"How troublesome" Roswaal sighed in his office. He glanced at the pile of papers on his desk, he tried to distract himself working but couldn't. The past conversation kept popping in his mind, to the point he had to redo an entire document because he ended writing his thoughts on it. At least Ram wasn't here, she would surely be annoyed at him. "You should take a rest, Roswaal-sama." she would say. Thinking about her helped him to take the image of that woman manipulating him from the shadows of his mind.
But it was worthless. Thinking about Ram made him eventually think about Rem, the sleeping beauty who woke up five months ago and reunited with her sister. But that was fake, wasn't it? And just like that, he looped back to Pandora. Teacher never told her why she was dangerous, just that should he ever meet her he should run away. He had no hope of ever defeating her.
"But how can I recognize her, teacher?" The first Roswaal asked.
"She'll introduce herself to you. She always does to people she meets. All attacks are futile against her, so just run away. She won't retaliate."
"Did you run from her, teacher?"
"Don't say that Roswaal! Mother is the greatest, she would never run like a coward, I suppose."
"Be nice to Roswaal, Beatrice."
"Yes, Mother!"
"And I haven't met her. Someone I trust told me about her. Only Reid can defeat her, but he's too busy lusting after young maidens to do anything. And Flugel doesn't even notice that anything is wrong with her."
Roswaal smiled a little while reminiscing about the past. Everything was perfect during that time. He found a lovely little sister to tease, an excellent teacher and took vengeance on his horrible family. Until that man destroyed everything. If only he had been stronger at the time… He felt rage at his past incompetence.
When did everything go wrong? She had no idea of the abilities of that Witch, but now he knew memory manipulation was one of them. Had he been playing in her hand since the start? Or he fell prey to her powers at some point in the past? Was this the first time they met? Was allowing him to know about his abilities a mistake, or part of some bigger plan? For the second time since that night at Sanctuary, he had no idea. No idea of what was to come, and what would he do.
A knock in the door took him out of his trance. How long had he been like that? Letting whoever knocked in, he was met with the familiar sight of Ram bringing tea to him.
"Roswaal-sama." Pouring the tea into the cup, Ram started the conversation. "I trust you have a way to get Barusu from the hands of that witch."
A dumbfounded look briefly flashed in Roswaal's face, before quickly disappearing into her usual smile. He had been so caught up in his self loathing that he forgot about the crucial detail of Subaru's absence. He thought of a plan while drinking his tea.
"Of course I have, Ram. Both of us will seaaaaarch for our knight. But fiiiiiirst we'll need to know wheeeeere he went missing." Having finished his tea, he left the cup next to the kettle. "I trust you asked your sister, Raaaam."
"I haven't, Roswaal-sama."
"Hmm… We'll haaaave to ask during dinner then."
"I'm sorry, Roswaal-sama." Ram caught to his lord's intentions. Leaving now and hopefully finding the boy before dinner. If they ask while everyone is present, the others would beg to join, after all. And meeting Subaru again would lift everyone's moods.
Seeing the bowing maid, Roswaal took the conversation in another direction.
"Hoooow did your talk with your siiiister go?"
Taken by surprise, Ram straightened up and answered her lord's question.
"Well, Roswaal-sama. My lovely sister is now making dinner. I saw her work while preparing your tea, and I have no complaints. As expected of her, she's perfect at her job like me." Ram fondly smiled at the recent memory of seeing her sister working. She'll have to thank Barusu for this.
No, no, no. Don't think about him. He'll be fine. He'll escape and return here. He'll use his good timing and execute a foolish plan that would surely end with him at death's door. Emilia-sama and Beatrice-sama will heal him, he'll charm everyone's worries away and then she'll complain about him worrying her sister. Then perhaps she won't tease him for a week, as a gift for making sure Rem returned safely. Maybe. If she felt like it.
"I'll be awaaaiting then." He wouldn't be able to taste anything anyways. With the conversation finished, he fell into his self loathing spiral once again. He unconsciously frowned, something Ram noticed.
"Roswaal-sama. Stop worrying about that witch." Witch felt like a good way of describing that woman. Manipulating everyone from the shadows, changing memories as she wished… what a wicked woman. Only the Witch of Envy could possibly be worse.
"I can't, Ram. What if…" His voice was one of a broken man. He truly wished for this to not be real. "What if everything I've done was useless? Manipulated from the start by her? How can I be sure that my feelings for Teacher are real, and not fabricated by her?"
