Well, guess what, today is our Greedy girl's birthday so Happy Birthday Echidna.


"Um, I'm not exactly sure about this," Puck said as he stared at the sleeping maid. They had finally decided to look into Meile's mind. Truth be told, they should have done so sooner but they never got around to it. Beatrice knew if her mentor Juice had seen her now then for sure he would have hammered in how slothful she was.

"Why are you so scared of doing it now?" Beatrice asked. She was no fool, she knew about Puck's rather unpleasant side when it came to protecting his loved one. He could get really sadistic if he didn't have her or Emilia to keep him in check. 'The Beast of the End' title was not just for show after all.

"Well let's just say the last time I did this it did not end well for me," Puck confessed. Invading Subaru's mind was a mistake he wished he could have undone.

"Serves you right, I suppose. Subaru did warn you against going, you're just lucky the Witches were so forgiving," Betty huffed. Puck tried to figure just what exactly meant by forgiving. His arm was broken off, his name was taken, and he was starved to the point of eating himself and was violated by the Witch of Wrath with a bath.

"I'm just worried the girl might have some sort of mental block. The miasma isn't thick enough for her to be Archbishop but I sincerely doubt anyone is stupid enough to send a spy here when they know I can read minds." Puck argued. The Witch cult all used Gospels which told them the future; those books were a perverted representation of the Witch of Greed's own original Gospel which was used to view the entire World's knowledge. If the cult sent the little girl as a spy then the Gospel's should have told them about the inhabitants of the manor and what they could do.

"If she has a mental block it will most likely be on her most recent memories, I suppose," Beatrice theorized. Her mother had manipulated and messed with memories before so she was fairly certain she could grasp some of the finer nuances of the practice. "I'd suggest you try going at it from the other end, instead of looking through her most recent memories investigate from her oldest memories first," She told him. The girl didn't look any older than 12, she was fairly certain Bubby could skim through that with ease.

"Aren't those the ones buried the deepest?" Puck asked.

"Exactly, they are buried the deepest so they have the least protection from seals, you can also get the most info about them," Betty explained. Puck glanced at her before sighing. On one hand, he could do this and risk further trauma and on the other, he could not do it and risk the Witches' Wrath and Betty…yeah it was obvious.

"Alright I'm going in," Puck said as he floated to the blue-haired child's forehead. Beatrice watched as the cat glowed softly before he was transported into the girl's mind. Once he was gone she then went to keep watch in case any of the other residents started waking up.


"I see so this is what Subaru was worried about," Minerva noted as she and the others sat down to watch the anime, Echidna, and Daphne had watched. They couldn't blame him for his panic, Echidna had tried to dupe him before and their reputations as Witches still weren't all that fine and dandy. He got along well enough with most of them, but Echidna was the one he was still the rockiest with, so it made sense. Minerva would not have trusted Echidna if she didn't know better. The idea that the smartest witch would use her intelligence, to develop weapons for subjugating the world to 'solve' all of its problems was something most would think at first glance, given Echidna's cold attitude and sociopathy. However, the other Witches were well aware that even if she was amoral, the Witch of Greed had an interest in finding answers to the problems not making more. She would find the answers and offer them if people didn't accept; that was their choice, whoever agreed would benefit from the Witch, and whoever didn't would not. It was as simple as that.

"Isn't it weird how that guy sounds a little like Baru?" Typhon asked. She had noticed it a few times. Some characters in the stories shared similar voices. According to Subaru, that's because the people who made the stories thought to use the same voices but it was kind of strange that the smart, evil-looking celery head guy sounded like Baru.

"What's more surprising is that Echidna seemed to have a crush on him," Sekhmet jested. It wasn't lost to them how the sleeping Echidna had muttered the main character's name in her sleep. At first, they thought they were hallucinating but the more they watched…the more they understood why Echidna did that. It was also going to be a source of teasing for the Greedy Witch now.

"You don't think…she'll be mad," Carmilla squeaked. She wasn't referring to Echidna that much they all knew not to worry for. They all turned to see Satella who was also watching the series with them.

"I find it funny, to be honest, and I sincerely doubt anything would change," Satella answered. Echidna did not see Subaru that way that much was certain. He was a specimen and a source of knowledge to her. Still, she could tell Envy was feeling paranoid but that was nothing new. It wasn't as if Echidna would act on those feelings if there were any. Even if the Witch of Greed didn't believe that Envy was her own entity, she was at least smart enough not to provoke her in such a manner. Sure Echidna would insult Satella but the white-haired Witch knew what buttons to press to hurt and what would be suicide.

