Sorry for the delay guys, I lost a week to family coming over and then another half a week to other issues. It's coming.
Chapter 1
Subaru looked at his hands in terror.
They were fine. No cuts, scrapes, bandages, or burns could be found.
Okay, okay, he had to stay calm. Maybe it was a misunderstanding. That one girl had said she'd healed him before, right?. Maybe she had done it again? Yeah, that had to be it. He just had to go ask her. He threw the sheets off of him and got out of bed.
Or at least he tried to. Two pairs of hands pushed him back down on the bed.
"Sir, you should not move so quickly"
"Sir, you will undo Lady Beatrice's gracious handiwork, calm yourself."
Rem and Ram? Why were they in his room again?
"C'mon, you know i'm already well enough to work today. I'll be fiiiine." Subaru quipped. The maids looked at each other, confused before Rem spoke
"Sir are you feeling alright?"
"What are you talking about?" Subaru replied. I'm no worse off than I was a week ago."
"Sir you must be experiencing delusions. You haven't been here more than a day, and certainly haven't done any work," Ram said. "All you've done is sleep since Miss Emilia brought you here."
At this, Subaru stopped dead. So he had Returned by Death after all. What did he do wrong? He hadn't even left the mansion since he came here. He needed to escape. He pushed away the maids, ignoring their protests, and stumbled out of the room. Unfortunately, they were right about him not needing to move. He wasn' halfway down the hall and he was bleeding again. He had to get to Emilia. She'd make everything better. Now, he just needed to get there.
"Sir please you must stop!" Rem called from behind him Where had she gone? It didn't matter. He needed to see Emilia. He had to know if she was alright. He just had to make it to her room, and then he could take a break. It was just down the hall and around the corner. Then the third door on the right. His stomach was really starting to hurt, but he had to keep going. Around the corner, then third door
First door...
Second...
Third!
He threw open the door. Inside, silver hair flowed down beside a chair that clattered to the floor. Purple eyes met his own and he took a deep breath, realizing just how tired he was. Maybe he should have listened to the maids this time. Those lips started to say something but he didn't hear it. He didn't hear his body hit the ground either. He was just so... tired.
Emilia had had quite enough of studying, thank you very much. Over the past year, she had learned more than she had ever dreamed about Lugnica. History, finances, etiquette, the future queen had to know all of these things to govern. But she'd grown up in a forest. She'd never learned these things. All she knew of trade was how to give away magic stones in exchange for food and supplies. Her table manners had consisted of not spilling good food on the snow. She didn't know her own history for heaven's sake. Letting out a sigh, she thumped her head down on her desk.
"You need to know this stuff," Puck said from her left. "As the future Queen of Lugnica– "
"I must know all of these things to govern, I know," Emilia finished. LIfe may not have been easier when her biggest worry was if she'd catch a rabbit for dinner, but it was definitely simpler.
As she reopened her book on Vollachian conquests, the door slammed open behind her. Emilia was on her feet in a flash, and spun to face the door. Her initial spike of fear was replaced with joy as she saw Subaru standing there panting.
Wait
He was bleeding. Again.
She started to tell him off for reopening his wounds, but only got as far as his name before he collapsed on the floor unconscious. Emilia called Puck quickly and ran to where he was crumpled on the ground. Pulling aside his robe, she saw the bandages around his stomach were soaked red. This wasn't something she could fully heal yet. Fortunately Rem and Ram appeared in the door with Beatrice in tow. Ram had figured their guest wouldn't be in great shape after running through the mansion injured, and had been opening doors as she and her sister chased Subaru. Evidently her intuition was right, as Lady Emilia was panicking over the boy's prone form. Rem was trying to calm Emilia, which Emilia appreciated, even if she was still coming down from an adrenaline rush, and ushered her out of the room while Beatrice had Ram move Subaru to her bed.
