Prologue
"And thus concludes our scheduled viewing of a day in the life of Natsuki Subaru" A booming voice echoed through the theatre as the screen depicted a slow dance between a black haired youth adorned in his knight attire and his dance partner, a silver haired half-elf with amethyst eyes. In the background, it seemed the others in attendance moved to the outer sides of the lavish hall to make room specifically for the pair to glide along the dance floor.
"Subaru-kun…" whispered a blue haired maid as she teared up, both in sadness at not being able to see such a significant moment in her hero's life but also pure joy that he was finally living the dream he always wanted to, even if she wasn't the woman he wasn't currently holding hands with.
"He looks so happy here, it's so soothing to watch him with a carefree face" A green haired duchess commented on the screen. Almost swooning at the sight as she stroked the hand she held onto so softly, as if it would break with even the slightest amounts of pressure.
"Uh huh, my knight was sooooooo cool, he's even a pretty good dance partner" Her half-elf companion responded in a tone dripping in admiration and possession. She seemed to heavily emphasise that Subaru was her knight exclusively. Not to mention how her arm snaked around one of the sleeping boy's arms, asserting her dominance over the youth.
"Betty's Subaru is always cool infact, you're just reinforcing what should already be common knowledge I suppose." Beatrice commented with pride as she puffed out her chest from her throne which happened to be the lap of the knight in question. After all, where else would be fitting enough for a great spirit of her station to be if not with her contractor?
"Hmph, I suppose you did well to get here...Subaru" A pink haired maid spoke like a mouse with a slight hint of gratefulness in her voice, even going so far as to grant him the honour of being addressed by his actual name.
The lean man that rested his bruised head on her lap however couldn't give two shits as he had yet to have the immense ringing in his ears subside. His broken body which ached all over could hardly handle the strain of sitting up and watching. The only expression that adorned his face was pain as the dried blood had caused much of his clownish makeup to become dirtied.
"This Subaru-kyun does seem to suit being a knight doesn't he?" A catboy spoke to the knights around him in pride, a far cry from how he used to originally address Subaru.
"Indeed, he does look very knightley in his attire" Reinhardt replied while observing his friend on screen, happy with his official knighting and to be able to watch such a scene, even if he couldn't be there in person.
"Subaru-dono, I am so grateful that you were able to come this far" A butler well into his years noted, using a handkerchief to wipe the tears forming at the edges of his eyes as he reminisced of his own fiery haired love and the dances they shared over what seemed to be a lifetime ago.
"Quite the difference between the knight on screen and the self-proclaimed one who attended the capital on that day, Natsuki Subaru " An elegant purple haired knight muttered under his breath, gazing upon the screen, lost in memories of the boy from then and now.
"Do I sense some admiration in your tone, Julius-san" Otto slyly remarked only to be met with a pout from the knight. Needless to say, the merchant didn't fail to notice the slight smile that graced his lips.
"Man, mah cap'n really looks somethin' special don't he! Tha' right there is tha typa man mine amazin' self wants ta be." The Shield of Sanctuary shouted in awe as he saw the person he admired most achieve something he had fought so long and hard for.
"Subaru-sama looked so manly on the night, I can't believe he didn't even spend that much time dancing with me!" Petra pouted as an older blonde haired maid patted her head soothingly while giggling a little at her behaviour.
"Now, now Petra-chan, this was an important time for both Subaru-sama and Emilia-sama, surely you'll get to dance more with him in future right?" Frederica addressed the small maid.
"Yeah! Yeah! Big bro deserved to have a moment like this after what he went through." Felt whooped in glee as she watched the scene unfold only to have cheers be echoed out from the youngsters of the cast. From Garf, Mimi and even the usually reserved Tivey.
Petra elected to not holler like the rest as she was still simmering in frustration at the crime her crush committed.
"The little lady's right, after the hell the kid went through I wouldn't have been surprised if he started balling in joy the moment he saw his girl in that dress don't ya reckon." Ricardo said as he nudged the one armed knight beside him.
"I guess being a hero has to pay off at sometime pal" Al spoke. While he wasn't all too thrilled of having to watch the only person who he shared the same origins with go through what was essentially the greatest clusterfuck he had ever seen, he smiled under his helmet as the wholesome scene played out.
His lady however viewed the scene from behind her fan, her interest in watching the scene of the half-wit dance with the boy she was so invested in watching boring her to no end. Of course why would a goddess such as herself have to trouble themselves with the trivial activities of commoners. That wasn't to say she had stopped paying attention however, as the gradual change in attitude of the dare she say it, hero, amused her. As if the world responded to her demand to see the youth more happy and confident by delivering scenes such as this.
She would have to continue to observe his journey if she wished to be kept entertained she surmised.
"The tribulations of being a goddess I suppose."
"Ya know, watching this makes me wonder what life would've been like if Natsuki-kun had his adventure with one of us instead" Anastasia mused aloud to the other candidates.
"That could be arranged, Miss Anastasia." The deep voice of their warden replied, their tone half in challenge and half in curiosity in how the camps would respond.
All eyes, directed to the merchant candidate in shock as she fluffed her snow white scarf in anticipation.
"Well ain't that interesting"
One pair of eyes however did not as the person in question had to restrain her elven strength from crushing her poor knight's hand for the umpteenth time.
How could I possibly stand by and watch my knight in the clutches of another woman here?
The half-elf pondered the precarious situation as she considered sating her own curiosity by watching these scenarios but also fearing that the result may look far better than the one at current. She could hardly avoid drowning in the pit of guilt that many in the theatre seemed to be sinking in as she could vividly recall all she had seen of her courageous knights journey. The remorse she felt at having forsaken him time and time again had still yet to be settled.
"And pray tell, what exactly does this entail" The fiery candidate demanded at the ominous voice, her interest returning and curiosity peaking.
"Simple, while I may not have the ability to show you the infinite paths that Subaru may take, I can show you brief moments in which the boy took a path down different roads. Ones which have led to him being bound to the different people here." The voice met Priscilla's demand with a calm response.
The theatres occupants glanced around at each other, noting the very formal demeanour of their self-proclaimed captor.
"You're not the one who is normally in charge of these viewings are you?" Crusch responded, still heavily entranced in the thought of watching a moment that showed Subaru being in her camp as opposed to her allies. Would it be wrong to say that she was more enthused in viewing this than to continue observing the slow dance on screen?
"No" The voice curtly replied.
"Then where is the other one?" Rem asked, also in deep thought of the possibilities the screen could display.
"Lunch"
"Well ain't that a simple answer." Ricardo laughed at the response.
"Therefore, I once again ask whether you would all be interested in what I have to offer." The voice once again presented his offer to the audience.
At the behest of the screen the theatre's audience briefly pondered watching these tales.
Naturally, each camp turned to their respective leaders for an answer with the exception of a certain clown wishing for his pain to cease.
"Please, show us what Subaru-sama has been through"
"Yeah, I wanna see what it would've been like if my stupid selfess knight brought big bro with him"
"Information is a valuable commodity, information of the unknown even moreso, do ya really expect a greedy gal like myself to pass this up?"
"Hmph, speak for yourselves commoners, however what you've told me has piqued my interest. I grant you permission to entertain mineself with these whimsical tales.
Finally all eyes landed on the silver-haired candidate only to be met with a weak nod as she cuddled into her knights side.
"Very well then, with that decision being made, I will begin the viewing" The screen responded to the answers of the audience and began to load up the next viewing.