That was worse than she had expected. She was sure he would doubt himself, but to this point?
"Roswaal-sama. It wasn't useless. Without you, Rem and I would have perished long ago. With her features, Frederica would have never survived out of Sanctuary. Emilia-sama would still be living in that frozen forest. And Barusu would surely have died to the bowel hunter or in one of his plans. You think you've only done harm, Roswaal-sama. But you've also done good. Don't think that everything until now is futile. That all your efforts have gone to waste."
"Ram.." He thanked her from the bottom of his heart.
"I promised to make you forget about the witch delusions. Another woman is nothing compared to that." And with that, she left.
"Betty won't speak with you. Now, leave."
"Why? Why won't you tell me about that, Beatrice?"
For the past 5 minutes, Emilia had tried to make Beatrice tell all about Subaru. How can she say that she loves him, if she doesn't know anything about him? His origins, his… self-harm and nightmares. When she told him about her past and asked about his, he simply replied with "Maybe another time, Emilia." That time never came. Subaru and Beatrice were so close, so maybe she knew? If she doesn't, she'll make her tell everything about his habits. That way, she'll know how to help him.
A brief image of Geuse flashed through her mind. Subaru had told her about his fight with Sloth, her hate for Pandora stronger since then. She couldn't believe that the caring man he knew was now a madman who killed innocents just for the love of the witch.
Her hate for both grew stronger. The Witch for making everyone hate her appearance and leading a cult that did nothing but evil. And Pandora for destroying her home, killing Mother Fortuna, making Geuse go mad and now kidnapping Subaru.
"Betty promised her contractor, I suppose." Emilia could hear a faint sobbing on the other side of the door.
"Please tell me, Beatrice! If I know nothing about Subaru…" She started sobbing too. "How can I help him? I want to help him. I want to stop his pain. I want to save him from that witch. I won't let him end like Geuse." She wiped the few tears running down her cheeks, finding herself with renewed motivation. She'll find Subaru, freeze Pandora and rescue him! Then she'll give him a lap pillow, they'll talk about his issues and then both will go on a date!
The sobbing stopped. After a short moment, the door opened, the great spirit in the ground, her cheeks slightly wet due to her tears.
"Betty can tell you, I suppose. In return, you'll tell Betty about Geuse."
The sound of a tree being sent flying echoed through the small forest surrounding the Roswaal Manor. The culprit was a certain blond demi human, trying to calm himself by doing what he does best: Punching things.
Ever since that day in Sanctuary, he swore to protect his Cap'n like the shield he was. In Priestella, while he almost died fighting Kurgan, his Cap'n came back almost unscathed after fighting Greed. In Vollachia, he saved him over and over from that man with an axe and everyone who wanted him dead for seemingly no reason. He had explained why but he didn't care, they wanted to hurt his friend and that was all he needed to know. He even fought against Cecilus, the Blue Lighting himself! Even if it ended in a quick defeat… But now, he couldn't even defeat a simple girl.
Stronger men had fallen by his hands. None of them died, of course, he made sure of it. He made sure they couldn't fight back, heal them until they could move again and leave them. Murder was too much for his young mind. But he was sure that woman shouldn't have survived. His attack should have left her unconscious, and Rem's icicles… He got into too many fights with her due to her tendency to skew people with them. At least she started listening after a while.
He was sure she shouldn't be alive. But she was, and sent them back to the manor faster they could strike back, with everyone's memory manipulated. A moment they were preparing dinner near the Flugel's tree, the next they were eating breakfast in the mansion. He had no idea why, thinking wasn't his forte anyway. All he had was strength and healing magic, and the first had failed him.
"Garf… Please don't destroy the forest." Her sister called out to him. When did she get here?
"Sorry, sissy. I…"
"You needed to calm down, right Garf?" She pulled her brother in a hug, and whispered into his ear: "It wasn't your fault Garf."
Finally, free to relieve his pent-up frustration, he started crying into his sister's embrace.
