Author note: Sorry for the delay, I was busy and couldn't find the time to write. Shorter than the last one, but the next chapter should compensate for that. If nothing goes wrong, it should be out by the end of the week.

After Pandora departed, Subaru was left in the dark. After the door was closed the breeze it made extinguished the candle. Alone and chained to the wall, he remembered every time he was captured: The first time with Betelgeuse… that time with Garfiel… in the tower… in Vollachia… Losing his freedom terrified him. What if his friends died while he was trapped? What if his checkpoint updates, and he can't do anything to save them? He doesn't want another Rem. She woke up, but if they die…

"I'm such an idiot…" With a sigh, Subaru shook his head. To forget about the dark thoughts he had, he activated Cor Leonis. "Should have done this before…"

Searching for his comrades, he found nothing. Not the blue light that was Rem. Or the fiery orange of Garfiel. Or even the pale yellow of Louis. He didn't find any of the lights he was accustomed to but found a new one: A dark dot of light not far from him, it looked like it was absorbing the shadows surrounding it.

"Huh? Who is this?" Subaru had no idea who the dot of light belonged to. No one he knew looked like that when using Cor Leonis. Curious and with nothing to lose, he activated Cor Leonis but felt nothing. With no idea of who was there, he fell prey to his dark thoughts and eventual sleep.

"So cold…" Puking all over the place, he continued roaming the hallways, begging for someone to help him. Hearing the sound of chains, he turned back and…

Waking up, Subaru gasped while widely opening his eyes. He was in an unknown location, trapped by his possibly greatest enemy. Not in the mansion, cursed, seconds before being murdered by Rem. His stomach growled. How long had he been trapped there? A day? A week? He didn't know anymore. He had done nothing but sleep and wake from his nightmares.

"She really wasn't joking about leaving me here to starve…"

His stomach growled once more. He tried to stay awake for a bit more, not wanting the nightmares to return but failed. Was it the almost absolute darkness he was in? The only source of light was a torch near the corner of the hallway, which barely illuminated the room. Or perhaps the penumbral silence? Nothing could be heard aside from his faint breathing, not even the chains which bound him. Moreover, the chains were just short enough to prevent him from scratching himself. Did she plan this? Feeling sleepy, he slowly closed his eyes.

Subaru woke up to the feeling of something touching his chin. He felt something wet on his lips, was she feeding him? His vision was blurry, and the light was directly behind whoever was feeding him, so he couldn't distinguish anything other than a petite figure. With no other option, he opened his mouth, water running down his throat… Suddenly opening his eyes again, he gasped for air. His throat was burning, no, his entire body was burning.

So hot so hot so hot it burns it burns it hurts it hurts

"Gahahaha! Are you so stunned by my beauty you can't even breathe?"

Standing in front of him, a petite figure with golden hair, a devilish smile, and blood running down one of her arms laughed at him while also proclaiming her beauty.

"You…" Coughing, trying to vomit the dragon blood she forced him to drink, Subaru glanced at the golden-haired beauty. Why was she here? She was high on his list of people he hated. Gluttony at the very top, Pandora after, and then the other archbishops in no particular order. Her personality was awful, and the way she just ignored and destroys people's dignity… It disgusted him.

"Huh? Looking so much at me, have you finally came to your senses and decided to love me, the great Capella-sama?" The archbishop of Lust continued with her egotistical attitude. "It can't be helped, gahahaha!

"Love you? Ha! I would nev-" Coughing up, Subaru interrupted himself. The blood made it hard to breathe, let alone talk.

"Mmh?" With a perplexed expression, Capella stared deep into the young's eyes. "You can talk? Just like the Gospel said!" With a big grin on her face, she took a book out of her back and recited: "Go to the Church. The man who took your beloved pets from you, and can also withstand the effects of the cursed dragon blood will be waiting there." Transforming her right arm into a blade, she cut her left arm again, grabbed Subaru's jaw, and forced him to drink her blood with a sadistic smile on her face. "We'll have so~ much fun together!"

Gulping the blood running down his throat, Subaru glanced at the archbishop with a glare full of hate. He remembered the time he accidentally tasted Tabaco sauce as a kid, but the heat he felt at that time couldn't compare to what he was feeling now. Capella retracted her hand from his mouth, and he started coughing.

"And now… Let's try if it works." With her right arm, transformed into a sharp blade, she sliced his right hand, cutting the bone in a single sweep. His cries of pain filled the room, and then the blood did its work. Oozing out of the wound, it twisted around until a new hand appeared.

"An immortal pet… Ah, I can't wait to see you break~" Biting her lip, she moved her left hand near her hips, as if the mere thought of seeing the young begging for more aroused her.

"Emerada bishop, treat him as you wish. Bleeding, burning, drowning… As long as he remains loyal to both of us, you're free to do whatever you wish. Just be sure that he doesn't die."

"Yeah yeah. Now leave us alone." Waving her hand towards the girl that peeked through the door, she dismissed her, excited to finally be alone with her soon to be pet. The witch obeyed, closing the door and leaving both alone, screams following soon after.

