindhearted man they loved and considered a mentor as he bit off his flesh while rambling madly.
Roswaal scowled deeply while clenching his handles.
["A human who's only lived a few decades shouldn't talk to a spirit about time." The beast spoke admonishing and deprecating.]
Garfiel glared at the monster. He glanced at Subaru's sleeping form beside Emilia for a moment. Garfiel could not but be grateful for him. The fact that the man who saved him from the prison that was his life had faced such terror even after dying multiple times couldn't describe the respect he had for Subaru. He never wanted to see his captain get hurt again, and the fact that Subaru still hadn't died in this loop finally set into Garfiel's head, making the blonde boy furious towards the beast. The image of his captain's head rolling off his shoulders surrounded by the dead bodies of his friends was haunting and morbid.
"Cap…" The blonde demihuman teared up and watched the screen with gritted teeth.
[As Betelgeuse's body was being frozen solid, the Archbishop carried on his rant while glaring at the towering beast.
"Time has nothing to do with the depth of one's faith! I wish you wouldn't liken me to a fool like you, a being that lives for eternity, but wastes most of it in idleness!"
As his body froze solid, Betelgeuse moaned in sick pleasure. "Ah, my brain is tremblinglingling…. "
"Death isn't even a punishment. This is why I hate all of you." The beast said in disgust as he stared at the freezing madman.]
"What is wrong with that great spirit?" Crusch asked sternly as she glared at the beast. She hated how these powerful magical monsters just seemed to view her people as inconvenient savages who deserved death. From the dragon that had killed her friend with its incompetence and indifference and now this entity that seemingly expressed hate towards everyone around it.
"Won't Subaru-sama be frozen too if this continues?! H-Hey he will escape this, right? I don't remember the half-elf-sama dying but maybe it was hidden from the public?" Schult looked around with a bit of a stutter in his voice since he was trembling from fear.
Heinkel gave the kid a head-pat. "This ain't correct, kiddo. Just wait…" His eyes narrowed on Subaru specifically as the madman and the beast conversed.
"I-I didn't know about his feelings or how he thought of the world… I-… I don't share this sentiment at all…" Emilia trembled in place as she glared for the first time at her father. How could he be so cruel? This was not the innocent slightly stern cat that had kept her company for so long.
"It's okay Emilia-sama. I understand that you've had nothing to do with his actions." Crusch smiled confidently at the shaken half-elf, making Emilia feel slightly less nervous and maybe even slightly less alone.
Beatrice looked at the screen in sadness. "I never knew this was how you viewed the world Bubby… What have you been through?" Unaware, Beatrice forgot about Subaru for just a moment as her heart clenched in pain for her little brother's dark and twisted tone.
"Seems like I was correct," Roswaal snorted from above, looking at Beatrice's head from above and talking to himself. "He was just playing cheerfully without a care because he didn't care about us at all…" Roswaal's grip on his armrest was tightened for the second time.
Seeing the state of the people he once knew back when his teacher was alive… It dirtied his mind with unfaithful thoughts that he must not have.
["The Ordeal has been completed. Even if my body dies my wishes will be called to the exalted witch's side. And I'll receive her love! I look forward to our reunion! Heheehe!" Betelgeuse was frozen solid into an ice statue.]
"H-He's gone…" Schult's voice trembled in fear at the sheer power he was seeing. "The spirit-sama just froze an Archbishop of the Witch's Cult… Like he was nothing…"
Heinkel had the same tremble in his hands as they both looked on at the beast towering over the green man's corpse.
"Good riddance," Priscilla muttered from beside the two of them, snorting with a disgusted face towards the end of Petelguese's life.
["He quit while he was ahead." The beast nonchalantly stomped the frozen Archbishop into nothing and towered above the terrified and freezing boy.
"Now, shall we have a little talk? Subaru, you have committed three sins."
The beast wiped his paw on the snow and kept glaring at the scared boy beneath him while talking as if they were having an idle conversation.]
Emilia and Beatrice both widened their eyes in absolute disbelief.
"Puck! Nononono! You can't hurt him!" The half-elf screamed, starting to tear up for her knight.
Beatrice looked at the screen with tears streaming down as she knew how guilty she was for leaving the boy to die at the well of her cruel brother. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry." The little girl whimpered as she watched with wide eyes.
Rem held a hand to her heart and watched with equal amounts of guilt and shock as she could not believe how horrible Subaru's life was. Betrayed by everyone around him and killed by those he called friends. "It's no wonder you wanted to give up… I'm so sorry." The maid whispered as she nestled against his neck.
"He's going to die again… He's going to die again and again… By me, Puck. It doesn't matter because he dies over and over again."
Petra was so heartbroken by what she was hearing. The little girl turned to the one who spoke that sentence and glared through her tears. "Why are you saying this? Aren't you Subaru's friend like the rest of us, Otto-kun?"
The merchant's eyes dilated in completely distorted sadness and pain. The boy was so broken by seeing himself kill the man he called brother and friend, that he could no longer see Subaru's death and act strong.
Heart clenching, Otto shouted.
"How am I his friend when I killed him?! How can he ever ask for my help or accept it after what I had done?!" The boy shouted with his voice breaking in despair, his eyes shedding tears of guilt and sadness for what he did.
Garfiel and Julius glared at the beast on the screen, unable to handle Otto shouting what he said with such conviction born out of misery.
"This isn't like you…" Frederica gave a heart-wrenching expression at the state of Otto's mindset as he glared at Petra from his place in the theater.
The little maid gave Otto a small frown in response, unable to speak with him as she remembered what he was reliving every moment Subaru suffered from the cold.
The memory of him shoving Subaru was haunting everyone's mind, not just Otto.
"A coward shouldn't speak so conveniently just to make us ignore the pain of others," Anatasia gave Otto no mercy as she too remembered his act. "Sit down boy."
"Anastasia-sama…" Julius gritted his teeth and kept his fists on his knees.
Otto sat down in his seat, expression continuing to derail into one of pure shock and helplessness. But he stayed silent.
Felt snorted, turning her head from him. Earning her a look of disappointment from Reinhard that she ignored.
["First, you broke your promise to Lia. You don't seem to understand how important a promise is to a spirit arts user."
Subaru's grief-stricken face turned to one of guilt and despair as his entire body began getting coated in solid ice.]
Emilia trembled at the sight of Subaru's body getting frozen. A nightmare… this must be a nightmare.
Her knight won't be another statue that blames her.
"You're right here… here… here…." Emilia's damn broke as she held her knight's hand and looked away. She didn't want to see Subaru's death at the hands of her once beloved father.