Once they were out in the hall, Rem fetched two chairs for them to sit on and Emilia gladly collapsed into hers. Beatrice was tending to Subaru, and he would likely wake up again soon.
Subaru took a moment to come to his senses, and looked around. He was in a different room, so that meant he hadn't Returned by Death. That loli, Beatrice, was standing by the bed with a scowl on her face.
"Betty has spent more of her mana to heal you I suppose. I won't heal you again if you get hurt." Subaru couldn't help but smile at the sharp tone and the cold words. Maybe they didn't remember him but they were still the same dysfunctional family he'd grown to love over the past week. He turned towards Beatrice and flashed a wide grin.
"Well, I'm glad that you turned up the second time, or I'd really be a goner!" All he got in return was a narrow look.
"Roguish charm doesn't work on Beatrice. The lord of this mansion found that out long ago. So should you if you wish to stay." And with that she turned on her heels and walked toward the door before Subaru could think of a single witty comeback. So he took her advice.
"Thank you... Betty."
She stopped, considering his words for a moment. Without looking back she stated simply,
"Enough people have died here, I suppose. No need for more" And with that she opened the door and walked out. In the hallway, Subaru could see Rem and Emilia sitting in chairs with cups of tea. Beatrice said something to Emilia and she jumped up from her chair and all but dove into the room, moving as fast as she could without spilling the tea in her hand. Moving to his side, she sat down in the chair Beatrice had just occupied and took a deep breath.
"Couldn't have just set the tea down? It'd be faster." Subaru quipped. Emilia stopped for a moment and looked at him like he was insane. To be fair, he probably was from her point of view
"You injure yourself at the Loot House, reinjure yourself here, and now you ask about… my tea?"
"Yep."
Emilia stared for a moment longer before closing her eyes and sighing.
"Well, if you must know, a Lady never leaves behind a drink. It means she is in a hurry, and one should never hurry."
"Oh." He had honestly expected her to get flustered or deny it, not answer outright. Unfortunately for him, she wasn't quite done talking.
"Now, Subaru, I have some questions for you."
"I'll always have time for your questions, Emilia"
"Very well…" and she promptly exploded.
"WHY WOULD YOU THROW YOURSELF IN HARMS WAY LIKE THAT!? I would have been just fine! I had Puck to shield me, but you just went and risked your life on my behalf!"
"Well I–"
"I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS! The second you wake up, the first thing you do is injure yourself trying to find me! Why!?
"I–"
"ONE MORE THING!" At this, Emilia paused and took a deep breath. "Are you okay?"
Subaru waited for a moment to make sure she was done before giving his answer
"Yes Emilia, I'm okay."
"Good"
Emilia leaned back in her chair and stared up at the ceiling. They both just sat there for a moment.
"What about the other two questions?" Emilia asked. Subaru thought for a moment and realized they both had the same answer.
"I had to make sure you were okay. I couldn't just do nothing if I wasn't sure you were safe."
Emilia nodded. "Rem had guessed as much. She told me what happened when you woke up."
Subaru winced, thinking about how his earlier behavior must have seemed to the maids.
"I really should apologize to them," he said and made to go to the door. However, Emilia quickly moved from her seat and pushed him back down.
"Uh uh, no sir, you are not going to be running around again. You will be staying here and resting."
"Aw c'mon Emilia, you know I have to at least go back to my room. I can just apologize to them on the way."
"Nope," Emilia stated cheerily. "This is now where you will be recovering. Since you clearly panic the second you don't know where I am, you will be resting on that bed right there while I study at this desk right here. You are now going to be spending all your time in this room where I can keep an eye in you."
Wait, did he hear that right? He was going to be right next to Emilia all day? Maybe he should get injured more often if that was what it led to. But wait, what about…
"There's only one bed in here. Where are you gonna sleep?"
Emilia gave him a long measured look before it dissolved into an amused smirk. She walked over to what he thought was a closet, and opened it to reveal a smaller room adjacent to the main bedroom. Inside, there was a smaller yet still comfortable bed, a set of dressers, and window to let in light.
