Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and The Present

Chapter 32: Confusion

My body shivered, I felt darkness wrapped around me, it felt evil, dangerous, and cold. I don't remember what happened, my mind had blanked off the moment it happened so I'm not sure if I can really trust my mind, well, it doesn't really matter anymore, my time had finished, I'm finished, I'll never be able to come back, I wasn't even able to give his body back, "Subaru?"

Yes, that's his name, Natsuki Subaru, they really depended on the guy, I wish I could apologize to him before going, but I guess… "Subaru! What are you doing sleeping over here?" Ah, that's Julius's voice, and the one before that was the silver-haired girl, Emilia wasn't it? Yes, maybe I can see them if I open my eyes.

"...huh…?"
"Ah, Subaru, you're awake, are you okay?"
"Hmm… ah, sorry… I was with Patrasche, and then I decided I'd take a walk around the tower… guess, I must've fallen asleep?"

I drag myself up, wiping the drowsiness out of my eyes, this was the library, the same one I woke up to last time, did someone drag me back up here? "Ugh, my heads a little spinny…" I can't think straight, this headache will grow stronger the more I think so It'd be best if I just go with whatever is happening…

"Okay… then you should rest a bit more, we're going up to check on Reid again after you're all done, meet us back later you here?"

And with that, the two left, my hands were still in my eyes as I try to contemplate what had happened, "..." I stared at those hands, and I thought, I thought hard about what had happened, I thought really hard about it, and I can say with full confidence, "I died… right?" Or to be exact, I should have died, I remember being shoved over to my death, but, did I really ever die?

"..."

Just the thought of it seemed to make me break a sweat, perhaps, I didn't die, perhaps something else happened, maybe down those stairs wasn't a rock hard floor, maybe I survived somehow. Either way, I'm back here, alive, "What… what do I do now…" If I remember correctly, I was alone there, no one else was with me, I've left Patrasche back in the green room, and there was no one else that could have pushed me, they were simply too far away-

"Meili…"

That's right, she was there wasn't she, she must have been the one, I know it, there's no one else who could have done it, she was forced to come so she had no reason to listen to what anyone had to say, yes, that's right, she's the one behind this, behind his memories being taken, she must be the person I met that night.

"Geh, Onii-san, you're making a scary~ face, did something happen?"

I turn myself towards that voice, it was her? What is she doing here, why did she show herself? "Meili… you're acting pretty calmly aren't you?" She's looking at me with a look of confusion, why are you looking at me like that? When you know exactly what you did, "Just because Onii-san was beaten to a pulp doesn't mean I'm gonna be the one traumatized right? Besides, I've already seen Elsa do that a lot of times..."

"What?"

I don't remember being beaten, I just remembered being dropped off the stairs, what is she talking about? "Heeh, Onii-san, did you hit your head somewhere? Perhaps the red man really did traumatize you…" What's she talking about? What red man, was this the other person that the rest were talking about? Was he the reason for my memory loss, perhaps so, maybe I'm mistaking things a little.

"Ah, no, nevermind, I'm just a little drowsy from sleeping for too long, I guess?"
"Onii-san just keeps on saying useless things from time to time doesn't he?"

She walks over to the direction of the exit, and I follow her, I don't want to get lost, I didn't pay attention last time though I probably should have. As she leads the way to where the others were, I get a better feel for just how large the 'tower' we are is, it isn't just some ordinary tower, it was like a castle-sized tower, one you'd find in those rich kingdoms.

Noticing the sunlight draping through a few openings I wondered how long I'd been asleep, "Hey, Meili how long have I been out?" "Since last night obviously? Why?" So after dropping and somehow getting sent back to the library, I've been asleep for the whole day, was the shock that great? Being awake for just a few minutes couldn't have possibly caused enough fatigue for that right?

"Ah, Natsuki-kun, we were wondering where you were all this time"
"Subaru! Don't worry Betty like that, I suppose!"