"Holy shit, the fuckin' kid will freeze to death!" Heinkel's shout was filled with outrage, glaring but holding a large amount of cowardice on his face as he looked at the beast towering over Subaru. "What is wrong with this monster?!"
Reinhard gave a gentle wince, accepting his father's words but knowing that the blame must be placed on himself for where Subaru had ended up in the end.
"I should've fuckin' done somethin' to help ya, Big Bro…" Felt's voice was hoarse as she watched from the side with a disturbed glare on her face. "Fuck…"
["Second, you ignored Lia's wishes and came back here."
Slowly, the beast lowered himself to meet the boy's eyes as it spoke through gritted teeth.]
"What was he meant to do?!" Petra shouted to the spirit, breaking a lot of people's eyes from the screen to stare at her, especially those of an impressed Priscilla and an agreeing Anastasia. "He gave up everything to save us all! Even when he was dealt such an unfair hand and screwed up multiple times… He died… He died…" Petra sobbed into her mentor's waist.
"He would never give up… Petra-chan… Don't worry…" Frederica's words were meant to comfort the maid in her arms but they only made Rem wince and look directly at the ground from the knowing heartbreak that will fill the room when they see Subaru's state whenever the true loop comes.
"I wish this could be your final time dying because of me… Subaru-kun…" Rem's eyes closed as she hugged Subaru tighter, wishing to see him speak his speech of self-hate to her just so she knew that he was going to be free from any more loops.
["You let Lia die."
Subaru could only look at the giant demon towering over him with fear and despair etched into his expression.]
"He didn't… Puck… Why are you saying such cruel things… Why did you make me separate from Subaru…" Emilia's face contorted to one of despair and horror, seeing her father figure turn on someone she thought he cared for. "Puck… Subaru is good… He's in need of your help… He needs you to save him…"
["In accordance with my contract, I will now destroy the world."]
"What…?" Julius widened his eyes in shock, as many in the room looked between Emilia and the screen with alarm. "What type of contract do you have with the Beast of the End?" Julius questioned the half-elf without any sternness, not believing that she accepted such a contract.
Emilia looked at her father in his beast form and had a look of heartbreak as if she had been punched in the gut a thousand times.
"I… Don't have any idea…" Emilia's face fell into her palms, hiding from them all. "Puck… Will destroy the world?"
Beatrice and Roswaal locked eyes for a moment, both knowing the hidden truth of who Puck had the contract with before Emilia.
Beatrice herself realized the knowing look Roswaal was sending her specifically… She could only turn away from him with a miserable frown on her face, realizing that the clown lord was right about her brother all along.
["Why?" Subaru hoarsely asked as his mouth began turning to ice.
For a moment, the beast closed its eyes to mourn. "Lia is… Emilia is my entire reason for existing. There's no reason for me to exist in a world without her."]
"Ah… It could be just him being sentimental over Emilia-sama… It's not a contract then?" Tivey looked a little bit more comfortable as he drew a theory from what he was hearing between the spirit and Subaru.
Julius shook his head firmly, being the expert on Spirit art matters within the room. "He stated a contract… Looking at the fact that Crusch-sama nor Reinhard informed us of any lies coming out of Emilia-sama… I don't think the Great Spirit had just one contract with Emilia-sama alone…"
The half-elf heard this explanation and felt a tightness within her chest that suffocated her breathing heavily. "Puck… Puck… You liar…" Her voice broke as tears replaced themselves upon her cheek with vigor and speed.
[The beast's snowstorm seemed to be disrupted by something in the far-off distance of the forest's edges. "The fog is coming closer. It looks like a troublesome one has been drawn here. Gluttony. Oh, I suppose they call it the White Whale now."
"You called it here, let Lia die, and now, you die yourself… You really are useless." Subaru's body is shown to have been completely frozen solid with his hands, arms, and legs broken into rigid and rough pieces as if he were a glass that had been dropped on the floor.]
"Fuckin' hell… What the fuck…" Heinkel's eyes widened and his whole body trembled from confusion.
"Why…" Schult found himself hugging the arm next to him which happened to be Priscilla's out of fear. "How… Subaru Natsuki isn't dead… What are we watching?"
"Are ya fuckin' with me?!" "He's not useless, I suppose."
Garfiel and Beatrice shouted at the same time from the front row as they watched the horrid sight with rage and tears in the spirit's case.
"This is too cruel…" Anastasia said with a disturbed look at the sight. "Look at his state… Natsuku-kun's just a boy… Yet everythin' that happened to 'em…"
"'Tis beyond fucked…" Ricardo dared to show anger at what he was seeing. "This type o' death isn't even allowed as an execution in the coldest parts of the Northern Kingdom…"
Frederica gasped in horror and the sight, holding Petra closer as the maid sobbed harder into her waist.
Emilia just screamed and hugged Subaru as soon as she saw what had become of his body. "He's not useless! PUCK DON'T DO THIS!"
Otto looked away while holding his head in despair. He didn't want to die like Subaru. He didn't want Subaru to die. He didn't want to kill Subaru. He was the one who did this to his brother. "I did it... I did it… I did it…"
"...Uh...aaahh…." Rem sobbed into Subaru's neck.
[Slowly the camera panned on Subaru's dying face, his mouth obscure but his eyes appearing morbid and soulless.
"Hehehehehehehhaha heheheheheha heeeeha heeeeeeha." The sound of broken, disturbed laughter filled the air.]
"What the fuck are we watchin'..." Felt's face was white from shock as she asked, the laughter filling the room and earning everyone's widened eyes.
"Hell…" Crusch's only word since the beginning of this viewing as she looked at the screen with nothing but an anguished look. "The hell he's been going through before reaching the conclusion we've known…"
"But to die like this… After trying so hard, nya…" Felix's tears kept falling with renewed purpose, hugging himself for the first time in this theater.
"This is beyond cruel…" Ram held no small amount of hatred towards the spirit in her eyes than she did when she whispered to her master beside her. "Should Barusu have not stopped your plans where they stood, we would've been facing a beast like this…"
Roswaal nodded his head, keeping a neutral face as he inspected the screen. "Indeed, and if I h~aaa~dn't done what I did, your sister wouldn't have lost her memories."
Ram's breathing hitches at his words and Roswaal gives her a simple smile, telling her to let her judgment be free against him.
He was guilty of everything and ashamed of nothing.
[I've heard this laugh before.