"Servants quarters," she said. "I'll be sleeping in here, so we both have privacy."
"No," Subaru countered. "You sleep in your own bed. I'll sleep in there."
At this, Emilia actually looked uncomfortable. She sat down on the end of the bed, and fidgeted with her hands.
"Well… to be honest, I've never slept in that bed after my first night here. It was always too big and roomy. Puck found the servants rooms the next morning and I've been sleeping in there ever since." She looked away from him after, seemingly embarrassed to share that particular bit of information. "I don't want to frown upon the lord's hospitality, and I do appreciate the rooms, but…"
Subaru brought a smile to his face, even though he didn't fully get it.
"I understand. I won't tell a soul."
"So what are you studying"
"I'm currently trying to research the twenty sixth King of Lugnica and his involvement in- wait why am I telling you this? Get back to your reading," Emilia huffed, turning back to her desk.
Subaru sighed and looked around the room again. Not that there wasn't much that had changed over the past four hours. The large four poster bed and desk sat against one wall. Across from it sat the dresser, and the doors to the closet and servants quarters. A large window bathed everything in morning sunlight. Reluctantly, he tried to return his attention to the book he was reading. It was one of the few books Emilia had grabbed that was mainly in I glyphs, so he could actually read it with what little Ram had taught him. A book about basic magical applications. He didn't even know magic at all. What was he supposed to do with this? And to make matters worse, he still couldn't really read the actual words. Here there was something that looked like "gat" and over here was "mana." That was probably about the only word in this book he picked up right away. He sent a silent thanks to his gaming past for that one.
Subaru tried for another five minutes before he finally set the book down and laid back on the bed with a thump. Emilia looked up from her studies in confusion. Seeing his untouched stack of books and the one he had set down on the bed, she asked him what was wrong
"Have I selected the wrong books for you? You haven't touched more than one of them, and you don't seem to be interested in it." Perhaps he wasn't interested in magical theory? He had been ecstatic when he saw her commune with the spirits though, and had said he rarely saw magic in his homeland. He had grilled her about her magic and how it works, and she'd thought… Oh how was she supposed to rule if she couldn't figure out what her own guest liked to read? On the bed, Subaru looked at her as though he were debating something, then took a deep breath and spoke.
"I can't read them. I barely understand I glyphs, and don't get Ro or Ka glyphs at all.
Oh. So that was why he was so frustrated. He couldn't read the books. Well, she could fix that. SHe was going to teach her new friend to read. However, when she went to tell him this he corrected her.
"Oh I can read, I just cant read these glyphs." Emilia paused. That was rare. The Lugnican glyph system was designed to be universal. All but the most remote villages taught it in some capacity. To not know it at all...
"Then what can you read? The Kararagi script?"
Subaru laughed and shook his head. Then he got up, (to Emilia's protest) grabbed the second chair by the bed, and sat down next to her at her desk. He then grabbed a quill and some parchment and began to write down strange symbols. She'd never seen anything like it before. Emilia wracked her brain in hopes of remembering something, but at most it had a vague resemblance to the Kararagi script.
"This is called Hiragana," he said. Once he had made a set of five, he pointed at the top one. This symbol makes a chi sound and you write it like this."
"Wait, let me show you what the right glyph is," Emilia said, making him pause. "If we match each of your symbols to one of the glyphs, then it should be a lot easier for you to learn to read."
He explained to her what each symbol meant and she showed him which glyphs meant the same things. Before long, they were lost in the world of translation.
