Alright, so I see some of you disliked the cliffhanger...I don't blame you but I had a very good reason for that and no...it's not just to keep you all in suspense. I realized if I leave it like that I can always start back writing the next part a lot easier than if it was left with a more conclusive end. Like when Subaru left for the village at night...I had no idea where to pick up after that. I had 5 different scenarios all tackling different characters and different starting points for the chapter and most of them got scrapped. So I left the cliff hanger so I would have a general idea of which direction to go.
Well with that said...enjoy.
Echidna watched as Apollo ran through the woods. He was running as if his life depended on it and considering the alternatives she couldn't blame him. Surprisingly enough he was not mindless as they presumed, he was still a beast but there was a certain level of intelligence that she noticed in his actions, ever since his major fight. Apollo while he moving through the woods, he was also using his claws to slice and knock down trees in an attempt to slow down his pursues. She was surprised though when he finally managed to shake them by a rapid-flowing river. It was too wide to jump and was moving much too fast for him to swim safely. So what did he do? He uprooted a nearby tree and then charged towards the river while holding the tree. He forced into the water before he jumped, balancing himself now with the tree in the middle of the water. He quickly climbed to the top of the tree as it started to get pushed away by the river before jumping from the top of it to the other side, the tree getting swept away by the river soon after and the other Demon Beasts upon arriving was unable to follow him. As if to rub salt in their wounds, Apollo soon did a rather embarrassing victory dance that Echidna would bet he learned from Subaru.
"You do realize the quickest way back to town is that way." Echidna pointed out. Apollo's expression dropped in an almost comical way when he heard her as now held his head in shame for not thinking through his actions. Echidna let out a sigh; they were going to have to take a long way back. It wouldn't be too bothersome though, she could use the peace and quiet and Apollo made the best company…he didn't talk at all. "Come one let's go." She told the Beast as they walked the other way. Hopefully, they could find a pathway back to the village. She decided to follow Apollo as the beast guided her through the forest.
They hadn't even been walking for a few minutes until they found a clearing. Apollo had actually dashed straight towards it in hopes of making it out, only to stop when he noticed a huge building in front of him. It was an incredibly large mansion, it was Roswaal's mansion. Echidna looked up at the building as she followed Apollo out of the forest. "Why did you lead me here? This is the one place we shouldn't be." She screamed Apollo, but the beast merely shrugged. She would chalk it up to him just being familiar with the building through Subaru's memories.
She was about to turn and leave when Apollo headed towards the mansion. Echidna's eyes widened as she chased after him trying to convince him otherwise but the creature deliberately disobeyed her now. Apollo had quickly scaled the side of the building making his way on to the rooftops. He carefully moved across the rooftops before he reached one of the chimneys. "Don't you…" Apollo jumped down the chimney. "Dare." Echidna finished.
The manor despite being quite large was only home to six people; the owner Roswaal, his maids Ram and Rem, the half-elf Emilia and her spirit Puck and…Beatrice. Due to this large size, it was relatively easy for Apollo to enter unnoticed. The Echidna appeared inside the manor by the fireplace just as the Beast came crashing down, kicking up a lot of soot. "What the hell do you want here?" Echidna asked in confusion. Apollo whose body was pitch-black now from the soot merely ignored her as he walked off unbothered by the trail of dust he was leaving behind. Apollo moved stealthily through the mansion, as quiet as mouse, despite the obvious black footprints he left. Eventually, he found himself in a long hall. He sniffed around before he stopped in front of a door. He seemed to pause as sniffed the door. Echidna had a feeling she could guess what was behind it and she glared at the Beast.
"If you open it I'll dismember you." She threatened but it fell on deaf ears as Apollo stretched out his hand for the door. However just as he was turning the knob the Beast of Despair felt a surge of fear rush through him, stopping him before he opened the door. Echidna released a breath she didn't she was holding when she saw him stop, before turning her attention towards the direction of the town. "Looks like he's gotten himself in trouble again," She said in relief. With the subtly of a ninja, Apollo bolted out of the mansion by going through the window. Not too long after he left the door opened revealing what appeared to be a young blonde girl in a red and pink dress. The girl looked around trying to discern what had made that racket before her eyes fell on the black footprints in front of her door.
"Looks, like Rem, has been slacking, I suppose." She whispered to herself, although something about the footprints looked off. They had a strange and familiar scent to them, one she didn't think she'd smell again in so many years. "Was it 'that' person?" she thought.
