Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and the Present
Interlude 1: A Postponed Reunion
The woman ran through the now bustling street. A day after the events of the Witch-cult assault, the people wasted no time, they immediately started rebuilding their city, restoring the buildings and the waterways back to their former glory, this was just a few hours after Subaru's group had left Pristella. As the people were busy with the repairs, she ran, and ran, and ran, not stopping, not even for a split second.
She was almost out of breath, but she didn't bother to stop, she couldn't bear to stop, she wouldn't stop. "Hah… hah… ha…" Moving past the crowd, she made it the housing district, 'He should be here, they were headed this way', the woman with orange hair thought to herself.
She turned a corner, and there it was, there was a group of people leaving one of the shelters , and one of them was "Garek!" she screamed out as she rushed over to hug him tightly, the others moved out of her way, but didn't pay much attention to the two, as they all rushed to their own places.
"Reala!" Their tight embrace didn't last too long as pulled out and looked at him, "Are you okay? Not hurt anywhere?" "I-I'm fine, don't worry, I was at the city hall when they attacked, but fortunately, a knight came in with a woman and managed to save me, he was a friend of the Gorgeous Tiger, and they were able to tend to my wounds, hehe…"
"Gorgeous... Tiger...?" Hearing the name caused her heart to ache, she remembered the boys face, she remembered now, she didn't remember back then, but she remembers now, she grabs her husband by the collar and pleads, "Garek! Gorgeous Tiger, where is he! I need to see him!" she kinda spat that at his face, but after seeing the desperation in her eyes, he knows she isn't joking around.
"Y-yes, he should still be inside…" he said while she rushed inside the shelter. Garek followed her behind closely, she frantically looked around, the golden-haired youth was nowhere to be seen, "Hmm… uhm, Otto-sama…" Garek called the man in green sitting on the couch with a bandaged arm, "Ah, Garek-san? Your back so quickly?"
"A-apologies for that… but…"
"Excuse me sir bu… do you know where 'Gorgeous Tiger' is by chance?"
"Gorgeous Tiger… Gorgeous Tiger… Gor- Oh… haha!" Otto burst out chuckling, the two were a bit shocked by his reaction but he calmed down quickly, "Did he really say his name was that? Haah, I didn't think Garfiel was serious when he said he'd be the 'Gorgeous Tiger'..." The moment she heard 'Garfiel' she knew she wasn't wrong, "Hah, yeah I know where he is, he's currently resting in one of the rooms, you see, he was heavily injured while fighting an enemy…"
"C-Can I please see him!"
"H-Huh? Of course, here follow me…"
Otto got off the couch and brushed himself, he leads the two down the hallway where several doors were lined up, he went to the one nearest to them and opened the door, "Hey- it's empty? Oh right, he wanted to see me Mimi, sorry, my bad, this way…" Otto brought down the end of the hallway, where a single door stood, Otto knocked and said, "Hey, 'Gorgeous Tiger' hehe… are you there?"
"Otto-Nii? Yeah, I'm here, need anythin?"
"Uhm, well, you've got visitors…"
"Visitors? Don tell me it's the other two…"
"No, no, it's Garek-san and… uh, his wife… I think…"
She just nodded at Otto and they waited for a response, it was suddenly silent for a while, they could hear something moving, probably a chair or something, and then they heard Garfiel, "Y-Yeah… come in then…" hearing the slight bit of hesitance in his voice, he opened the door slowly. Otto entered the room, with Garek and Reala coming in after. Garfiel had his back faced to them, it being covered with bloody bandages, it made Reala gasp and Garek couldn't help but look away slightly, "Y-Yo, Reala-san… how's everythin goin?" He said, weakly, his back still faced the three.
On the bed beside him, was a sleeping Mimi, she herself was covered in bandages, but they weren't blood covered like Garfiel's, nonetheless, it looked like it must have hurt. "Gorgeous Tiger…" she called to him. Just hearing her voice made her flinch. Otto walked up to Garfiel and gave him a pat on the back, "Hey, Garfiel, didn't Lewes-san teach you manners? You have to look at someone when they're speaking, it's rude if you don't…"
"Ah, of cour-"
"Your… Garfiel… T-Tinsel…?"