By the time the maids came to inform them that lunch was ready, they had completed a full list of I glyphs, made good progress on Ro glyphs, and Subaru had almost read the entire book "Fundamentals of Magic" Agreeing to set this aside for another day, Emilia and Subaru followed Ram to the dining room while Rem went to bring out the food. Walking in, Subaru saw Rem already at her place, while Ram quickly moved to join her. In between them sat a flamboyantly dressed man with strange makeup and multicolored eyes,
Roswaal
Subaru had been chatting with Emilia earlier but now he fell silent. He hadn't thought about it much, but something had killed him on the last loop. He didn't think it was Beatrice or the twins, as they had had many opportunities to kill him, and Emilia obviously never would. That left only one logical choice. The man in front of him was responsible for his death. Subaru knew he would have to be careful to earn the lord's favor this time. So he was respectful and kept his head down.
Or at least he tried to.
"Myyyyy, Emilia had told me you were quite talkative. I take it this is noooot the case?" Roswaal looked at him, seemingly slightly more amused than he was at every other time Subaru had seen him. He had to start participating or Roswaal would be suspicious.
"Well, I've got a lot of new faces. It's always a little nerve-wracking when you've gotta meet so many people at once- wait what do you mean by talkative?" He turned to Emilia for an answer but she just shrugged and looked away.
"Lord Roswaal asked me what you were like when I asked him to let you stay here. I answered as best as I could." Subaru deflated a little. It did make sense that he'd want to know about the people he took into his home.
"Well I guess that's okay," he said, and turned to Roswaal, missing her small smile. "So speaking of taking people into you home, why did you take Emilia in?" He knew the answer of course, but he needed an excuse for why he knew that.
"Well Emilia is a caaandidate to the throne. I am merely her humble sponsor." Good, now he had a valid reason to know that.
"Wait so I saved a pretty girl who's also a princess? Wow, all I'm missing is the shiny treasure and I'll be a bona-fide knight!" Emilia choked on her soup and started blushing furiously.
"I'm-I'm not a princess at all! I'm a candidate!" She set down her spoon and sat up straight in her chair. "My formal title is "Candidate for the forty second ruler of the Kingdom of Lugnica."
"Oh it's alright Emilia-tan. You'll always be my princess" Subaru teased. This did not help the blush. Emilia elected to tactfully ignore what he was saying, but then a part of what he had said struck her.
"What does "Tan" mean?" The smile dropped from Subaru's face for a moment, and he suddenly stared at nothing. Then, the usual smile returned and he looked at her cheerily.
"It's an honorific from my homeland. Lets just say it means "princess" for now."
"But I'm not a- hmph! If you want to tease me then I just won't speak to you." She then made extra sure to focus on eating and not the boy now desperately trying to get her to talk to him.
And definitely not the blush that was surely still on her cheeks. No sir.
As Subaru tried to coax Emilia into talking to him again, Roswaal spoke from the end of the table.
"Weeeell I don't think I can make you a kniiiight just yet, but I'm sure we can come to some sort of arraaaangement for a reward, don't you think?" Subaru met his eyes and saw an emotion he couldn't quite place. Respect, maybe? He doubted it. He hadn't earned it by any means.
"Sure thing Ros. What sort of reward are we talking about?" Roswaal looked at him like he had grown a second head.
"Why aaanything you wish. Within reason of course, but my coffers and iiiinfluence are quite large." Subaru thought for a moment and made his choice.
"I want to learn magic. Will you teach me?"
"Weeell Subaru, I wasn't expecting you to ask such a thing of me."
They were standing in a field far from the mansion (Don't want to blooow anything up now, do we?) and Subaru was standing in a simple tunic he had borrowed. Roswaal had similarly shed his fancy outer clothes and was now clad in a marginally less outrageous vest and slacks. Subaru had asked Emilia to come to his first lesson, but Roswaal had shot him down quickly, citing the need for safety when practicing one's first spells.
In any case, Roswaal had needed a few days to reorganize his schedule to fit Subaru's lessons in, as well as to allow Subaru to fully recover. In the meantime, he and Emilia had finished their translation of each other's writing systems and were now working on reading through children's books together. Subaru had tried to apologize once for how he was interrupting Emilia's studies, but she had shut him down pretty quickly.