"H-Hey, Emilia, what are you doing here?" Subaru asked nervously. Seriously what was she doing here? She never liked the idea of going to the village until he asked her on a date, so what changed.
"Oh well. I was just passing through." She told him. She was lying, he knew that much. He just didn't know why. Ram and Rem had caught up to her but they were remaining quiet. It made sense; they took their jobs as maids very seriously. He was a total stranger so unless he spoke to them they had nothing to say to him. That didn't stop him from glancing back at them though, he could feel himself being scrutinized under their gaze, no doubt they were trying to assess if he was friend or foe. He was definitely a foe, he reeked of the Witches, and with how much of a grudge they had he was sure they would try to strike him down the very second he was alone.
"Oh, that's cool." He responded to Emilia in as normal a tone as he possibly could have mustered. It was weird, on a normal day he would have treasured being with them especially Emilia, but right now he wanted nothing more than to just run to the hills. He couldn't afford to get close to him, not now at least. If he kept his distance then he could spare them from being pawns in Roswaal's games. The clown had killed Ram indiscriminately despite all her years of service and undying love for him and he had whipped up a snowstorm to cause Emilia to get shunned in the Sanctuary and ultimately broke her mind. He was not going to let that happen again.
"Hey, Subaru," Puck greeted as he appeared from out of nowhere, "What have you been up to?" The cat spirit asked.
"Oh well nothing much," He answered. He needed to think of something to say, Puck could still read him well enough to tell if he was lying. "I heard there was Demon Beast nest around here so I came hoping I could hunt some." He told them. It wasn't a lie. He and Apollo were hunting the other Demon Beasts.
"Really that seems kinda dangerous," Emilia said with a worried tone. "Are you sure it's a good idea, to do this alone?" She asked.
"Oh please. With these muscles," He flexed his biceps, "I've got nothing to worry about." He told them.
"What muscle? All I see is toothpicks." Puck said.
"Why must you insult my male pride in front of the ravishing Emilia? Now, what will she think of me?" Subaru asked as he feigned sadness, earning a laugh from the two. He glanced over to the maids seeing their expressions were still blank and his heart fell. Ram would have probably added more to Puck's insult and Rem would have tried to reassure him it wasn't the case.
"Don't worry Subaru, I don't think any less of you," Emilia said. This at least eased his aching heart somewhat.
"Hey, Emilia, you still have those errands to run," Puck said, "why don't you and the others go and see about them for now, I'll keep Subaru company," He told the girls. "You wouldn't want to let Roswaal down, right?" Puck asked.
"Oh, right," Emilia said. "I'll see you later Subaru." She said as she hurried off with Ram and Rem, leaving Subaru alone with Puck. The human boy couldn't explain it but he suddenly airs around get a lot colder all of a sudden. He cast a glance at Puck and saw the spirit was no longer smiling as Emilia fell out of view.
"So what do you want to talk about?" Subaru asked nervously. It was impressive how even without being transformed; Puck was still giving him the same amount of fear as he recalled that one time. He was hoping he wouldn't be frozen solid this time.
"Not here. Let's go somewhere a little more private." The spirit told him. Subaru gulped but complied, before leaving though he glanced around looking for Satella he couldn't see her anywhere. Did she return back to the house?
"You really are pathetic. You know that right?" A voice whispered.
"SHUT UP!" Satella responded as she grabbed her head. She wasn't taking this. She would ignore it till it goes away.
"Really, you're gonna ignore me as our dear Subaru ignored you for those other girls." The voice continued. "You know they're trying to take him from you, from us."
"He's free to choose whoever he wants," Satella responded. "So long as he's happy, I'll be happy."
"And what if what he wants is bad for him?" The voice asked. "Everything he's done for those girls has only left him with more grief. He's been hurt both physically and emotionally so many times because of them." Memories of Subaru's earlier loops started flooding Satella's mind. She saw him get killed by Rem's morning star. She saw him emotionally distraught over Emilia after she broke his heart. "Had it not been for us…he would have died both physically and mentally…we are the only one who can keep him safe." The voice continued.
"You don't love him. You just love the idea of him." Satella growled.
"No, I do love him and I intend to protect what I love." The voice finished. "You're afraid to love him…I'm not."
"ENOUGH!" Satella said as she finally built enough resolve to silence the voice, only to hear laughter echoing in the back of her mind.