"Hahahaahahahahaheee haaaaaaaheeehhhehehehehehehahahahahahahahahahhaahhahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahhaahahaaahaahahahahahah!"
The voice of a man I hated to death.
Subaru's ice-coated face is shown in full, his jaw opened and revealed to be the source of the disturbing laughter.]
"..." Crusch showed the most change within her steeled expression by giving the boy's entire mindset a look of anguished surprise. Much more generous than the shocked frozen faces of the girls around her that could only hold to parts of the sleeping boy at her side and look up to see the way he laughed.
"A man he hated…" Reinhard muttered to himself, looking on with a pained frown. "He hates himself?..."
"Goddamnit, Big Bro…" Felt's hand trembled as she tried to push her golden hair out of her away after slamming it on the armrest beside her.
[No… It's me.
"Heeehehehehehahahahahhehehahahah"
I'm laughing at myself. I let Rem die, killed Emilia, and now, I'm going to die in vain.
The ice finally caught up to the rest of his face and completely froze him solid.
As the sound of laughter ensued, as the storm of snow covered the entire world, as the beast of the end towered and looked on, As his body turned to ice, Subaru could only think of one thought.
I really am so…
* CHINK! *
"You truly are slothful, Subaru." With the beast mocking him as his face shattered into glassy pieces,
Natsuki Subaru… Died.]
The death brought a combined reaction from the girls surrounding Subaru first, as they all clutched him from all sides, where even Crusch with her iron personality had to capture his hand to gain some form of strength after what she'd seen.
Petra for her part, wished to be by Subaru's side at that moment, but she had to hold on to Frederica as she broke down into a fit of tears.
"H— He tried so hard! No one helped him! ALL OF YOU KILLED HIM!" Petra's scream filled the room as she glared through her tears at the candidates and knights below.
"Know when t' blame us, kid… There's a lotta blame t' go 'round but it won't help with anythin'." Anastasia gave Petra a strong look, implementing some sternness that would remind Petra of the general mood in the room.
Yet the maid seemed to have had enough.
"Don't speak on this matter." Petra's scathing tone interrupted all expressions as she gained attention from all. "You don't dare speak about this or any other matter relating to Subaru when you've only seen him as a tool this whole time!"
"Petra-chan! You're out of line before a candidate to the throne—" Frederica's hand was slapped away which resulted in a look of hurt by the mentor as she saw the little maid glare hatefully towards the room.
"I know what you planned," Petra glared at the woman without fear or hesitation, facing Anastasia who recoiled from the maid's sudden intensity. "I heard you speak in your room… I saw what you were hiding…"
Petra's words made some look curiously at Anastasia, who held a neutral expression now as she recalculated her stance on dealing with Petra.
"You think he will happily go along with your plot and forget how you used him?! YOU LEFT HIM TO DIE!" Petra pointed at her with hate.
No longer able to stay still and keep his lady cornered, Julius spoke firmly from his seat. "Know your place, little one." Julius gave her a compassionate glance. "I understand that emotions are overwhelmingly negative as of this moment, but you do not need to bring more strife with callous accusations, especially towards those of higher status than you."
"Suits someone like you better when using other people's status for your gain." Petra's words seemed to elicit a look of confusion on the knight's face.
"Pardon?" Julius questioned as eyes turned between him and Petra.
"You were the one who beat him senseless…" She glared at him with such hate that Julius had to ignore what she said for a moment. "The entire reason Subaru was stuck in the capital was because of your treatment of him to appease that order of yours… Just because he wanted to live up to the name!"
Julius looked down at the maid's words, growing silent without any word to refute her.
"That's not fair of you to say, nya!" Felix was the one to say some defense for his friend, not wanting him to be blamed. "You can't put all of these tragedies on Julius-kun!"
"I don't need to put any blame on one person when everyone around Subaru took advantage of his misery and helplessness!" Petra shouts over Felix's aggressive reply with a more heated glare that makes him flinch in place. "Were you not the one who was using your trusted duties in healing his gate to manipulate him from helping Emilia-sama?! Were you not disgusted with him for the longest time just because he kept trying to help even with all the bad cards he was dealt, huh?!"
Petra's words knocked the wind out of the healer as he too seemed to not be able to respond to her.
Seeing this, the little maid's eyes looked directly at the master of Felix, who was giving her a glint of guilt.
"I'm not surprised, Ferris-sama… You're just a healer that serves an equally opportunistic master… One that would allow another candidate and the people beneath them to die, yet speaks about being King as a duty for us…" Petra's tone was cold and without hesitation.
Crusch could only look away from the maid and glance at the floor, showing a wise sense of acceptance of everything said about her.
Felix grimaced in pain, seeing his lady blamed because of what he did indirectly.
Petra's shoulder was lightly touched by the other person sitting beside her who wasn't looking at her in shock like Frederica.
"Petra-chan… This is far too cutting to be said at a moment like this," Wilhelm's face showed a small hint of understanding that made a man snort from the background. "This isn't like you… You mustn't let this overcome who you are."
"Why didn't you take him aside and speak with him?" Petra's cold words made the old swordsman falter. "Haven't you had enough fractures in your family, Wilhelm-sama? I saw the anger in their eyes…" Petra looked at the older swordsman with her own determination to let him see what he ignored. "I saw the yearning…"
Reinhard and Heinkel looked at the maid with expressions of oldened wounds being hit within them.
"If a girl like me could see these things on the faces of our protectors…" Petra's hands trembled as she faced the old man, alone with nothing but her determination and anger. "Why couldn't you have seen the same helplessness on Subaru's face?"
"... I did see it, Petra-chan…" Wilhelm's reply was instant, giving the maid a look of acceptance and guilt. "I didn't act due to me thinking that Subaru-dono's troubles would be essential to build his road forward." Wilhelm's eyes looked at the ground in an expression that made Heinkel himself stare breathlessly at the old man.
"The fuck's that humbling expression on yer face…" Heinkel growled, earning a glare from Felix and Crusch.
"I have failed my family when I had practiced a different way." Wilhelm's words shock the two Astreas below and above him in the rows of seats. "It was my meddling that forced those expressions you noticed, young one. So I refused to add more on to Subaru-dono's pain…"
"That's enough, little girl." Felt intervened when Petra was prepared to retort to the man's sincerity. "Can't ya see that ya've won him feeling shitty 'bout it all? Let's just continue—" Felt's words were cut off by Petra glaring at her and the rest of the front row.
"I'm not going to forget what all of you have done to fail Subaru…" Petra's childish voice disappeared from her tone for a moment, sounding more of an adult than most of the people in the theater in their current state. "I won't let him forget."