"But I promis'd I would help Cap'n! I never did anythin' to help him, I was always late and he was always savin' me… My amazing self isn't even half as amazing as Cap'n…"
"Garf!" Hearing the tone in her voice, Garfiel was reminded of Rem's scoldings. And so, he imitated what his Cap'n always did, sit in the weird position and hear all her sister had to say. "You are you and Subaru-sama is Subaru-sama. Without you, could Otto and him have defeated Elsa? Without you stopping Kurgan, would the city have been saved? I don't know what you experienced over there, but would Subaru-sama be alive without you? Subaru-sama always knows who's the best for every job. Now's your chance, Garf. This time he can't order you anything, so save him and show him how amazing you truly are."
"Yes, sissy!" Garfiel found a new motivation in those words. All he needed was to know where his brother was.
"Ah, and put that tree to good use. We're running out of wood for the fireplace."
"Yes, sissy." He said with an apologetic tone.
"The food was exquisite, Reeeem." Roswaal lied while keeping his usual creepy smile. Taste had long lost all meaning to him. Judging by everyone's faces, the food truly was exquisite. "I haaaate to be the one to say it, but leeeet's get to the topic. Our knight has beeeeen captured."
Everyone's faces darkened instantly. They knew it the moment Rem, Garfiel and Louis appeared without him, but they were too scared to say it out loud.
"First, I need to apologize." Rem left her seat between Ram and Louis and walked up to Emilia's. With a bow, she added. "I'm sorry, Emilia-sama. I shouldn't have said those words before. As a maid of Roswaal's domain, I shouldn't have spoken like that to my master." She gave Roswaal a venomous glare while saying that. The few things Subaru had told him were all she needed to dislike the clown.
"You don't need to apologize, Rem-san. You made me realize that I know nothing about Subaru's struggles." She dismissed her apology. She learned something new about her knight, even if the way she learned wasn't the best. She preferred Subaru to tell her himself.
Why didn't he tell her about it? She called him a dunderhead in her mind.
"I'll leave the cooking to you, Rem. As well as teaching Petra when she returns."
"You're now hired, Reeeem. Noooooow... when did you laaaaast see Subaru-kun?" Having said that, the mood in the room changed. Everyone gulped and waited for her answer. However, a certain demi human answered before the blue maid could.
"Th' Flugel's tree!"
"Raaaaam, prepare to depart. We'll leave in a few minutes. We can't let our knight in the Witch Cult's hands, caaaan't we?"
"Understood, Roswaal-sama." With a bow, she left the room to prepare herself.
"Roswaal. I'll go too."
"I'll go as well, I suppose."
In unison, both Emilia and Beatrice expressed their desire to save their knight and contractor.
"That won't do. The Lifaus Highway is a route commonly used by meeeerchants and travelers. There hasn't been news about Suuuuubaru-kun in almost half a year. What would the people think if Emilia-sama suddenly appeared searching for her deeeeeear knight? And Beatrice caaaan't fight without Subaru's mana." Roswaal rejected both girls with a perfect argument.
"What about you, I suppose?" Beatrice wanted to refute his argument. Ever since the contract between her and Subaru broke, she drained the mana barely necessary to survive from everyone in the mansion. She still obeyed the terms of her contract, but she would drain everyone in the room dry if it was for saving her contractor.
"My reputation precedes me. Everyone expeeeeects me to be eccentric every so often. My, how hard it is to make everyone haaaappy." He shed a crocodile tear.
"I'll go! I'll save ma Cap'n!"
"Mmmh… Yes, you may come, Gaaarfiel." Ram and Garfiel… He'll force him to undo this with those two. It pained his heart to think about having to kill Ram, but it must be done. No matter whatever hidden condition must be fulfilled for his looping ability to work, he'll force him to loop.
"Roswaal. Remember what Mother told us." Having said that, Beatrice left the dining room, with the others following soon after. Frederica stopped Garfiel, asking him to take a bath before leaving. Meanwhile, Rem was stopped by Emilia, who asked her to accompany her to her room.
Inside the luxurious room, two figures stood. One with silver hair, on the edge of the massive bed, and the other with blue hair in a chair, in front of the other. The ambient was tense, Emilia had forgiven her but Rem still feared for retaliation. Or perhaps she'll kick her out of the house. Even if she wasn't a maid at the service of Roswaal-sama at the moment, or now since she hadn't been formally hired, she insulted the one with the most power in the house and a candidate to the throne.
"Emilia-sama. What do you need?"
"Call me Emilia, Rem. Friends don't call each other -sama." She said as if reprimanding a small child.
Rem was surprised. Why did she expect something bad to come out of her mouth?