Nervously gulping and turning his head around, Garfiel nodded slowly with a small makeshift grin on his face. "Y-Yeah… tha's me…" "Your sister… her name is… Fredrica, yes…?" as she said that, both Garfiel and Otto both had their eyes wide open, "Woah, wait? Otto-Nii, ya can't just go yapping yer mouth about us ya know? The boss did say yer like a walking omen, but my amazin self didn' think it was this bad!"
"M-Me? This must be a misunderstanding, I didn't say anything about Fredrica-san, honest Garfiel. And don't listen to everything Natsuki-san says, would you!"
Reala had fallen to her knees after confirming that, "R-Reisha! 'S something wrong?" Garfiel asked in worry. He got up from his chair and went to help her up, so did the other two. "R-Reisha!? Did you call me Reisha?" she got up and stuttered.
"Ah- ahaa, s-sorry, uhm, you just looked like someone I knew is all… think nothing of it…" He replied quickly. The room fell silent for a minute, until it was by broken another question, "Garfiel… do you… remember me?" Reala said while looking deep into his eyes.
"R-Remember?! We jus met the other day, right?"
"Do you remember me before that… as Reisha…"
Suddenly, Garfiel's face drooped down, both Otto and Garek were shocked. How did she know? Why did she know? Those were the thoughts that immediately flew through Garfiel's mind. He turned his head slowly over to Garek, without facing away from the ground. "Garek… didn' I…".
"Sorry Garfiel… but, this is new to me as well… I don't know how she found out…"
"Then-"
"Garfiel…" He heard her say with a weak voice, "I'm sorry I forgot… really… what a horrible person I am to forget... when I remembered the face you made that morning, I didn't understand, but I do now…" Garfiel slowly turned to her again, shivering as he did, she lifted her face to meet his, her eyes starting to tear up, "Garf…" Once he heard that nostalgic voice he couldn't take it, he knew where this was going, "M… Mama-" without a second to waste, she rushed her hugged Garfiel tightly, the other two could only look, dumbstruck.
"G-Garek… san…"
"So that's what it is…"
"You knew?"
"I didn't know the whole story, but I guessed something like this…"
The two looked back at what they suspected to be a child and his mother, embracing each other after a whole decade of being apart. The Gorgeous Tiger? He was nowhere to be seen, all that's left is a kitten being tended to by its long-lost mother. A reunion that was ten years late...
.
After everything had finally calmed down, the four sat on the floor and had some discussions, "Big sis is fine, she's back at Roswaal's mansion with granny, we're all doing fine"
"Ah, thank goodness…"
"Heh, but to think that Garfiel's mother was here all along, it gave me a really big shock," Otto said, "To think that I have a stepson and a stepdaughter which I was completely unaware of, is a shock to me…" Garek replied. "Then Garfiel, Fred and Rafiel are your half siblings"
"Oh, the little ones… yeah, guess thas' right, heh, they were just like me and sis when we were small…"
The four of them laughed out, but a sudden voice made them stop, "Ughwa… too noisy…" A new voice entered the room, no, rather, it was already in the room, just that it finally revealed it's presence. They all looked behind them and saw Mimi, waking up from her sleep, seeming well. "Oh? Hey, there's Garf, that man, Garek-san… ah, and Garf's mom!"
Otto, Garek, and Reisha were astonished by Mimi knowing about Reisha being Garfiel's mom, "Mim-chan? How did you know Reisha-san was Garfiel's mom?!"
"You didn't know? They both smelled alike, so they must be related right?"
"Wait! Don't you say-"
"And before everything went bad, Garfiel was crying about how his mama did-"
"I said don't say it! Ya brat!"
The rest let out huge chuckles, Mimi and Garfiel then joining in on it. "So… Mimi-chan, I heard from Otto-san and Garfiel-san that you were really injured during the whole ruckus, are you fine now?" Garek asked, worriedly "Of course I'm fine! It's going to take much more than that to finish Gorgeous Mimi!"
"Hey! Ya coulda died back there ya know?!"
"But that's because Garf rushed in when Mimi said to retreat, ya?"
"Kh… yeah, sorry about that…"
"Like lady says, the past is the past, speaking of which… where is lady?"
"Anastasia-san? Oh, she left a few hours ago with Natsuki-san and Emilia-sama to head to the Pleiades Watchtower, many people lost their memories and names during the assault, and many have been affected by Lust's authority and have been turned into flies, their trying to find a way to revert everything back to normal…"
"What?! Lady left me! Noo, Mimi wants to go, Mimi wants to go!"