Roswaal had to allow himself to smile at the maid he'd employed in his estate, remembering how she would agree to punish him when he asked her to do so just before the theater kidnapped them while Subaru and the others went to Preistella.
"You will all be reminded by what you've done… All of you…" Her eyes roamed toward Emilia, Rem, Beatrice, and Otto. The ones most horrified and guilty after watching Subaru's death, and the ones who've been looking at Petra with dread the whole time she was shouting at the others.
"Subaru won't be alone! No matter how many times you fail him!" Petra shouts at them with tears streaming down her face and a fire lighting within her eyes. "I won't let you fail him again!"
They grimaced and looked away from her, unable to face the sight of the small girl condemning all of them.
Petra's body was helped to sit down in her seat by Frederica hugging her from behind, covering the little maid with her arms.
"How come he rose after this?" Tivey was the one to speak after Petra's daring condemnation of the people who stood above her in every measure of power and status. "I cannot imagine his next try can be more exciting…"
"No fuckin' shit," Garfiel said while glaring at the twin behind him, feeling agitated after seeing Petra lose herself again after he had spent so long comforting her before the previous viewing. "Cap'n was frozen to death… that shit makes a thousand bites of Ground Bugs from the disgusting one-eyed people's village sound like paradise."
"Is… Is it more painful than…" Emilia stuttered out a question, hugging Subaru's arm and hiding from Petra's eyes by looking directly at Garfiel who was on the other side of the row. "... Did Puck kill him painfully…"
"You're a fire magic user, in fact…" Emilia flinched at Beatrice's interjection. "Being cased with ice and turning into ice are two different processes when it comes to fire magic… Bubby was cruel…" Beatrice's voice was darkened by what she had seen so far.
"Hmm, so you have a powerful spirit that's ready to end the world should thou die. And that spirit just so happens to be acquainted with the Jealous Witch herself… Are you sure you aren't related to the witch?" Priscilla mused from her seat while smirking down at the shell-shocked Emilia.
"So you are related to the witch?" Al asked his tone normal and off-putting.
Emilia just looked at the screen in shock unable to answer her defense and so she would've looked suspicious to the rest of the cast had it not been for an extremely annoyed merchant lady.
"Ya should remember that Emilia-san had no idea of what the spirit would've done had she been killed. So, let's remember that this spirit can make up his own conditions and rules before blamin' her, yeah?" Anastasia snorted, agitated after Petra's stand against her with allegations that made the merchant grow more thoughtful towards the half and her camp. "I wouldn't be surprised if he was acquainted with very nefarious people that Emilia-sama herself wouldn't like." Anastasia surprised everyone by coming to Emilia's defense against the allegation.
"Anastasia…" Emilia looked at the merchant with a weird sense of gratitude but suspicion as well, remembering Petra's words.
"Your plans change more than a golden coin changes hands in a trade city, she-fox. Have some self-confidence and pride." Priscilla scoffed, finding Anastasia's interruption annoying enough to require her attention.
"My pride's just fine, thank ya," Anastasia replied coyly. "How 'bout ya? Can't help but see that yer quick judgments against us and Natsuki-kun have grown less and less." Anastasia tilted her head at the silent Priscilla.
"Mine divine self needs not to waste a breath saying the obvious about someone so pathetic." Priscilla scoffed at Anastasia, pointing her nose toward Subaru as she looked at him. "He's but an obsessed pig that desires only selfish ambitions by the most self-destructing means just because he has no strength to see pride in who he is. That's him… a child scared with nothing but patheticness to help him."
"Is that your final judgment on Big Bro, bitch?" Felt glared at Priscilla, having the entire theater listen to the red princess and deciding to interject.
Priscilla gave a most elegant nod of her head. "Indeed, street rat. 'Tis but a miracle that the world hasn't given you the same conclusion after all you've seen."
"Shut the hell up…" Garfiel growled slowly, ready to shoot off like an arrow from his seat.
"On the next turn, thou shall see him fail to be anything but a greedy pig once more." Priscilla proclaimed in her challenge as she stared down everyone who had a problem with her words. "With the world against him, this pathetic pig will resort to nothing but cowardice. Tis but logic."
Priscilla's proclamation earned her annoyed glances and glares that would've silenced most people out of their stances due to the shame, yet the red princess looked Anastasia and Emilia down like a force of nature that refused to be toppled.
The one to interrupt her was the one most aggrieved by the death he had seen.
"What the fuck do you mean by 'next turn'?" Heinkel's voice wasn't loud, but the theater was so silent that it made him boom across everyone's ears from how much emotion was present in his voice.
The man looked at his lady with clear agitation and confusion.
"You've all been talking like we did not see a bunch fuckers from this room specifically die in some fucked up ways… one was killed by the fucking Witch for spirit's sake…"
"Pal, I don't know if you noticed but…" Al pointed at the room. "This ain't the time—"
"Fuck it is!" Heinkel glared at Al and Priscilla, who leaned back in her seat to raise an eyebrow at the trembling drunk.
"That fucking kid…" Heinkel pointed at Subaru, still facing the lady sitting beside him and Schult. "I just saw 'em fuckin' freeze until his face broke…"
Schult let out a small whimper, hiding himself by hugging Priscilla's arm.
The tone Heinkel used was that of an extremely troubled man, bringing an air of tension to the room and looks of uncomfortableness all over the people's faces as they heard him air his grievance with a hint of pity for Subaru.
"Yet instead of showing sympathy for 'em, I only hear people speakin' about what happens 'next'... Even that little girl who blew up disrespectfully just now said some fishy things as if that boy lives…" Heinkel points at Petra with a hint of begrudging respect on his face before turning back to Priscilla.
"Please Priscilla-sama… It's not just Heinkel-sama who's growing anxious…" Schult earned a small glare from his lady as he muttered while hugging her arm. "I-I don't understand this… Any of it…"
Heinkel caught a softening in Priscilla's glare before she patted the small boy's head.
"It wouldn't be fair to you if one of us explained a curse with mere words," Priscilla said while moving Schult's head by pulling his hair and making him watch what's above him.
Heinkel looked up as well, understanding Priscilla's need for theatrics once he saw the loading imagery on the lit window.
"What… He's dead…" Heinkel stuttered out of his alcohol-smelling mouth with an aghast face.
[Darkness…A blurry image… Faint sounds…
Subaru opened his exhausted, tired, eyes and looked around…
Back at the apple stand… Back at the marketplace… Back in time…
He Returned by Death…
The boy's exhausted sweaty face winced at shining rays of the sun.