Satella felt exhausted. When she had realized they weren't alone, she felt her other 'self' wake up. It was so sudden she almost got overwhelmed but luckily she was able to get away to deal with it. She hadn't told Subaru about Envy, she didn't want to. He needed to think she was alright, that she wasn't the monster people assumed her to be. If he found out, he'd probably try to save her from Envy. He'd probably date her if only to pacify her other 'self'. She didn't want him to that; he had already done so much for her. This was not his problem, this was hers. She took the Witch Factor and she would deal with it. He had his own issues to settle.
"So what did you want to talk about…"
"Are you with the Witch cultist?" Puck asked instantly. They had taken a walk behind one of the old empty buildings. If Subaru recalled correctly it should be vacant so they wouldn't be overheard. That didn't mean he was able to keep his composure when Puck suddenly accused him.
"Hey, now I don't know what you're talking about?" Subaru said. "I hate those bastards more than anything else in the world. They took a few friends away from me and I would like to nothing else but kill each and every one of them." Subaru told the spirit. Puck glanced at him trying to discern whether he was telling the truth or not.
"You don't seem to be lying." Puck noted. "But still, you have 7 different miasmas surrounding you," Puck growled as he grew several sizes bigger. "So what can you possibly say to justify that," He told Subaru as he now towed over the boy.
"Believe it or not...there is actually a good reason for that," Subaru said.
"Oh yeah! What reason?" Puck challenged.
"I still need to figure out how to explain it without getting killed mid-way," Subaru answered. "It's kind of hard to put into words." He told the beast.
"Very well then." Puck said as he pushed Subaru down on the ground. The cat spirit leaned over the boy as his face hovered above Subaru's. "If you can't say it…I'll just have to look inside your head." Puck said as he bent his head down.
"Wait wait hold on a second here, you can do that?" Subaru asked nervously. He thought Puck could only read the surface level stuff, like emotions and intent. When did his ability get even more powerful?
"I can read your emotions, your intentions, and understand your state of mind, but all that is base-level stuff. I can read a person's mind but it can be a little more painful to them." He laughed. Yeah, Subaru was officially scared of Puck from now on.
"I don't think that's a good idea. I mean you wouldn't want to go in there now would you, I got some really personal stuff in there and you might not like it." Subaru said.
"Well if I don't like it, you die. If I don't go, you'll die as well. The way I see it, it's a lose-lose either way." Puck said.
"Just don't say I didn't warn you," Subaru said. He then screamed as Puck forced himself into Subaru's mind.
When Puck entered Subaru's mind he was expecting to see the boy's memories flow through. He would pick them apart and then be on his way. What he didn't expect was for him to find himself in a grassy field that stretched for what looked like forever. What he really didn't expect was a strange house being the only thing in this field. The miasma he smelt, was also coming from the house so Puck decided it would be the best place to look for clues. When he opened the door, a figure leaped and grabbed him.
"Hey, kitty," A little girl with green hair and pink eyes greeted him. She had the most innocent smile Puck ever saw on anyone except Emilia…..and she reeked of miasma.
Yes, I am aware Puck is not capable of doing that at least not to that extent but I am taking it to the extreme to try and make it work for this story besides...the results can be quite hilarious.
Okay, so a couple of things to address. Regarding the authorities, yes, I do plan to blend Echidna and Daphne's powers with their archbishop counterparts. Echidna's version of Greed is unknown, she is a powerful magic user no doubt, and a very intelligent person but honestly, I can't believe they left out that detail about her so I'm just going with her sharing the power with Regulus...I also want to do something special with a fight with him so I also need this otherwise my big action scene is gone.
With Daphne, she too has no actual display in the light novel and anime. She can induce hunger in a person but that can't just be all. She has 3 archbishops for crying out loud and she also made the demon beasts. Original I thought the demon beasts were actually a by-product due to her origin which I'll admit was really messed up. Their creations would have been something similar to Echidna creating the gospels and metias, as well as clones and other artificial spirits. She may have created some creatures that were either weak but grew over time or just insanely power from the start but either way, she created them to eat them. So yeah she does have the authorities similar to her archbishops...they won't be used much but they'll have their moments.
Envy is also debatable, I'm thinking I'll just stick to the basic decaying shadow manipulation we saw so far. Satella's the one who might want to use her power the least since it can lead to the other girl coming out, but she's still supportive.
That's all for now. Stay safe, wash your hands, wear your masks and thanks once again for all the support and I'll see you later.