"Mimi-chan, you can't, you still haven't healed enough to go"
"Then Garf, heal me more!"
"Eh? But I've wasted all my mana trying to heal ya up already… wait, since your up, then those two…"
Suddenly, the door slammed open, and in came Tivey and Hetaro, once they spotted Garfiel, they rushed forward, only to be grabbed by the head by Ricardo, "Yo, Mimi, yo fine and all?"
"Captain! Yeah, Mimi's feeling great!"
"Alright, that's good, that's good… oh, seeing some new faces here…"
He said as he looked over to Garek and Reisha. They stood up and bowed to him, all the while introducing yourself, "I'm Reisha, Garf's mother, pleased to meet you…" "I'm Garek, and I guess I'm Garfiel's… step-father…"
"Oho! Ya didn't tell me your parents were here boy! Hah!"
"My amazin self jus found out today, after all…"
"Well then, I gotta thank your son, if it weren't for him, our precious Mimi would've been done for!" He went over and patted Garfiel by the shoulder, "Ehe, was nothin really…"
"Nee-chan, he didn't do anything to you did he!"
"You were asleep, he could have done something you know!"
The three siblings started bickering then, leaving the five to themselves, "So Garfiel, wanna come over to our house for a bit when your all patched up?"
"Uh? Oh, sorry Garek, as much as my amazin self would love to do that… I've devoted my loyalty to the Boss, right now, he's going to some dangerous place with Emilia-sama, and my amazin self's gotta be ready to help out when they're in a pinch! So we're gonna have to leave soon 'S Otto-Nii and my amazin self's better… thank you for the offer… but..."
"Hmm, Lewes-sama has raised you well… to think that the last time I saw you, you could barely walk without help..."
"Well, Reisha-san, Garek-san, you could always come with us" Otto proposed, "Fredrica-san and Lewes-san would love to see you, I'm sure of it" "Ehe?! But, aren't you two with… the Margrave? Roswaal Mathers! I-is it really okay for us to come unannounced!" Garek stuttered.
"Of course, I'm sure Roswaal would accept guests very well, besides, you know him personally don't you, Resiha-san?"
"Ah, yes, though it was a long time ago, I do remember… when he took us in and brought us to Sanctuary, tended for our needs, even though it was a whole ten years since we last met, I do remember him, he was my benefactor, and friend after all…"
"Then it's decided, we're going back together," Otto said, "Count my mercenary group in. My lady told us to head over there once everyone's all ready, so that makes all of us!"
More bickering and more chattering, the room was filled with joy and laughter, but let's move elsewhere, somewhere outside. In the streets, two people walked, side by side, both of them wearing cloaks, one was most definitley a woman, she wore a gray cloak, and her hair, which was of the same color lingerd out of it. The other was a man, it was hard to tell from his body alone, but his head was only half covered by the black cloak, his hair was a dark purple, his skin was pale, his face, rather handsome. These two walked side by side.
"The operation was a fail, what to next… dear…"
"We'll just have to wait for the next set… when do you think that'll happen?"
"I assume… about a year from now…"
"A year, heh, that's a while… I really did want to meet that man… he called himself a Warlock, interesting… on that day, we shall finally meet…" The man said with a grimacing smile on his face, "Ohno! Look out!" Called a voice from above them, a wooden beam fell from a roof some builders where repairing and it was falling straight for the two. The woman just closed in on the man and he held out one of his arms and just grabbed the whole thing. He then threw it back up, where it landed safely beside the workers, "Ah… h-he's strong… Um, Thanks and sorry about that!"
"It's okay… just make sure it doesn't happen to often…" He said while waving off, "Weird, that wasn't your normal reaction… dear…" "As much as I want to, I'll have to keep it under control for now, I can't risk to blow my cover right now, it'd only ruin my chances later…"
"Ah, of course, dear…"
A/N
Yo guys! We're back with the fast chapters update, I hope…not 3k words but it's an Interlude/half chapter so there's the reason...
Anyway, just a short episode from Pristella before we continue onto Arc 6. For Arc 6, I'm thinking to stray from the part where Subaru loses his memories, and where the whole tower gets engulfed in shadows thing, not really sure where to go if I take that route…
Anyway, I'm gonna pause my other fics for a while, so I can focus on other things, so yeah, that's about it for now… Do you guys happen to know who the purple haired man is?
Update speeds vary, three days to two weeks (Let's hope it's the former), see ya!