"Still I find it sort of amusing how Subaru's world has a story about someone similar like Echidna, a scientist who sought to use his knowledge to save the world," Minerva noted. That was one thing that allowed the Witch of Wrath to befriend the Witch of Greed so easily. They both sought the betterment of the world through the healing and non-violent solutions. Echidna may have started human experimentation later in life but she was still somewhat considerate, she never took people who were satisfied with living, only those who were broken and depressed. Subaru was in a state where he would have been a decent volunteer but Echidna still went out of the way to 'fix' him. The Witch could deny it all she wanted but they all knew, she had asked them to interrupt the contract-making process to scare him, and then she allowed Satella to come and restore his resolve.

"How long do you think she'll sleep?" Satella wondered. Come to think of it when was the last time they even saw Echidna sleeping. She retired to her room every night sure, but she was always up first thing in the morning going through her books. Did she even sleep in her room?

"If she's having a decent dream…maybe a few hours or a day," Sekhmet wagered. "I'd let her sleep for now, because when she wakes ups…" The Witch of Sloth didn't need to finish that statement. Echidna could act as lady-like as she wanted, you put something new and interesting in front of her and she'd change into a kid. All that they saw here was plausible in Subaru's world and it was very likely she would want to try and experiment with all of it.

"Let's just hope she doesn't blow up the kingdom," Camilla sighed.

"I wonder she's dreaming?" Typhon wondered.


The night was warm and bright to the Witch of Greed as she stared at the town before her. She calmly sipped her tea as she enjoyed the sight of the first town to be powered by electricity. The town which was once only dimly lit by the flames of lamps and mana crystals now shined even brighter than before, and dare she say, it even outshone the stars in the sky above. She glanced at her own little homemade lamp she had with her. It really was a different feel entirely.

"Not bad, Echidna," A voice called. The white-haired woman looked towards the source. A man similar to her age sat across from the Witch of Greed as he sipped his own drink, a carbonated beverage from a glass bottle. The man in question had messy green hair in contrast to her neat white and he wore some rather haphazardly sewn rags while she wore her elegant black dress. Yet despite the difference both of them wore long white lab coats. "You really outdid yourself," The voice congratulated the Witch.

"As much I would like to accept all the praise, I cannot," She informed.

"Why, is it because your maidenly heart is so humble?" The man joked.

"I suppose you could call it that," Echidna mused. "This would be vainglory, none of this is real after all," She responded. She was aware, very aware of the dream she had entered. The man before did not exist, not in the same sense as she did. He was a figment of an individual's imagination but she was not.

"You just scored ten billion points," The man responded. "Not that it matters," He added. This was her dream; a fantasy world made from the chaotic mess one would call mind or perhaps her heart. If she was aware it was fake, then everyone else would be aware as well.

"I suppose it doesn't," Echidna whispered.

"So how is it?" The man asked. "Your dream, I mean," The man asked. "You haven't slept in centuries you know. It would be a real waste if you didn't enjoy it." He told her. The time you enjoyed wasting was not wasted time after all.

"It's incredible," She admitted. "But it is only a dream, I will make this my reality," She told him. Her desire, her curiosity, it had all been reignited in the past few weeks, all because one miserable kid walked into her tomb. She had gotten a second chance to try and push the world forward; she wouldn't let it go to waste.

"Is this the only dream you wish to make a reality?" The figure told her. Echidna raised an eyebrow at the figure's statement trying to discern what he meant. She soon heard an explosion to her side. Turning her head the Witch noticed none other than a familiar blonde little girl readying preparing to cast a ball of light at a young boy with blue hair who was also preparing to cast several rainbow spheres of light at her. A third individual, a young girl with pink hair was also watching nervously from the side as the two prepared to clash.

"Come on Beatrice, you can do better than that," The boy taunted.

"Why you, Betty will wipe the smirk off your face," The blonde girl retorted with a smug look as they both threw their magic at each other. A colorful eruption of magic exploded between them, cracking the ground and releasing ice, light, darkness, and wind.

"Are you both crazy…wait don't answer that…of course you both are," The pink-haired girl said as she came out from cowering.

"Now, now, Ryuzu don't be so rude," A fourth figure a man with green hair said as he walked into the scene checking on the two magic users. "Beatrice and Roswaal are just diligently practicing their magic after all." He told the pink-haired girl.

"That doesn't mean they can blow us up, Juice," The girl argued.

Echidna scowled at the scene.

"What is this?" She asked the man. This wasn't any dream she ever had. This was nothing more than a memory from a time long forgotten. Ryuzu was deceased, Juice as a person was dead, Roswaal was no longer the child he was here and Beatrice…Beatrice had been left alone.

"A memory and a dream aren't all that different," The man told her. "Dreams are just desires you have for the future; memories you wish to make, or conversely memories you wish to experience once more," He informed her. "Everything that is was once thought to be only possible in dreams," He continued.

"I expected more factual and scientific talk from you Sen-Sen," Echidna chided.

"I say this talk is factual, it's factual on the topic of you, Echidna. You know why you don't sleep; why you always worked yourself to exhaustion when you were alive and never once rested when you died," He responded. The scene then changes to show the man enjoying himself with his friends as he worked on his own projects while the world next to him warped to reveal Echidna, the other Witches, and the four individuals.

