Disclaimer: I do not own the fate series or Re:Zero
I hope you enjoy (:
Chapter 6 Standing on the threshold
The carriage ride was a quiet ride, not an unwanted quiet, more of a serene, relaxed silence. Subaru was finally feeling the effects of his battle with the sin archbishop thus he felt exhausted but restless all the same, it did not help that he was excited over the fact that he was going to the mansion of which had maids, he didn't think anyone knew. Archer knew. Puck knew. Everyone knew. Subaru didn't know. Nevertheless, everyone was happy, they all got out with their lives. Two, however, had more going on. Rem was confused, she was sure that Subaru was a witch cultist, so why did he save those kids and kill a sin archbishop? It made no sense. Subaru was lamenting the fact that he couldn't save all of the villagers, he also felt slight concern at this weird feeling in his stomach, it felt like something was there, begging to be released, Subaru felt like he could tug on it but listened to Archer and spoke to him first
'Yo, Archer'
"What is it, Subaru?" Archer spoke with caution, he hoped it wasn't something bad but due to his E rank luck, he would not have his way
'So, for a while now, I've had this weird feeling in my stomach? Abdomen? Well, it feels like it wants to be released, I think I can almost tug on something, should I try it?' Subaru was concerned but he wanted to find out what this thing was, but he would await the verdict before taking action
"No, that would be most foolish" came the blunt answer, it was the truth though, who knows what it is, it's probably what made Betelgeuse mental so Subaru opted to take archers advice and steer away from it, Subaru could feel this 'thing' become disappointed, he didn't know how to feel about this but it was definitely, probably not a good sign if something seemingly intangible is sentient and has intelligence
Subaru and Archer were both knocked out of their thoughts by the maid informing them of their arrival to the Roswaal mansion, it definitely was more impressive up close, it was unnecessarily fancy and expensive, and extremely well kept
"So, this Roswaal person must hire a lot of maids to keep this place so clean, right?" Looking at Rem, Subaru asked while also keeping an eye on how impressive the place was
"No, there is only sister and I, there used to be another maid, however she is no longer with us so it is just sister and I" Subaru looked dumbfounded and looked at Rem as if expecting a 'kidding' but none came
"You're kidding right? Right? There's no way there's just the two of you, that is pretty much slave labour!"
"Sister and I are fine with the workload plus sister is amazing at everything… much better than me" Rem spoke with remorse in her voice but spoke the last bit under her breath with dislike with herself, yet it was still heard by Subaru
"Maybe so, but surely there is stuff you're better at than her, it's only natural, sisters are good at things the other Is not right? So please, don't put yourself down like that, ok?" Subaru's features softened up as he spoke to her with a compassionate and understanding tone.
"But it's true! Sister is so much more amazing than I am, she can do everything better than I can!"
"So? Find something you can do better than her! Jeez, I never thought someone could have it as bad as me, but here I stand corrected" It sounded somewhat aggressive, yet the tone he used could be called anything but aggressive, along with his signature warm smile and comforting words, he attempted to encourage her, but to no avail
"Hmm? And what would you know about that? Sister is just that many times greater than me" She spoke with a venomous undertone but with a phantom of a smile, Subaru noticed and would take this as a small victory
"So we're here now, Emilia-tan let me help you out of the carriage, like a true gentleman" Subaru got out of the carriage and reached for Emilia's hand, only after nearly tripping on nothing for trying to strike a weird pose when he landed,
Taking his hand, Emilia went on "You're so silly Subaru, also I've been meaning to ask you, but where did you get this 'tan' from?"
"It's an honorific from my homeland, it's a token of friendship and closeness, it's just a thing to show how close people are as friends" Said Subaru as he peeked over at Emilia who was blushing at the prosect of friends, Subaru thought it was cute that she blushed so easily, but maybe she did it to often so it lost a bit of its effect
Trying to gain their attention, Puck coughed into his hands "Sorry to break up your flirting, but Rem here seems like she has something to say
"Thank you, great spirit, Emilia, I believe master Roswaal wants you in his office immediately. Honoured guest, I will take you to a spare room for now until tomorrow, master Roswaal believes you need immediate rest" Rem, who was somewhat avoiding eye contact with Subaru, said with an air of professionality
"Hey, can we quit it with all of this 'honoured guest', I'm just Subaru, Natsuki Subaru! Emilia-tan's hero, and a future hero of justice!" Striking his signature pose, bent hips, one hand on his hip and the other in the air, he made Emilia and puck giggle while he could feel Archer face palm from the silliness being presented
Rem looked on in silence, an extremely awkward silence when she spoke again "Right, hono- Subaru, please come this way, I will lead you to your room for the night, tomorrow we will talk about your reward with Master Roswaal present, I will wake you up when it is time"
Subaru thanked her and followed her lead to the guest room, it was pretty big and had a crème coloured wall paper with golden/yellow designs aligning the walls, a moderately large window with curtains of light azure lazily draping over them and an unexpectedly large double bed with a large dark oak headboard with more golden lines ornamenting it. Subaru had been given three pillows and a fluffy white duvet, a night gown could be seen folded up on the neatly made bed and the curtains were already pre drew, the light from the moon just barely seeping through to light up the room added with the lights from the hallway, overall, it was a very nice room, almost to extravagant for Subaru's tastes but he wouldn't complain. He was far too tired to even stand let alone be able to hold enough of a conversation to argue anything, thus, he fell onto his bed and fell unconscious, in his clothes, within seconds
Rem, on the other hand, was too restless to sleep 'why did he kill one of his own? Why did he save master Emilia and the villagers? Why didn't he just join them and kill everyone? It makes no sense, I must talk with sister, she will know what to do' Rem got out of bed and walked towards her sisters' room and knocked gently twice and waited for her to signal permission to enter
"Come in" Rem opened her sisters' door and moved towards the bed and sat down, Ram noticed the concerned look on her face and spoke up first "What happened, Rem? Was it the new guest?"