"I have quite enough time on my hands to help out a friend, and besides, a queen must always be willing to help the people."
Frankly, the fact that Emilia considered him a friend made his entire day, and he couldn't wipe the smile off of his face until nearly dark. So they pressed on through the simpler books and stories of the Mathers Library. Over the course of the week, Emilia taught him the basics of understanding magic, such as what a gate was and the six types of magic. It had been one of the best weeks of his life.
Now they stood face to face, a fair distance apart.
"So what do you know of magic, Subaru?" Roswaal eyed him cooly.
"Next to nothing. I wasn't really around magic growing up, and all I have is a fundamentals book I picked up in the mansion." He wasn't sure what reaction he was expecting from that. Frustration, maybe? But Ros just clapped his hands and gave a smirk
"Excellent, then I won't have to teach you to unlearn what you think you know." Subaru paused. Something had changed about Roswaal. There was something different about his…
"What happened to your voice? Decided to talk normal for once?" he said. Roswaal looked on appraisingly.
"The first rule of magic. Understanding is control. I understand how people view me, so I control how they view me." He began to slowly walk around Subaru. "If you understand how the magic works, and have the will to create your desired path, magic will do anything." By this point Roswaal was behind Subaru, and sent a razor thin gust of wind whistling past his ear.
"What was that for!?" Subaru exclaimed, jumping away on reflex. Roswaal fired another burst of magic–fire this time–sailing just past his head. Subaru started running for his life as a flurry of wind and fire attacks continued to narrowly miss him. And so began a deadly game of cat-and-mouse.
Half an hour later, Roswaal finally let up. Subaru dropped to the ground, gasping for air. Roswaal walked up and stood over him.
"So what did you learn?" he said with his ever-present smirk.
"Learn!?" Subaru exclaimed. "I didn't learn anything!" Oh how he wished he could see Emilia and be indoors and away from Roswaal right now.
"Really? Then what would you call the last thirty minutes?"
"I dunno, surviving?" Subaru sat up now that he wasn't desperate for breath. Roswaal stood across from him and pressed forward with his question,
"How would you dodge a fire attack as opposed to an air attack?"
Subaru stopped and thought about his question. THe air attacks were more numerous, but the fire attacks affected a larger area. While the fire attacks were inarguably more dangerous, they were slow in preparation and casting.
"Fire attacks require control and power, while wind is more about speed and quick thinking"
Roswall clapped his hands and smiled broadly.
"Yes! Exactly! Now you know what makes Air magic different from Fire magic." Roswaal looked up at the position of the sun and sighed. "I suppose we don't have time for much else today. Meet me here tomorrow after breakfast." With that he turned and walked out of the clearing and back to the mansion. Subaru laid back down on the grass to watch the sunset.
"Well, that was more interesting than I thought"
Subaru turned his head to follow the familiar voice. A certain grey cat floated nearby with an amused grin on his face.
"Hiya Puck. Were you watching the whole time?"
Yeah, I was," he answered, licking one of his paws. "I wanted to see where you stood with magic. After all, you seem to be getting awfully close with Lia, and a father needs to know who he's up against."
Subaru grinned and looked away. "What can I say? Your daughter is an angel. Any guy would fall for her." Behind him, Puck dropped his smile and thought for a moment.
"An angel. Yeah, thats a good description for Lia. I'll have to use it," He murmured. Returning to a normal voice, he addressed Subaru. "Look I like you, so I'm gonna cut you some slack, but be careful around Lia. She's not ready for the world yet."
"I think you give her too little credit. She did fine when we were in the capital and she is preparing to be a Queen, you know?" Subaru countered. Suddenly, the temperature dropped to almost freezing. SUbaru looked back in surprise to see an expression of fury written on Puck's face.
"She. Is. Not. Ready." Subaru gulped; he had never heard Puck speak with so much venom.
"Okay, okay, S-she's not ready. I'll be c-c-careful." Subaru managed to say through his shivering. As quickly as it had dropped, the temperature returned to normal.