"You're as nice as Subaru told me, Emilia." She said with a smile.
She left a small chuckle. Her heart fluttered at Subaru complimenting her. He had been doing it for a long time, but only now was she able to comprehend it. It would take all her willpower not to jump at him once Roswaal rescued him. Puck told her that only bad girls do that. But Puck was wrong about how babies were made, so maybe he was wrong with this too. She wasn't a bad girl, after all.
"Subaru is reaaaally amazing, isn't he? He's done so many great things." Elsa, the mabeast attack, the White Whale, Sloth… She was saddened that most of his achievements were to save her. No longer would he need to suffer just to save her, she would protect him now!
"He truly is." No one would go to such lengths for someone that made him suffer so much, be it either Emilia or herself. Both would make sure to boost his self-worth. Maybe he'll stop with his terrible habits and reckless plans that way.
Seeing Rem speak so fondly of her knight reminded Emilia of what she wanted to talk about.
"Rem. I called you here because… I…" She started blushing, saying it was so embarrassing! She took a huge load of air and finished the fastest she could. "IwanttoknowwhatyouthinkofSubaru!"
"Huh? Emilia-sa… Emilia, can you repeat what you said?"
"I said I want to know what you think of Subaru!" Ah, she did it. She went too fast and had to repeat that embarrassing line.
"I think Subaru is an amazing person. No one but him would go to the lengths he went to save both of us. But he's also an idiot. He thinks so low of himself, risks his life in every reckless plan of his, is a bad influence on Louis, smells bad, looks better as a girl than even I do, his shoulders are shaped funny, his eyes are scary, he keeps his hair up even though he looks better with his hair down…" Rem stopped as she ran out of fingers to count all of his bad qualities. "But he's still a wonderful person."
Emilia was taken aback by Rem's words. Subaru told her that she had declared her love for him in the carriage, when she didn't know who Rem was… Did she fall for him again? She pouted mentally at the thought of someone fighting for his Subaru.
"Rem, do you… love Subaru?" She had a hard time finishing that phrase. Rem had declared her love far earlier than her, in fact she hadn't even done it yet. What if Subaru gets tired of waiting for her answer and runs away with Rem instead? Was she selfish for wanting Subaru just for herself?
"I… I'm not sure. I respect him as a close friend, but my heart still flutters when I'm nearby. I've felt like that ever since I woke up. Do I truly love him or is it just my old self influencing me? If I do, can I end with him? He loves you from the bottom of his heart, Emilia. And he also loves me, the old me. Every time he looks at me he seems guilty, and for a long time he couldn't accept me and the other me being so… different. Can he love me back or will I only remind him of his past mistakes?"
Emilia felt guilty, betrayed by her own feelings. On one hand, she was happy that Subaru was hers and only hers. On the other, saddened that her existence was such a major factor in Rem's love life. Had she not met Subaru, could Rem be happy with him? Not having lost her memories, living peacefully with her sister and Subaru in the mansion… She was oblivious to the fact that had she not met Subaru, Subaru would have never met Rem anyways.
"What should I do? Am I selfish for wanting Subaru only for myself? Should I tell her how much does Subaru loves her? Or shut up and have him to myself?" In the end, she decided to tell her the truth. Subaru would be much happier that way.
"You see, Rem. Subaru reaaally loves you too. Before he… before he realized you had been forgotten, he was talking to me about how much he loves both of us. He made sure to talk to you every day while you were sleeping. He hunted down an Archbishop just for you to return. If you tell him, he'll surely love you back."
"Is that true?"
"Yes. If Ram was here she would say something like "Disgusting Barusu. Doesn't have enough with a beautiful lady, now she wants another."
"My sister would surely say that." Both chuckled at the remark.
"Rem, I wanted to talk to you about that, but…" She started fidgeting in an act of shyness. "Can you tell me about what he did?" She wanted to know about all of his knight's heroic acts. This would also be an excellent distraction to not die of worry about his current whereabouts.
"Yes. It would be my pleasure." She said with a smile, starting to remember all the good and bad moments they experienced together.
Natsuki Subaru. It was a strange name. She had no idea what was the name and what the surname, and she hadn't heard anyone call his name. Natsuki Subaru. Why did she feel like that when saying his name? What was the connection between them? He acted as if she knew her, but someone with such an evil scent, willing to abandon a poor child in the middle of a forest and that had just ordered the destruction of an entire camp and the murder of so many couldn't possibly have good intentions towards her.