The little girl with the curled up blonde hair tugged on my sleeves with a pouty face, she seems a little different than before? "Eh, sorry about that, I'm still a little fuzzy on what happened… so, have you guys found any leads on what we should do?" I ask the rest of them, and they just shook their heads, so I'm not going to be able to give this body back just yet, still, these occurrences are weird, did Natsuki Subaru have to deal with these as well? If he did, how did he do it…

"Well then, I'd say we best give the man a talkin to a second time, perhaps he'd lend us an ear this time aroun?"
"Yeah, it'd be best if we don't talk back to his provocations like last time… we don't want anyone else getting hurt?"

Last time? Yeah, they did say something about going to question another guy, must be the red-haired man Meili was talking about, perhaps we can get a lead on where Natsuki Subaru ran off to, "Okay then, the faster we wrap this up the better, let's go" I say while waiting for someone to lead us off, it was Emilia who marched on forward, we all followed suite, but I was stopped, by Julius after a few steps.

"Julius, what's up?"
"Could you have already figured out how to break through this fast? It was rather sudden to just head back in there"

"Ah, no no, I don't really know what to do, it just felt like, if I'm able to grasp the situation a bit better, maybe I'd be able to piece things together from what's left of my memory, perhaps get a hint on where to next look and all"

"I see… indeed, one night is not enough for either of us to really process anything. Then, let's round up what we do know right now"

Oh, yes, that will help a lot, I'm quite out of the loop about what's happening, Julius is such a dependable guy isn't he, "He told us about three different 'Reid's, the first one is 'The Dragon Sword - Reid' the one Reinhard wields and one that has been passed on for generations. The other was 'His body', the one buried in the ground, or so we concluded, it's hard to believe how someone as powerful as him were to fall, though with what happened when he was alive, it's not impossible that there could have been people stronger than him."

"..."

I'm lost, what is he talking about? Reid, Reinhard? I've never heard of those people, Dragon sword, dead and alive, the past, what's he talking about? Weren't we talking about our current situation, "Uh, Julius, yesterday, I kinda fell asleep accidentally, been out for a long time and I woke up in the library as well, I forgot to tell all of you, but I think something may be happening to memory, even now"

"Huh? Perhaps, it's the Gluttony's authority worsening, then we'll have to finish this faster, we can't bear losing you when we're this deep inside. Okay then, I'll repeat the events of last night. We both decided to go back and challenge Reid a second time, unlike last time, we were able to win somehow with a plan you hatched up, after that, he told us a riddle, three different versions of him, a sword, a corpse, and one last one, the key to progressing is that item, we were trying to find what that was, and that brings us to now…"

I see, something is happening, there has been a missing gap between the time I fell down the stairs, and the time I woke up a while ago, the person who's taken away Natsuki Subaru, he or she is acting again, they're doing things to tamper with my memories again, this isn't bad, "Julius, I think something's wron-"

We heard a yelp, though it was short and abrupt, we definitely heard something try to yelp, it was like someone trying to gulp for air, but stopped halfway, "..." The two of us looked to each other, that voice was familiar, who was it again, "Little kid should'nt 've peeped…" we here strong footsteps, and something being dragged across the floor, it was coming from the edge of the hallway, where the others are supposed to have went.

"You… why are you here?!"

Julius, who seemed astonished, to say the least, slowly took a silver blade out of its placeholder, I hadn't noticed he was holding such a weapon before, he did say he was a knight, so it's natural for him to have a blade, "Who?" Before Julius could process my question, someone appeared from the corner, "Yo shrimps" A man, endowed in red, with his chest left bare, he stood in front of us, holding a little girl in his arm.

"What.. what do you do?"

It was Meili, she was sleeping peacefully, perhaps she was tired from all the action and decided to take a nap, no, I'm just lying to myself, it's clear as day what's happened, the man in red had choked her, choked her to death, a brutal way to end a little girl's life, "Why did you do that to her?" I couldn't help but say out loud, I probably wasn't even thinking about it, it just rolled out of my mouth like that.