"Yes, technically it is" Came the short reply, Rem was extremely confused and thus, required her sister's insight on the matter
"Did he do something that warranted some sort of punishment" Her eyes slanted and her tone got a bit darker "Or is he a threat to master Roswaal and master Emilia?"
Rem spoke up, quietly as if to be cautious of anyone listening in "I believe he is a with cultist, the witches scent hangs heavily upon him, but he is the one who killed the witch cultist's sin archbishop and sacrificed himself to save some kids he doesn't know from the village, it makes no sense"
Ram was equally as confused 'is it some kind of ploy, an act to encroach on our safe haven? I cannot allow that but I shall first confide in master Roswaal, he always knows what to do' "I shall ask master Roswaal about it, should he see him as suspicious, we shall swiftly end him, now rest sister, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow"
Wordlessly, Rem left her sisters lodgings and started walking to her own room, her mind in a whirlpool of thoughts and emotions while Subaru was asleep in the lavish guest room, Emilia had gone in there and properly tucked him in, like a mother would to a child, Subaru would be beyond embarrassed if he had known so Emilia would keep it to herself for now
Subaru was dreaming about a whole of nothing as he found himself in the shadow realm, the one place he really didn't need to be right now, instead of relaxing in comforting dreams of his precious Emilia, he was paranoid and afraid, lying in wait for the inevitable chant that soon follows entry to this place
I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you
Subaru was absolutely terrified, the possessive mantra didn't help, he was stuck in a dark abyss with nothing in sight for however far this place stretched out for and he could feel nothing, the only constant in this world was the constant confessions of love that were purely obsessive and cold, what shocked Subaru the most was when the mantra was cut off, thinking it was Archer, he prepared a snarky remark but instead, a meek, solemn sounding voice was barely able to sound out
I'm sorry, I'm s-so -sniff- so-sorry, p-please forgive m-me. B-but please k-know that n-no matter w-what t-that I l-l- I Love you!
In place of the cold possessive chant was a heartfelt apology and a confession which sounded so genuine, Subaru wondered if this was the same person from two seconds ago before he felt repulsed from the abyss and was pulled into yet another plane of existence.
A desert, which had swords of many names and smiths, known and unknown, littering the entire area, plunged into the ground as if begging to be pulled out like Excalibur from the legend of king Arthur, cogs of unimaginable sizes floating miles above the ground, unmoving while a lone figure stood upon the hill of swords, a light breeze blew sand into both Subaru and the figure, the former of which had sand go into his mouth and struggled to spit it out, this earned a light chuckle from Archer who was now walking closer towards Subaru. Archer carried himself with confidence and pride, he gave off an aura that excreted battle prowess and experience, his eyes were as sharp as the mightiest sword and could look into the soul of your very being
"A rough first day, huh? I expected nothing less from someone who is seeking my aid to become a hero, just know, I will not go easy on you because you had a run in with some enemies, life is unfair and especially that of a hero, you should expect to run in with many more and far worse enemies who will not have such easily accessible weak points"
Subaru stayed silent for a moment, contemplating if he wanted to do this but his thoughts were derailed quickly by the idea of a place where everyone can smile freely and not have to worry about danger or enemies, a place where equality and happiness is the norm and not a luxury
"Of course, what did I expect? Archer of all people? Taking it easy? That's not even funny, even so, what kind of training will we be doing?" asked Subaru, who was secretly excited to train with a hero/counter guardian but also showed concern as to what just they would be doing
"I will come at you and you will defend and attempt to counter and attack me" all of the excitement and colour drained from Subaru, how was he supposed to believe that he could attack Archer, let alone defend himself against an unending barrage of precise and strong attacks
"Oh" was all Subaru could get out before what was about to happen truly set in, he was in for a truly hellish training regime, Archer projected two blunt blades which hung lazily by his sides within his hands
"Here, we will only be testing and training technique, it will be up to you on how to train your physical body, in the real world, I will also teach you to effectively use your magical circuits without killing yourself" said Archer stoically
Archer took the swords and pointed them up at Subaru in a 'prepare yourself!' position before rushing to his position in the blink of an eye, Subaru barely had enough time to guard before he felt two great, crushing forces smash into his guard, sending him flying back a couple of meters and then feeling a single kick which bent his entire body into a c shape and sent him back another few meters, knocking the air out of him all, feeling danger, Subaru rolled to his side and used the momentum to stand himself up right and back peddle a bit. Subaru was already in gut wrenching pain, yet he had this feeling, he had to go on, he couldn't just give up when things got hard