She looked at his sleeping face while rustling the hair of the sleeping child in her lap. Did he truly order that? He didn't look like someone who coldly ordered an attack on so many soldiers a few hours ago. "Because all I want is to see you smile." He had said. Just… What was their relationship? Why did he go to such lengths just for her? Is he truly doing all of this just to manipulate her?
"Rem…" Hearing "her" name took her out of her trance. Was it truly her name? Or another of his lies? She glanced at the sleeping boy who just uttered her supposed name in his sleep.
"Rem… I'm sorry…" He started trembling while muttering her name.
"A nightmare?"
"Waah?" The sleeping blonde in her lap woke up. Looking at her face, she wondered why he wanted her dead so much. The young girl glanced at the blue-haired girl, before the whispering of the sleeping man turned her attention towards him. Moving towards the man, she clutched his hand and the trembling stopped. His face, which a moment ago was filled with regret and pain, was now the sleeping face he used to have.
"Waao." She made a big smile, happy just by holding his hand. She snuggled in his chest and fell asleep once again. Seeing the scene, Rem couldn't help but wonder if this was a usual occurrence. The way she reacted was as if she was used to it, so why did he hate her so much? Was he not aware?
Rem snuggled in a nearby tree and closed her eyes. Before falling asleep, she decided on what to do next. That… emperor asked Subaru to get him back on the throne, but he refused saying that he had a home to return to. Right now, they were leaving the forest and travelling to a nearby city called Guaral. From there, they would get money by selling a mabeast horn to go home. She didn't know why he had that or where it came from, but it didn't matter. She would grab Louis and leave in the middle of the night. Away from that man who smelled like evil. Away from those feelings she couldn't understand. However, the image of him saving her from that hunter and mabeast, falling into a river and captured by her fault, looking so relieved that she was safe despite his injuries made her dismiss that idea.
She opened her eyes. Her vision was a bit blurry, but she could feel the air hitting her face. Once her vision adjusted to the light, she saw what was happening: She was currently over Subaru's shoulders, being carried like a sack of tatoes. Noticing what was happening, she struggled free with all her force and fell to the ground.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"
"Rem! Please trust me, we need to run away!"
"You kidnap me, leave that child by herself and now tell me that!?" She tried to stand up, but her legs failed her. With nothing to grab onto, she fell to the ground
"I knew you would get angry, so I grabbed Louis as well. Now, please, trust me for a moment!"
"Waah?"
He offered his hand for her to stand up, but she moved it away.
"Why should I-" She was interrupted by Subaru throwing his body into her and knocking both to the ground. Before she could say anything, she looked over his shoulder and saw a nearby tree being blown to smithereens.
"You get it? That damn hunter confused us for that emperor."
As she was going to reply, Subaru grabbed her and put her into the same position as before. The situation was dire, so she put her arms around his neck to have a better hold. With both girls in each shoulder he kept running away from the hunter.
"VINCENT! I KNOW YOU'RE HERE, I'LL TAKE YOUR OFFER SO JUST DO ANYTHING!"
The next moment, a single arrow flew towards the young man. Luckily, he tripped with a nearby root, sending both girls tumbling around and barely dodging the lethal arrow, which turned yet another tree into splinters. Looking up, Rem saw an unknown well toned woman, dressed with skimpy clothes and with a bow in her hands, aiming where the arrow came from. An unknown object came from the other direction, which was quickly destroyed by a barrage of arrows.
However, said object was a smoke bomb, which sent everyone into a coughing spree while the thrower ran away. Once the smoke dissipated, Rem found herself surrounded by dozens of women, all of them dressed the same way and with that emperor at the lead. She saw Subaru standing up, walking up to him, and punching him hard enough to knock him to the ground. She momentarily feared for his life, but to her surprise, none of the women reacted.
"You knew this would happen, didn't you? That's why you used me as a decoy. Very well then, I'll help you reconquer this stupid country of yours."
It was the start of a complicated relationship.
"Why? Why are you doing this?"
"I told you, anything she can do to me can't be worse than what Ram would do to me."
Both of them were running down the hallways of an unknown vollachian noble. Rem didn't catch it when Priscilla took her in after being interested in her, and Subaru only cared about getting her out of here. Not like he would ever meet said noble anyways, he had already died in this joke of a coup.