"Didn't we have a deal? Should'a been more careful now…"
"No…"

I see Julius, eyes widened and in despair, "Julius, what's wrong, what's he talking about… why did he kill her? What was that deal we made with him!" I shake him, wanting to see justification to this cold-blooded murder, Julius just looks sickened, and disappointed at himself, "What we just talked about, no one was allowed to hear it but us, that's the deal we made with him…"

Just that, that little thing? He killed her, for that petty reason, just like that, it's like killing on a whim, that's not fair, not fair for her! "Ah, but 's not all…" The man dropped her on the ground, as if she was stone in a sea of pebbles, as if she didn't matter, and then started to walk towards us. I'm getting chills simply from that, I could hear Julius's blade tapping the ground, he was prepared for anything.

"If you lay a finger on Anastasia-sama-"
"Nah, only touched the kid there… but I still need you"

I pointed towards me, to me specifically, he was going to kill me next, why? Why me? "Didn't we make the deal with you? Why do you need to kill me? Aren't me and Julius the exception?!" The man smirked, his tall stature complimented his intimidating looks, he could do whatever he wants, he's the stronger man, was he going to break the deal just because he wants to?

"Big mouth fer a guy with missin memories"
"So what? Julius told me that we made the deal, is what he said not true?"
"Oh, half of it is true alright… 'you' weren't part of the deal tho…"
"What do you-"

"What's your name?"

"..."

I, my name, I… "I don't know my name… I don't have a name" I say that, not wanting to back down so easily, I'm going to die if he gets his way, "Exactly… the shrimps that challenged me that night… Julius n Subaru, you're not either of em aren'cha? Natsuki Subaru, Warlock of Sin or somthin? Yeah, he said it proud and loud, you're not that guy, I can tell jus by lookin at ye" He stared down deep into my soul, it felt as if my will had shattered, he's going to kill me, I'm going to die.

"What are you talking about, this is Subaru! He's being affected by an authority so his memories are getting erased as we speak"
"Listen 'ere shrimp. This ain't a problem 'f memory or not… this guy ain't the guy I saw, may be his body, but it's a different soul all together…"

"What…? What do you mean?"
"He's a lost soul, ain't no name, ain't no memories, the guy you came with last night, it ain't this guy…"

At that moment, I felt my life flash right before my eyes, before Julius could really do anything, before he could question him any further, it had already happened, I felt something warm upon my neck as it drizzled down to my chest. It felt viscous, sticky, is this… blood? Ah yes, it's blood, blood from my neck, that one that's been sliced in half in a fraction of a second, in a moment, I'd have lost consciousness, and the next, I'd be dead, it hurt, but not as much as I thought it was, still, I'm going to die, for real this time, heh, how unlucky am I.

"Subaru! You… you'll pay for this"
"Didn't I tell ya? That ain't the same Subaru, and even if it were, it's yer problem for talking unguarded..."

The man sighs out of boredom and turns around, waving his hand, "See ya back there, not that ye got anywhere else ta go"

A/N

HOLY FUCKITY FUCK BOI! WE GETTING SEASON 2!

Ahem, excuse me for my language… This is going to be great, I'm hearing people say it'll be released very soon, perhaps Fall 2019. I woke up that Saturday morning with no expectations. The announcement literally came out 5 mins after I got out of bed, I could've had a heart attack right there and then, I'm still shivering thinking about it now…

Managed to do the chapter in a week! Yay! Anyway, It's short since nothing was really supposed to happen anyway? Okay, it was quite difficult to write the misunderstanding that happened between Amnesia-baru and Julius, but it worked out somehow, hopefully, the next chapters go smoothly...

Spooky Sharma

Nope, I wouldn't sue you for that. But I would surely sue you if you decide to stop this fanfiction. I just can't describe the amount of anxiety I have to deal with and the patience I have to keep so that I could read the next update of my favorite Warlock of Sin.

Please do sue me doubly if that happens, I'm a man of my word and I've set out to finish what I've started. And thanks, I really do enjoy writing when I'm not experiencing a writer's bloc.