He closed his eyes and began wiping his ragged expression.
"Subaru-kun what's the matter?"
The boy slowly turned with a despair-fueled expression, eyes wide in disbelief.
"Rem…"
"Yes, I'm your Rem." The blue-haired maid slowly stepped closer toward him and placed the back of her hand on his forehead with her face scrunching in worry.
"I'm sorry I didn't notice… This crowd is making you tired, isn't it?"
The boy's doomed-looking eyes blinked repeatedly. The black ash underneath them shows the boy's completely broken state.
"Tired… Yeah, that's right." Subaru held the maid's soft hand with his and rubbed his cheek against it as an expression of pure misery befell him.]
"Now hang on…" Heinkel's eyes widened and his jaw would've dropped had he not been gritting his teeth. "Why the fuck is he alive… Why the fuck is the blue-haired girl alive…"
"That's the thing, pal…" Al sighed tiredly, "Look at his soulless eyes…"
Heinkel stares forward at the boy, recognizing immediately, "Did he… Did he just return in time? And he remembers everything?"
The horror filled the drunkard far faster than Al had anticipated as the Deputy Commander instantly shot out of his seat. "Juukilius! Explain this shit right now!"
"It's just as you've guessed, Deputy Commander." Julius looked away from the screen, unable to see the aftermath of Subaru's return to the new loop. "Natsuki Subaru is a man who can return through time."
Heinkel blanched in response. "B-But… No… I know this is possible for people like that to exist but… Why wait until he gets killed to activate that power?"
"It's not remotely activated," Reinhard replied to his father's words, looking at the ground instead of anywhere else. "It needs Subaru to fulfill a condition—"
"I've heard enough." Heinkel's eyes turned furious when he saw Reinhard trying to explain. "I won't tolerate havin' two monsters workin' together against Priscilla-sama…" The man's aura changed in a moment, he moved his hand swiftly to the chair in front of him and jumped instantly to the front seats.
"Someone like that is too damn dangerous to stay alive… Much less be friends with a monster like the Sword Saint, damnit!" Heinkel's wrist flicked as he landed right in front of Emilia and Crusch who looked at him in alarm.
Heinkel's hand revealed a broken shard of glass for a second, taking it out of the comfort of his sleeves after he had hidden them away inside his room.
One second was all it took for the experienced swordsman to dash and be a hair's length away from Subaru's neck in a strike that would spill the boy's blood all over Beatrice who was on Subaru's lap.
"I cannot allow this to take place." A firm voice spoke as Heinkel's arm was frozen in place.
Not frozen but held there. Heinkel cursed under his breath as he realized whose gloved fingers were on his wrist, stopping his strike.
"You damn beast…" Heinkel glared at his son as Reinhard pulled him away from Subaru and the women hanging onto the boy.
"What do you think you're doing, I suppose?!" Beatrice shrieked and kicked the man in his chest to fasten the process of putting as much distance between the drunk and Subaru as possible.
"What's the meaning of this, Deputy Commander?!" Julius demanded an explanation, having everyone glare at the drunk who had the makeshift blade of glass dropped from his hand by Reinhard.
"What do you think ye're doin', ya bastard of a knight?!" Heinkel glared hatefully towards Julius as he was forced to kneel by his son from behind. "Do ya have no idea how damagin' this fucker will be to the election?! Your lady will lose!"
"My faith in Anastasia-sama is undeterred by such a prospect. Do not lend me empty words as an excuse." Julius glared back at the man supposed to be his superior. "I live by her words currently as her chosen knight, so you do not have any authority over me."
"Ferri-chan too." Felix glared at the man from his seat.
Reinhard didn't say anything, simply standing behind Heinkel and keeping the man's arms together behind his back.
Heinkel growled at them, "I'm not gonna fuckin' stand 'ere and watch another person with a cheat power ruin my life!"
"Your life? What does Subaru have to do with anything from your life?" Emilia looked at the man with pity, giving him a small frown of compassion and confusion. "Why try to harm someone you've seen suffer so much? Answer me!"
Emilia's tears and earnest pleading look seemed to force the drunkard's disengagement.
"Damn it!" Heinkel screamed as all eyes glared down at him.
"Seems like he knows when it's futile to fight. I commend the fool." Priscilla sighed, leaning back in her seat and watching the spectacle with boredom in her eyes.
"Ah, princess, aren't we supposed to do something down there? Don't you wanna punish the guy for causing such a scene?" Al rubbed his helmet nervously.
"Tis his wish to put himself in that position, mine divine self only rejects his claim for doing it." Priscilla scoffed as Schult and Al looked at each other in confusion.
"Why did he attack pal?" Al asked, not caring about the man being apprehended below.
"Tis most obvious," Priscilla rolled her eyes, "the pathetic dog thinks that commoner is a threat to mine road for the royal duties heaven bestowed for mineself."
Al and Schult both blinked though one of them did it inside of his helmet.
"Heinkel-sama really wanted to remove a future threat for Priscilla-sama's sake? Is that why you won't punish him?" Schult asked with a hoarse voice, unsure if this was the right call.
Priscilla snorts with amusement. "Who says the dog won't be punished? Mineself would lop his head from its place on any occasion for such shameful conduct."
Her eyes would gaze at the old man who looked at the scene with something akin to a pained expression, some of the most emotion Wilhelm had ever shown as the room turned against his son's murder attempt.
"For now, the dog managed to please mine divine self greatly. Tis a great service indeed." Priscilla grinned devilishly, seeing something no one else was.
"You will be punished for this," back to Julius as he stood over Heinkel with Reinhard holding the man down. Everyone held their glares on the drunkard, some calling for his blood from how harshly they snarled toward him like Felt and Petra, and some were actively giving him glares of annoyance like Anastasia and Roswaal.
The one who didn't seem focused on the man's actions anymore was the one who'd been stuck still the entire time since Subaru's eyes opened after his loop ended.
Rem had her eyes stuck on the screen while everything had been happening, registering herself to ignore everything from her painful guilt as she hoped what she had been hoping for a long time since this arc in the capital had started.
"Say it…" She whispered to herself, being noticed by Emilia immediately.
Rem's eyes carried with them an emotion unknown to most but she couldn't hold in her tears when the screen forced an unpausing on the theater's occupants.
"Oi! We hadn't dealt with this bastard yet!" Garfiel shouted at the ceiling and glared at Heinkel with disdain.
"This prosecution must continue unabated!" Julius shouts with Garfiel at the ceiling.