"I'm glad we had this talk, Subaru. It has answered a lot of my questions about you." and with that, he disappeared into balls of light, leaving Subaru struggling to regain his lost body heat.
By the time he was able to walk back to the mansion, twilight had fallen, and he had missed dinner. Coming through the door, He was intercepted by the maids. Ram spoke first.
"What is your purpose here?" she asked coldy. Subaru felt a pit drop in his stomach. He thought the maids trusted him, but clearly that wasn't the case.
"Well I uh–" Subaru started to say, but then yelped as a massive morningstar hit the ground next to him. "What the hell was that for!?"
"That was so you know not to lie," Rem said coldly. Looking in her eyes, he saw no bluff. If he didnt fess up to something, this one absolutely would kill him. He also had a feeling that she'd know if he told a full-blown lie. So maybe part of the truth would do.
"I want to gain Lord Roswaal's trust," he said. "I'm not a threat and I want to prove that to you all." Both maids eyed him steadily, before looking at each other. Eventually, Ram spoke.
"Very well. But we will be watching you. The baths are still hot, if you want to clean off that filth." Subaru started to protest that she was being mean, but then he looked down and saw that she was right. He was covered in dust and dirt from Roswaal's deathtrap of a lesson, as well as Puck's threat.
"Thank you," he said with a smile. Ram blinked and turned away.
"I just don't want to clean up a mess you could have avoided"
The warm water was a delight to his sore muscles. Honestly, he couldn't remember the last time he had done this much exercise in a day. Frankly, he was quite proud of himself. He had gained the trust, or at least the acceptance of everyone in the mansion. He was worried about Puck, though. That furry feline was not someone he wanted as an enemy, and more importantly, if he made enemies of Puck, he'd make enemies of Emilia too. That would ruin the entire point of why he was doing this. But still, one fatherly threat, as creepy as it was, surely didn't mean he hated Subaru. He would be fine, he just needed time to win Puck over.
And magic! He never in his wildest dreams would have thought he would be learning magic! And, according to the maids at least, from the most powerful mage in the kingdom! There was so much about magic that fascinated him. Honestly, Subaru thought he could sit and learn about it for days on end. Emilia had just smiled and let him ramble when he had first started really reading the books she had gotten for him. He had gone on and on about gates and spirits and things that she probably already know, but she smiled, nodded and acted surprised when he was. He really didn't deserve her. As he left the baths and went to bed, Subaru felt content for perhaps the first time since coming here.
"Subaru you need to wake up." A voice called, pulling Subaru from his dreams. He yawned and stretched, sitting up. He knew it was Emilia, since she woke up earlier than him so Puck could do her hair. She usually woke him when that was done, if he wasn't already.
"Morning, Emilia-tan." Emilia remained silent, looking at the ground.
"Hey, what is it? What's wrong?" He continued to try to get her to speak but to no avail. Eventually she took his hand and led him silently out of the room, only speaking to tell him to change. Emilia dragged him down the steps, out of the mansion and to the village, where a large crowd had gathered around… something. By this point, Emilia had moved beside him and put up her hood, so they walked side by side, and the crowd parted as they saw the crest on Emilia's cloak and Subaru's jacket. In the center of the crowd were several pairs of adults kneeling next to seven small piles. The piles were covered with blankets, but locks of auburn hair and a red ribbon could be seen at one end of one of them. Emilia's grip on his arm tightened to a vice grip, and her breathing didn't blame her. He felt like the world was tilting around him and he couldn't breathe. Those were children under those blankets. Subaru felt like he might throw up. One of the men noticed Subaru, and left the group to meet him. His eyes were bloodshot and there was moisture gathered in the corners of each one
"Please," he began, but stopped, overcome with emotion. "Please kill her." Subaru blinked, unsure how to handle such a request. Mistaking his silence for a no, the man threw himself to his knees, and began begging for help. "We know we are but a small village, but that… thing with the purple hair has killed our children! She led the mabeasts into the town with a disguise, and all the children went to play with them. By the time we realized what they were… it was already too late."