As to why, the reason was simple. The five of them: Subaru, Rem, Louis, Vincent and Mizelda recently had met Priscilla. Luckily, neither her nor his knight had noticed them. Vincent, not wanting to meet his lovely sister, sent Rem and Subaru to ask why they were here. The throne he supposed. Somehow, said conversation ended on Rem taking Priscilla's side with Subaru being imprisoned after a certain oni foolishly mentioned Vincent. Al intervened and begged his lady not to kill the man in the spot, and she agreed.
Rem felt extremely guilty about all of that. It was her fault the conversation derailed to such a degree, and now she abandoned the man who wanted nothing but to see her smile. There were still many unknowns surrounding him, but she was sure she could trust him. She moved to the room furthest away from the dungeon, hoping not to hear the screams of pain that torture would surely inflict on him. Judging by her reaction, Priscilla hated Vincent and he, and only he, knew his location. She was being forced to accompany him. Not all of it was a lie, but it still left a bittersweet feeling to betray him like that.
To her surprise, in less than 2 hours they were running away. As to how he left the dungeon and found her without anyone noticing, she had no idea. She didn't care about it, over and over had he done the impossible or known information he had no way of knowing. At this point, she simply accepted it.
"We have a bit of help, but we should hurry up before she finds us…"
"That doesn't answer it! Why do you keep doing this?" Rem lashed out at Subaru.
"Because you're precious to me, Rem. Once we get out of here, I'll tell you everything. You refused every other time I offered myself to explain, will you let me explain this time?"
"Hkg! I will."
The escape was successful. For some reason, they never ran into any guards, nor into that one-armed knight. Was this the help he spoke of? Luckily, the mansion wasn't far away from the town. Entering the inn they slept in the past day, the two of them were greeted by a surprising view.
"Hkg." Subaru tried to hold his laughter, but failed. "Hahahahahah!" The sight of the prideful emperor of Vollachia being toyed by a small child was too much for him.
"Stop this farce at once." Vincent declared, with Louis right behind him, curling his hair.
"Louis, we're back. Leave Vinc- Abel alone." She committed the mistake of using his real name before, she'll make sure not to do it again.
"Waah!" Seeing Rem at the door, Louis left Vincent's side and jumped at her arms. She smiled as she hugged the oni.
"Abel. We'll speak later about Priscilla." Glancing at the blue-haired woman at his right, she continued. "We have things to talk about."
"Very well."
Taking Rem by her arm, the three of them moved into a nearby room. Rem and Subaru sat in opposite beds, with Louis resting in Rem's lap as she patted her head. Subaru wasn't jealous, not at all. He would never be jealous of a child. Never.
"Now I don't know where to start." He said, as he rustled the back of his head. He had been waiting for this moment, and now he couldn't begin.
"How hopeless." Answered Rem with a sigh. "Start with telling who am I."
"You're Rem, just Rem. An oni with massive strength. Even without your horn, you're far stronger than the regular person."
"Oni? Horn?"
"Ah, but don't try to use it! You almost killed me last time you did… Hehehe." He tried to reduce the importance of said statement with a small chuckle but failed.
"KILL YOU? What happened?"
"You see, when you use your horn you… lose your reason. And when you smelled me, you see…"
The conversation went on for hours. Louis fell asleep in Rem's lap at some point, something Subaru wasn't envious of at all. They spoke about her, him, Ram, Emilia, their lives at the mansion, how both participated in the subjugation of the White Battle, the events in Priestella, and even the conquest of the Pleiades Watchtower.
"Anything else, Rem? It's getting late, after all."
"Yes. Something you've been avoiding all this time. How did I end like this?"
Subaru took a deep breath and started. It was the time. To let her know of his biggest failure.
"You were eaten by the Archbishop of Gluttony." He looked away, not wanting to see the faces of the woman he failed to save or the child in her lap. "His disgusting power lets him eat either your name or memories, and he took both. Lose your memories, and you don't know who you are. Lose your name, and everyone forgets about you. Lose both, and… you end in a coma. Forever asleep, with no one to remember your existence. You were like that for an entire year. Only I was able to remember who you were. Not even your sister knew who you were."
"Ah, so that's why. Why he's so happy just seeing me." Rem thought. He finally knew why he acted like that around her, as if her smile was all he needed to challenge Death over and over. Why he kept protecting her despite her obvious hate for him. Why he agreed to help Abel. All just for her. Her heart skipped a beat at those thoughts.