The screen ignored them all and played with Reinhard turning his father around so he could watch from the floor, on his knees."
"What a fuckin' ability… the kid must be vowing some revenge that none of you know about." Heinkel's expression was that of complete distaste for the position he was in, "I don't wanna watch such fucking bullshit—"
"You never let us tell you the way Subaru activates this power…" Reinhard interrupted his father's rambling, earning a silence that was surprising for the hot-headed man.
Heinkel's head moved backward, giving his son a moment of contemplation.
"Just tell me, already you fuck…" Heinkel muttered as his son kept him in place.
Reinhard's voice lowered above a whisper and his words reached his father's ears as the screen began playing the scene once again.
Heinkel's expression turned from that of a man with his pride wounded to that of a fish that's been pulled out of the water.
"What the fuck…" Heinkel's only words as he looked up to watch the screen with his new expression in place.
Reinhard could feel a sense of surprise rise in him at the fact that his father believed him without hesitation… It was a little warm for him to realize this too.
["I'm out of energy, worn down… I'm tired."
Rem blinked…
…. And Subaru began running.
He ran through the city…
He ran while holding her hand tightly and dragged her with him.
Rem looked on with shock, worry, and confusion as the boy dragged her with him. Speeding across the city, They both ran.
"Subaru-kun!" Rem shouted, making the boy stop to a halt.
Subaru, breathing heavily and carrying the same expression of agony, turned around to face her.
Rem panted and looked at him with her eyes filled with worry and confusion.]
"What's he gonna do now?" Anastasia asked with a sympathetic expression. "He's all outta options…"
Otto, Garfiel, and Julius just grimaced as they thought about another death happening.
Emilia, Beatrice, and Crusch held on to the boy tightly as they gazed at the screen, thinking the same thing.
"I don't know how he's going to find the strength after what Bubby told him, I suppose… It was too cruel." Beatrice hung tightly to her contractor as he slept behind her.
Emilia was the only one to flinch at the memory, finding create shame in the way she was related to the person who caused Subaru that final stab in the heart. "I will never forgive you… Puck…"
But….
A blue haired maid watched the screen with wide eyes and a jaw so open she might as well set up a flytrap with it.
Her eyes began to shed tears of happiness for the first time…
[Scene change…
The screen pans to show Subaru and Rem standing atop a hill overlooking the capital's walls.
"Sorry about that. I was feeling kind of stressed, so I skipped out on explaining. Sorry." Subaru cheerfully chuckled, now looking a lot less disturbed than before. He smiled at the maid.]
"What's his game now?" Tivey asked this with a little bit of admiration. "It's genuinely crazy how he seems to act alright after… Everything that happened to him through that one loop alone…"
While Tivey earned many nods from the others who thought the same thing, Petra was the only one frowning at Subaru's facade.
"It's only going to make him feel more alone…" Petra sighed, not supposing anyone would help her change things after seeing how everyone in the room had a hand in making Subaru's life a living hell. "Maybe he is alone…"
"Fuckin' hell… This shit is real… The kid's ability is no joke…" Heinkel was muttering under his breath as he watched the screen above him like a hawk. He could feel his knees going numb beneath him but he didn't find importance in that fact.
["Really, you mustn't do that. I realize that you're giving a great deal of thought to our situation. I don't dislike it when you're so forceful, though." Rem smiled warmly at the boy as he looked over the city from the hill.
"Sorry, I worried you. I'm fine now. I guess you've only seen me being pathetic getting depressed all the time… But I get it now…"
Rem's smile beamed in surprise as the boy stretched in place.
"You get it now?"]
"Get what?" Mimi tilted her head, "what's going to happen to him next? After all of that… What kind of idea will he use?!" She couldn't help her excited jumps, hiding her nervousness.
"Not one where he's going to be relying on us, that's for sure." Tivey sighed to himself, bringing various people in the front row to wince at his statement.
"You gotta be fuckin' jokin'... He will still fight all of that shit awaitin' 'em there?" Heinkel stuttered in disbelief, looking up with scared eyes. "Is he just an unstoppable time Sage?"
"I wish that he wouldn't have to do so alone… But our cowardice never ceases to put him in that position." Reinhard held his father in place but kept a forlorn look as he inspected Subaru.
[Subaru continued to stretch his limps as he turned around to face the maid. "I've bothered a lot of people with all my contemplating and agonizing, but I finally figured out how to take care of everything."]
Rem was surprised by the fact that many in the audience didn't catch on to the fact that she was the only one able to tell them if this was a failed loop or not. She's lived these events rather than her other three counterparts who died horrific deaths at the hands of the cult and the beast of fog through Subaru's journey. It gave her a sense of pride that she was the one person ready to be Subaru's rock when he faced his worst mentalities across the previous three loops and this true one, but it pained her more when she realized what would be shown to the others around her.
"So, he will come up with the plan to beat the whale as well as deal with Puck? That's reeeally smart of him." Emilia spoke in a tired voice, seeming exhausted and yet concerned that her knight had still more fight within him after what happened. "I don't think Subaru's ok… He's not thinking about what was told to him by everyone…"
"From what he says, he realized exactly what everyone was telling him, Emilia-sama." Otto's voice was stern. "And I think he has no one that will blame him for what he's about to choose."
"What did you notice?" Crusch demanded, giving the merchant boy a look of pity yet steeled for an answer. Emilia and Beatrice also glanced at the boy with curious eyes.
Otto refused to answer the duchess with their eyes looking at him as if he had anything of worth, he simply looked away and kept to his silence.
Rem looked down in sadness and stayed silent. "You all need to do this…" She whispered while gripping her skirt and remembering what had happened on that hill.
[Subaru smiled tiredly…. His eyes looked dead. "Or, when I really think about it," He chuckled darkly. "I was told what to do from the very start… But I just don't know when to give up."
Rem tilted her head and smiled warmly towards him. "But I think that is what's so wonderful about you."]
"That doesn't sound…" Tivey's words were stopped as he processed what was said with a concerned face.
"It's not right." Julius nodded his head, catching on to what Otto was saying to them. "It seems you've noticed something much faster than all of us who wish for Natsuki to be safe in his next round, Otto-san."
"I refuse to take that title from you." Otto rejected Julius' respect and kept to himself on the other side of the row.
"... Hmph…" Julius huffed with annoyance and sympathy as he looked back at the screen.
"When to give up?" Emilia asked with a confused look. "What do you mean? Subaru?"