"Urgh…" Waking up, Subaru found him in a familiar garden. A garden of shadows. His head was resting in something soft, which he quickly recognized to be her lap. Turning his head, he met the sobbing face of the half-elf.

"I'm sorry. I can't win against her after all. This is all I can do…"

"Don't worry Satella. I'll endure it until I can run away. I've gone through worse." His words only made her sob worse.

"I'm sorry. If only I could send you back…"

Don't cry Satella. Knowing I'll meet you every night is enough reason for me to endure this." He moved his arm and started rustling her hair. After a short while, he turned his head to the horizon and continued: "I won't end like him."

He discovered their existence while in Vollachia. Not long after rejecting Vincent's offer, he met his end at the hand of a few soldiers that mistook him for the Emperor. At that moment, he noticed that someone else was in the garden with them, but didn't have the time to ask. He had his suspicionsevery time he came back. It was only in a loop where Louis died, that Lye appeared and kicked him around that he knew what was going on. Her dying wasn't something special, but he was tired of seeing her suffer. Until he finally started caring about her from the bottom of his heart he appeared every single time to trash him and beg him to protect her right after. Surprisingly, neither Satella nor Envy did anything when he appeared.

He had no idea why, but the dead archbishops were at the Shadow Garden. Satella kicked Betelgeuse out of it once, so why are they there? She can't do anything? Did she bring them here for some reason? He had no idea. At first, he thought it was due to him having their witch factors, but he didn't have Gluttony. Louis still had it, she simply didn't, or better said, couldn't use it. If he truly had the witch factor of Gluttony, he should have discovered his ability by now.

Most of the time they simply stood far away. At times, he could hear them discuss. And Lye attacked him every single time her sister was hurt. To his surprise, Betelgeuse was sane. Sometimes. About half the time. He was either the madman he knew or a depressed man who thanked him over and over for putting an end to his evil deeds. Mentioning Emilia just made him cry even harder, and Satella made him go back to his mad self. He was a pain to deal with. All of them were. At least Regulus couldn't kill him here. Interrupting his ramblings just to see his face of impotence when he couldn't hurt him was the only good thing about meeting them.

"Great. Not only do I have a possessive evil witch stalking me, but now a religious zealot, a sociopath, and a siscon do it too. Geez." He thought once.

"She's powerful Subaru. You must run." After muttering those words, the shadows around them disappeared, like they always did, until Subaru found himself in his jail, Capella right in front of him.

"It's not real Subaru. Neither the snow, the bunnies, Rem, or any of the others. You are not at the tower, Subaru. You're here, safe."

"Lies! They are. They're here. They're laughing at me, for trusting them. They want to hurt me."

Every time he went to sleep, Satella would do the same. Bring him to the garden, have him rest in her lap, pat his head, make him feel comfortable, and make him forget everything that had happened that day. The first day, Capella had cut his limbs and transformed him, breaking his mind into several parts for a few hours. The second, he exploited the regenerative abilities of the blood by burning him, and transformed herself into his loved ones while doing so.

The third was the worst. She forced him to drink what she called "Capella-chan special love potion". Half an hour later, he was glued to her leg, willing to murder his friends if it meant she would pay attention to him. She went for a ride outside with him as her mount and he loved every single second of it. Oh, how much she wished to break the seal and kill that bitch in the spot. Hearing him talk all night about all of the virtues of the great Capella-sama didn't help at all.

On the fourth and current day, he didn't even have time to realize all he had done yesterday as Pandora quickly started toying with his mind. What followed were 7 long hours of him screaming and hurting himself, living his worst nightmares all over again. His trust in others lost, his mind wouldn't last.

"Lies lies lies lies lies! They hate me. They never loved me. That's why they came back just to hurt me. I should have run alone that day." His eyes were darting around and his hands around his neck, scratching it. She wanted to stop him, but knew that doing so would only make the situation worse.

"They love you, Subaru. I've seen how much they care for do. They aren't here, they're trying to rescue you. She's toying with your mind." She kept patting his head, ignoring the drops of blood in her lap. She whispered, and Subaru's eyes started to close.

"Lies…" He fell asleep in her lap. She kept patting his head but this time, instead of the soft look in her eyes, only a stern glare of hate could be seen, directed to be Witch that was freeing Subaru. What was she planning now?

"He's mine! You already stole one from me, I won't give you this one!"

"Calm down, Emerada bishop. You'll throw both of us."

High in the skies of Gusteko, a dragon was flying. Carrying a bounded dark-haired boy, sleeping peacefully despite the circumstances, and a young girl with platinum hair. The young was talking with the dragon itself.

"MY PET! You gave it to me! And don't call me by that name!" Clapping her wings, the air she moved threatened to throw both to the ground.

"I needed your help, so I gave it to you. That's all. Once we're done, you'll return him to me. If the plan goes well, I'll return your other toy to you."

"The other?"

"Alphard bishop. If everything goes according to plan, he'll no longer be a bishop. A miserable young with no power, isn't that how you found him? In exchange for him, I'll return it to you."

"Mmph!" Snorting, the dragon dropped the conversation.

"Now, let's go. To the Miload mansion."