The illusionary Echidna was looking at a large campfire that the others had been sitting around; well it was more of an inferno. "That's a really impressive pillar of fire you all made," illusion Echidna commented.

"Yeah we were trying a celebration Hoshin told me about," Minerva smiled nervously. "It's called a birthday celebration, you light a candle for how many years a person has lived," Minerva explained.

"And you all somehow arrived at a pillar of fire how?" Echidna deadpanned.

"W-well at first they were only lighting and burning out too quickly," Minerva said nervously. "So I had Daphne use a fire spell…and well…"

"You made this," Echidna finished. "It's strange you thought an act of arson would make me happy though," Echidna mused before a small smile formed on her face. "Still…seeing you all do this to celebrate my birth…it does make me feel happy," Echidna told them. "I don't think I could ask for any better friends than you all," Echidna commented. She was smiling enjoying this moment with the other witches…her friends…no, her family. Echidna was so lost in thought she didn't notice another Witch in a dress made of shadows appearing behind before it was too late.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ECHIDNA!" Satella yelled before she smashed a cake into the Witch of Greed. When the greedy witch recovered from her sneak attack she immediately swore vengeance on the jealous one.

"You insufferable little wench," Echidna shouted as she started firing magic at Satella. She wasn't going to hold back, any damage she did, Minerva could undo after all.

"Your reasoning for learning, it has changed quite a bit over the years as well as your view people right,"

"I suppose it has, but then again a lot else has changed as well. I'm no longer the same person I was back then. I don't care as such for sentimentalities now as I did before," She told him. Her birthday was just another day after all. As for Satella she still felt insulted looking back at the past, watching how friendly she was with that snake.

"Hehe…guess I can't argue with you there…although maybe if you were whole this would be a different topic," Sen-Sen told her. "I tell you what; if you regain the missing pieces of yourself then maybe you'll see that you dare care more than you admit, whether it is to yourself or others."

"The Authority of Greed is not my entire being," Echidna argued. "Everything that I ever was is in my soul," She told him.

"I'd argue to Authority still holds more of you than you realize as does the spirits," Sen-sen argued. "Maybe you're just scared of being whole once more," He told her. "You'll become so eventually as will the others and you know it...it's just a matter of time," Sen-Sen said as he disappeared.

Echidna scowled, she had enough of this. With a wave of her hand, causing the entire area to freeze over. Once the entire area was frozen the world cracked and broke before it all faded to black.

Echidna opened her eyes to find herself in the Natsuki house once more. "Useless," She muttered as she got up and prepared herself to work.


Beatrice flipped through another one of her books as she waited for her brother to return. It wasn't much just a book Subaru had gotten from Reinhard's collection in his manor. The Sword Saint had an extensive library on various sites around the world. She even saw some of them booked marked as places he desired to visit. She would admit he did have good taste even it did surprise her on what some of them were. Nevertheless, she was adding some of his choices to her own. Perhaps if they decide to take a vacation Beatrice could go with them.

After a few minutes of waiting and her brother finally came out…except something was wrong. Bubby was panting as he tried to hold himself. "Bubby…is everything okay?" Beatrice asked in a worried tone. She reached to touch her brother only for him to immediately jump away and pin her to the wall with an ice shard. "Bubby?" Beatrice repeated her voice quiet and filled with worry. Bubby seemed to blink as he stared at her before he returned to his senses.

"Beatrice," he whispered as he realized what he did. The cat spirit quickly apologized before he melted the ice and Beatrice teleported both of them into the library. "I'm so sorry," He apologized once more.

"Betty will forgive the attack if Bubby explains what happened," She demanded.

"I'll explain later…right now we need to go find Subaru," Puck told the Library spirit.

"Why do we need to talk to him so urgently? Did you find something wrong?" Beatrice questioned.

"I found a lot of things wrong," Puck answered. "First and foremost…I just figured out who that girl works for…it's the Archbishop of Lust," Puck told her.


I'll admit right away...the birthday segment was a last-minute add-on for the occasion but overall I don't think it breaks the flow of the story. Sorry if updates haven't been so frequent but I decided to relax for a bit to avoid burnout. I'm trying a new style where I minimize the exposure of Subaru and best girl because I need to help develop the other characters as well.

On a completely unrelated note...Subaru finally has a means of offense now in the anime so yay and arc 7 released recently. Yin magic is confirmed to me as time/space bending because the whole translation of separating space from space seems to imply that and then Beako comments it's Satella's signature. Debuff my arse, Subaru actually got the most broken magic and yin magic's true power was lost over time. Now if only he knew how to use in canon and didn't have a damage Gate. He could finally be more powerful.

And before any of you comment Puck would have killed Meili on spot...there is a good reason why he didn't and I'll explore it next chapter.