[Subaru smiled softly at that. "Things I've realized and been forced to realize… All kinds of experiences have brought me here, but I've actually had the answer for a long time." Subaru smiled at the sky as the breeze picked up around him.
He slowly looked at Rem with a determined look. "I've decided, Rem."
"Yes?" The smiling maid urged.]
"C'mon Cap'n, show me how awesome ya're!" Garfiel cheered with an angry tone of voice as he watched his hero finally get back on his feet and do it the awesome way. The blonde boy wanted his Cap'n to take revenge on those bastards that hurt him and his friends so Garfiel slowly lifted his spirits to cheer his hero on.
Everyone that cared about the boy looked on with hopeful eyes.
"He will do it the right way this time, I suppose." Beatrice sniffed and felt comforted that her contractor would be able to beat the hardships up ahead.
Hope is what they all were feeling, a great quantity of it which made Rem wince and lean back in her seat, wishing that nobody asked her anything about what was about to come.
[Subaru's hand outstretched as he presented an open palm towards her.
A minute of silence…
"Run away with me."]
Eyes widened in realization and horror as Priscilla gave the loudest of chuckles at this.
"Mineself's intuition proves correct yet again without delay."
["As far as we can go."
…
…
…
…
…
….
….
…..
"Huh?" Rem's response was a sudden exhale of confusion.]
"Hang on… No… What about the village… Subaru?" Petra's tears fell with renewed vigor that wouldn't be rivaled within the theater as she watched the heartbreaking scene. "You're joking right…?"
["I'm going to leave the capital and head far west, or maybe north." Subaru didn't care for her dumbfounded expression as he began overlooking the capital of Lugunica while telling her his plan.]
"Well… That's mighty disappointin'" Anastasia's frown was deep and her eyes seemed to have a judging look within them. "Can't say I blame 'em but… Jeez, it's hard not t' feel slightly slapped in the face after all his hardships from before…"
"Are you serious?" Crusch whispered in shock and heartbreak, unable to put an iron grip on her feelings. "But you never gave in…" She remembered his face down with the White Whale and how he was her only soldier apart from Wilhelm who stood up to the beast at a time when her army was in shambles.
Emilia looked on with her chest feeling constricted suddenly. "... What… No…"
Rem didn't have the heart to look at any of their reactions as she held on to Subaru's neck and nuzzled into him some more. She gained a look of understanding from her sister above.
"I see that you've had your imprint on his life just like you wanted, sister," Ram spoke with a neutral expression, earning a glance from her master.
"Don't you find him disgusting for giving ~uuu~p?" Roswaal's question didn't change Ram's casual attitude toward what was happening on the screen.
"Barusu is dealing with the whole world facing him down. Someone had to be there for him and my sister is more than sufficient to pick him up when he's crying like an ugly baby." Ram's voice was full of conviction and trust.
"How come you mention Rem when you were so opposed to her being there for him?" Roswaal asked with a look of amusement on his face." Ram hummed without acknowledging the teasing tone in her master's voice.
"I'm proud of you both, Ram," Roswaal leaned away with a careful nod. "I'm filled with gratitude for Rem as well… Seeing what he has become after everything I've planned… She was the one who pushed for him to stand against everything."
"And she's the one who would push him further until he breaks through your way of doing things… For good…" Ram's words force a choke out of Roswaal, turning his attempt at provoking her by reminding that all of what they were seeing so far had been because of his goals.
He didn't expect Ram to use it against him in such a way, and her smug grin and half-lidded look showed him that she was prepared to break his attempts whenever they proceeded.
"Something the matter, Roswaal-sama?" Ram said sweetly.
"No… Nothing wrong at all, Ram…" Roswaal had to give her a small delighted chuckle.
"We both know that's not what I had a problem with. I just dislike seeing my cute sister self-sacrifice without any benefit for herself or Barusu.
["Um," Rem tried to speak again but he wouldn't let her.
"I heard no one can enter the kingdom to the south, so one of those two. I don't like cold weather, so I'd personally recommend West."
"U-Um," Rem was panicking in her confusion but Subaru wasn't letting her get a word in as he continued to spout nonsensically.]
"Oi….Oi…..OI! OI! OOOOOOI! Tha's not my Cap'n!" Garfiel shouted as the confusion was replaced by a demonic growling expression at the cowardice taking place. The blonde couldn't believe his captain would just give up. "No fuckin' way that's my cap'n!"
"Shut the hell up…" Heinkel whispered from up front, still on his knees, being forced to by his son. "Shut the hell up and let the kid fucking leave us alone."
"... You would like him to be safe from all of us?" Reinhard looked down at his father with a surprised expression.
"More like fuck off so he won't be a problem for us anymore." Heinkel sighed and moved his legs a bit to produce some traction for his numb knees.
"But… You refuse to let something uncontrollable—"
"I just want the kid to fuck off, alright?!" Heinkel sighed and dropped his head low. "I don't want anyone else to end up usin' 'em against my camp… He's been through some hot shit and that's just what I've seen with you… I don't fucking know what else could get this much compassion from a monster like you…"
Reinhard's hopeful expression turned into a pained wince at the last part, remembering the rift between himself and his father.
"That kid took out the White Whale and the Sin Leader inside of the Cult…" Heinkel's words continued without acknowledging Reinhard's hands tensing slightly on his wrists. "What a fuckin' joke… He won't even give up yet we still have to see him try it and fail at that too…"
["Honestly, it could be a long journey, and I know this is a snap decision, so it won't be easy…"
"P-Please wait! The way you said that makes it sound as if you plan to go to some other country that isn't Lugunica… " Rem's face contorted to one of soundless thought for a moment and then suddenly turned perky and happy. "Oh! Knowing you, it must be because you've had another great idea! Something that will help Emilia-sama and Roswaal-sama!" Rem clapped her hands together and beamed.
"That's not what this is, Rem." Subaru cut her off sternly.
"Eh?" Rem frowned in confusion.]
"I guess that he has had enough of everyone betraying and using him for their own needs." Anastasia emotionlessly spoke while staring at the screen and toying with her scarf. "... That little maid was on to somethin' 'bout me… Huh…"
"No… No! Subaru wouldn't leave us to die like that! He wouldn't!" Petra shouted as she cried.
Felt was the only one that didn't seem disturbed by what she was hearing from Subaru. Giving a small nod with eyes giving full trust for the boy she was watching. "I mean… I can understand why he would… No one was willin' to help and he's facin' three monsters that are much powerful than he is… Big bro is just trying to survi-"
"To hell w'th that!" Garfiel shouted interrupting the pitying Felt. Everyone looked at him with defeated eyes as the reality began to set in. "My Cap'n never backs down from a fight! He's always been one hella tenacious bastard!" At the blonde boy's steaming expression no one dared to refute.