Children
Murdered
It wasn't safe here after all. He wasn't safe here and neither was Emilia.
Subaru said something reassuring to the man about finding justice, and stalked away on the path to the forest. Emilia trotted up behind him and matched his steps.
"So what are we doing about the purple haired monster?" she asked. He said nothing, only moving further out of sight from the village.
"Do we want to check the barrier first? She tried again, but Subaru still said nothing.
"Are we doing… anything at all?" By this point her voice was wavering. She had no idea what her friend was thinking and it scared her. Subaru finally stopped and collapsed sitting on a stump. He thought deeply for a few minutes, while Emilia waited anxiously. Finally, he spoke
"We need to run away." Emilia blinked, then registered what he actually said. Surely she had misheard him. Run away? Now? In the middle of a crisis?
"This joke isn't very funny Subaru," she said. Hopefully he would come back to his senses.
But Subaru was quite sane. He explained to her that in the capital, someone wanted her dead. Someone who was part of a larger organization. He explained how they probably sent the mabeasts out for her, but the mansion was too well defended. He explained that the only way this was going to stop was if they vanished entirely.
"If we aren't here, they'll have no reason to attack this place anymore." He stopped speaking and gauged her face for a reaction. It went through a flurry of emotions before settling on resignation.
"Okay," she said. "When do we leave?"
Internally Subaru was jumping for joy. They could avoid all their problems and stay safe! No one else would die, and no one else would get hurt!
"Do you have anything you need to get from the mansion?"
"No. I don't really own much of anything," she said. This was shaping up to be the perfect getaway. Everyone would think they'd died to the mabeasts and they could go and live life safely.
"Great, me neither!" he said. HE might have liked some of the magic theory books he had been reading, but those technically belonged to Roswaal And he didn't want to spend more time here than necessary. "Well if we're both set, we can go no-"
He couldn't speak. He could barely see. It felt like there was a vice grip on his heart. Or more like… a hand. Subaru keeled over, unable to get any air. He faintly heard Emilia screaming, but he couldn't say anything. He convulsed, trying to get air into his body, but there wasn't any blood flowing to move it. He was choking to death on nothing. As his consciousness faded he started thinking of Emilia. He had to save Emilia
Emilia
Emilia
Emilia
Air
Air
Cant…
Breathe…
Stop them
Kill them
Protect them
"Sir are you awake?"
He could breathe again.
He could breathe again!
Subaru gasped and hacked, trying to make up for air he didn't have in a past life. As he got a hold of his body from his panicked subconscious, he heard the door slam. When he finally could look around, he was in his room. Specifically, the room he had woken up in on his first day at the mansion. He had Returned by Death.
"Sir are you alright?" It was Ram. Rem wasn't around. Probably off to fetch Beatrice after that display of his. He tried to put on a smile, but couldn't. His mind was still reeling from what had just happened. He had been killed like it was nothing. And that power had come from within him. Not from an outside source, or he might have felt it coming due to Roswaal's brief training session That had to mean it was tied to the only power he had-Return by Death.
Something–no, someone wanted him to stay at this mansion.
And it was someone who controlled death itself.
Hey guys,
So welcome to Zugzwang. This fic will be a way for me to really work on my writing and character development skills. I love Re Zero and really felt like it was time to actually shoot for a published story. Updates will be every two weeks on Wednesdays, but it could be patchy until I really get my writing skills derustified and buffed out. It's been a bit since I really wrote on the regular lmao. I will try my best though. Also, if this fic is abandoned or on hiatus, I will let you all know.
I want to say a thank you to the group that helped me get back on my feet and wanting to write again. What all you guys have done for me... it means the world. Thank you so much.
Anyway, next chapter should be up by the 21st.
See you starside,
Argo