"It was so hard. I could have saved you, but… but…" Tears started flowing down his face. "I couldn't. I couldn't reach you in time. Seeing you, forever asleep with no one knowing who you were, not even Ram recognizing you, how everything you had done was erased…" He tried to wipe the tears off his face, but they kept flowing down. "I was so happy when you woke up. For an entire year, that's everything I wished for. To see you smile once again."
She stood up and left for the door, with Louis in her arms. She couldn't stand seeing him like that, looking so… weak, and was unsure of what to do. Perhaps she shouldn't have asked that. His past failure clearly pained him, and she didn't want to see him like that. To see the man that cared so much about her crying like that.
"That's all I wanted to know. Have a good sleep, Subaru-kun." She left like that, not knowing the full effects of her words.
Subaru-kun. Subaru-kun. How long had it been since he heard those words? Return by Death excelled at making him lose track of time. It had been more than a year, and he could finally hear them again. And it pained him, for those words reminded him of his past failure. He eventually cried himself to sleep: Half because of his past failures, the other half because she was finally back. Even if it wasn't truly her.
It had been a good day. While Abel planned their next move, Rem, Louis and Subaru went on a date around the town they currently resided in. He was free of dying of mana poisoning thanks to Arakiya, even if it involved breaking the contract with Beatrice. The way she sounded reminded him of that loop in the Pleiades Watchtower. She must be saddened, but it was the only way to survive. Moreover, he now knew that Garfiel was coming here. How long would it take for him to find him?
The three of them walked down the stands of the commercial street, eyeing the shops and tasting everything they could. The sun started setting, so they returned to the inn. As they walked back home, Subaru started feeling anxious. It was the time to finally tell Rem the truth about Louis. How would she take it? Every time she asked why he hated her so much he dodged the questions. But now… Could he truly hate her? After the events of the recent loops?
"My...hero..." That is what she said. That loop never became reality, but… why? How? There was only one person who called him like that. Could she have Rem's memories? That would explain how Rem learned water magic all of a sudden in the forest. Or her suddenly being able to use her horn again: She simply transferred her memories back to her.
Was there a way to make her memories return? As they turned a corner, heading straight for the inn, he was taken out of his trance by a familiar voice.
"It can't be. So fast?" He ran straight for the inn.
"Subaru!?" The day following the one where he told her about her past, he asked her not to call him Subaru-kun. She understood immediately why. Her past self called him like that, right?
"Wher's ma Cap'n!" As Subaru entered the inn, he saw him. With his usual attire, slamming his fist down the receptionist desk. Was he higher now? Three months had passed since he last saw him and he still was a boy in growing age... Or was it four months? He had given up trying to remember the exact dates for things. Going back in time screws with your time perception.
"Garfiel?"
Hearing his captain's voice, Garfiel turned back and saw him standing in the entrance. He rushed to him and pulled him into a tight hug.
"Cap'n! I missed ya!"
"Garfiel! I can't breathe!" His demi-human strength turned his hug into a lethal trap he had no way to escape.
"Sorry Cap'n." He left him free. After he recovered his breath, Subaru continued.
"Is everyone okay?"
"Worried Cap'n. We all miss'd ya."
"Subaru?" Entering the inn, Rem understood why Subaru had dashed to it out of nowhere. "A blonde demi-human… Garfiel?"
"Papa… who is... he?" While Rem tilted her head at the current situation, Louis just pointed at the demi-human and asked who he was.
"Ah, let me present both of you. Rem, this is Garfiel, the shield of Emilia's camp. Garfiel, as you already know, this is Rem. And the child in her arms is my daughter." He couldn't pass the opportunity to tease his little brother a bit. Louis smiled even further upon hearing that, while Rem blushed and called him an idiot. Garfiel only got even more confused.
"Cap'n… Princess won't be happy."
"I was joking Garfiel! Just a joke!"
"That's true, Garfiel! Subaru and I…" She blushed further.
"So yer haven't been cheatin' in Princess?" He glanced at Rem. "And… I don't remember Rem, Cap'n."
"So you don't… I thought that would happen. Come Garf. I'll tell you what happened and how we'll return home."
AN: Next chapter will wrap up the first Arc. Look forward to it!