Except for one… "Subaru-san is doing what's right here…"
Garfiel slowly turned to glare at the one person he thought he could trust most after Frederica.
"What the hell are ya sayin'?" Garfiel growled menacingly.
… Otto met him with an empty broken expression. "No one will help him. So he has to give up."
Garfiel glared with fieriness that Otto refuted with emotionlessness.
"We can help-"
"WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING TO HELP HIM STOP SERVING YOURSELF DREAMS!"
Garfiel dropped down on his seat, eyes wide and jaw slack from shock as Otto glared at him with a twisted broken expression that showed just how much the merchant was effected.
The gray haired boy sobbed in despair… and looked down. "He probably just gave up hope on all of us and ran away so he will have nothing to do with us."
At Otto's words, Emilia slowly looked at her sleeping knight with a betrayed expression… the half-elf couldn't believe that her knight would abandon her to die. It made her feel so empty and heartbroken inside.
"B-Betty made Subaru hate her, in fact." The little spirit whispered to herself in guilt and in pain for what she put her contractor through.
Julius looked down and kept his fist on his knee. He felt deeply saddened that he won't see his friend aga-
….
…
..
.
"Wait…" Julius blinked rapidly and looked up immediately upon realization.
"I don't think you've all grasped the situation clearly…" Crusch mused as she watched the screen critically and sternly, replacing her previous expression after realizing what Heinkel had around the same time.
[Subaru's face was shrouded in darkness. "There's nothing I can do in the capital, but I'd be just as powerless if I went back to the mansion." Subaru looked down. His defeated and glum. "That's what I figured out."]
"I'm sure that wasn't all that was told to him, but I don't blame 'em for not takin' my lessons into account." Anastasia sighed and leaned on her palm. "Also, yes, I realize that Natsuki-kun's in a failed loop 'ere. It's obvious that he hasn't taken this path in our world."
"… Subaru won't be running away. There's something else…" Julius spoke to the crowed and narrowed his eyes at Otto.
The merchant's eyes widened and glared toward the screen with confusion, an emotion other than guilt and insanity showed on him for the first time.
Beatrice and Petra blinked through their tears at the realization, both blushing heavily as they heard others bring forth that simple fact while they had already accepted Subaru was running away and leaving them behind.
["So run away with me, Rem. We can't stay here." Subaru's eyes looked dead as he spoke with his head looking to the ground.
"That's what everyone has been telling me. I didn't want to believe it, so I've denied it with all my might, but… Yeah, they're right." Subaru smiled. A sad, lonely, and defeated smile. "No one ever needed me."]
"That's not true… THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Emilia cried as the culmination of everything she did to him across all of his loops and the guilt stemming from those tore through her in an instant and forced unimaginable pain through her heart.
The half-elf cried into her hands as she felt sick and disgusted with herself for ever touching the boy she had hurt so much.
["That's not-"
"It is true!" Subaru cut her off and gritted his teeth. "It's been plainly spelled out for me, over and over."
Images began to play…
Emilia leaves him after they fight.]
The half-elf sobbed and turned away from him in shame.
[Julius beats him down and tells him that he isn't worthy of standing by her side.]
The knight clenched his teeth and glared at the ground for the pain he had caused his friend.
[Crusch disparages him and sends him to die.]
The military dressed lady closed her eyes and hid her face under her hat in guilt.
[Priscilla kicked him in disgust.]
The princess raised an eyebrow and sighed. "One would think a commoner should thank a divine for touching them in such a way… How obtuse."
"You must admit he's dealing with a lot more than what you thought, princess." Al mused from her side.
"And he shall yet to face the consequence of him not learning what's being taught for him. This obsession with the half-wit only served him injustice after another, mine time won't be wasted on someone with no pride or dignity." Priscilla rolled her eyes, giving a much more heated response than necessary for her knight.
(Copypaster:- you want to see what if pride subaru🙂)
[Anastasia tricked him dry of any useful information like some tool for her convenience and left him alone.]
"Uh jeez… Julius-kun was kinda right about me lookin' bad. This makes a gal feel shame, y'know." Anastasia winced at how ugly she looked.
"You didn't know what was gonna happen to 'em.. or what had happened to him…." Ricardo sighed and kept his eyes sternly on the screen as the twins on his lap looked on with sad frowns.
["That's why I've decided to disappear. It's for the best."]
"Betty's Subaru doesn't disappear, in fact…" Beatrice looked at the screen with a painful glare, her tears still not dry.
"Everyone's constant degrading and belittling drove him to give up…. " Otto concluded through clenched teeth. The merchant felt an urge… a feeling he hasn't been feeling in a long time as he saw his friend and savior belittle himself.
[Images of the Alram villagers' corpses surrounding him.
Rem's dead body in the garden.
Ram and Petra's bodies leaning against the door.
"Everything I do will just lead to another dead body, or maybe more depending on what happens…" Subaru's face twisted into a tired pathetic tortured gaze.]
"S-Subaru… No…. Please…." Petra sobbed and choked as she looked at her dead body along with everyone she cared about. "I don't want you to hurt yourself but… Don't blame this… All of this… On to yourself…" The little maid sniffled while hugging herself.
Subaru's friends all looked at the boy's self-blame with widened eyes, clearly surprised to see him take on such responsibility.
["I've had enough. Let's run, Rem. You and I can't stay here. We shouldn't be in this country!"
"But this is so sudden…" Rem looked unsure and worried at the boy.]
Rem herself found herself clutching Subaru tight, wishing she would've hugged him in the scene immediately. "I didn't realize what you went through… I didn't see that in your eyes… I just assumed you were in pain from Emilia-sama leaving you… I…"
["We don't have time! I'm sorry this is so sudden I really am." Subaru clenched his jacket tightly. "I really, really am. But you have to choose."]
"Subaru-dono…" Wilhelm shook his head at the young man's words. "He shouldn't blame himself for those that died… He shouldn't carry such a burden alone."
Ram had to give a small sigh and look away, believing things to go okay and ignoring this part were two very different acts that she couldn't preform well.
"You can't just ask Rem to choose… You can't just leave me and choose the only person who… Who tortured you…" Emilia whispered to herself as she hugged her knees, unable to look at the boy at her side or the one on the screen. "Please let this nightmare end…" She whispered into her leg, unheard by everyone in the theater.