"It's great to have spirit and resolve, but you need to prove that you can back that resolve up, to be able to make others feel safe, not just because of your determination, but because they can confide in and trust your strength" Even in the heat of battle, he took the time and effort to lecture Subaru but Subaru would take this time to rest and analyse his opponent
'it looks like he knows martial arts, or at least he knows how to fight with his hands, he likes to use a mix of attacks utilising both weapons and hands, I need to be vigilant, just focus on defence for now and wait for a crack in his guard'
After blocking and dodging a relentless barrage of attacks, he noticed it, the crack in the shield, the weak point, he would be damned if he didn't go after this but as he went for the opportunity, he saw a small smirk appear on Archer's face and before he realised it, he was hit by a crushing force and felt part of his face completely shatter. Subaru had a revelation, 'why aren't I using my magic circuits, I could reinforce my body!' a small blue streak formed across Subaru's face and he started pouring prana into his arms and legs and bursting forth at incredible speeds 'I can do this, I just need to think clearly and grasp the situation, if I can move faster than he can react then I must have some sort of chance' As Subaru began to get his hopes up, they were immediately crushed by Archer who had seen through every attack and countered with perfect precision and accuracy
Subaru was getting frustrated and hopeless and now was just attacking, hoping to get a luck hit before getting pounded away 'Why am I still trying, I've always been useless, never able to help anyone by my own accord, always needing someone else's help' Subaru started to have flashbacks on when Archer was telling him that everything was a fluke, and that if not for him, technically, everyone would've died 'dying feels horrible, just knowing that the last moments of your life will be those looking at your murderers, it was horrible, I put so many people through that, yeah that's right, I'm absolutely detestable, the worst, I just shouldn't try anymore, Archer here is wasting his time on me and I thought I could be a hero, what a load of crap' his flashbacks were interrupted by a single thought, although more a memory, A crying and sniffling Emilia curled up into Subaru's arms and showing the biggest, brightest and most relieved and happy smile she could muster up she spoke one sentence, that one sentence which made Subaru believe his wish wasn't a fever dream, that one sentence…
'Thank you Subaru, -sniff- you are my hero!'
Another flashback, he had punched Elsa away from Emilia using his own mana and his own nerves as pseudo-magic circuits and withstood pain to get to her to protect her, that was all he needed, to protect them
Another one where he reached deep within himself and resolved to push on forward, to the path of a hero, the one who walks through hell itself willingly, all to be a pillar, a beacon, someone who will defend the defenceless, he knew that he didn't want to stop and he wouldn't let some fleeting feelings ruin that so with a newfound determination he stood up, though faced withimpossible odds, a fight he knew he couldn't win for sure, this wouldn't stop him, he had to stand, he had to fight so he glared at Archer and reinforced his limbs to the absolute and threw himself towards Archer and begun throwing as many punches and kicks as quickly and powerful as possible, aiming for the most painful and weakest points
'Head, diaphragm, stomach, testicle, throat, eyes!' he aimed for these points with accuracy and speed unattainable by most people and he put his full effort into defeating this unbeatable enemy in front of him, he would try and struggle until his last breath
Subaru had unconsciously reinforced his senses so he had an easier time dodging and countering than he had before and this went on for a few hours before Archer called for him to stop and started a chant, one that instilled more fear in Subaru than he would ever feel in his life
"I am the bone of my sword" a wave of magical energy pulsed off of Archer and Subaru was instantly paralysed in fear
"Steel is my body and fire is my blood"
"I have created over a thousand blades"
By this point, Subaru could feel the aura around Archer, he was completely serious about this and Subaru could do nothing but lay there, in fact, he was expecting death and just waited for it to happen, he was too afraid to argue
"Unknown to death, nor known to life
"Have withstood pain to create many weapons"
"Yet those hands will never hold anything"
"So, as I pray"
Subaru was awaiting death but nothing came and he heard Archer's voice again
"That is the kind of fear some people go through each and every day, I had to go through that fear every time I got into a battle, I thought 'this battle will be my last' every time, the only reason I kept trying was because there were people who couldn't survive if I hadn't stood my ground, just know, I didn't become strong because I wanted to, nor because it sounded cool or because I wanted to impress people…" Archer lifted his black combat armour to reveal an absurdly high number of welts, bruises, new and fading scars and countless wounds and injuries littering his body "I became strong because it was necessary to do so… This could be you in the future so be warned, but also know that I don't regret a single one of these scars if someone was saved because of it, but the fear is implanted in them, the fear of death in the face of overwhelming odds
Subaru was conflicted, he was absolutely terrified of what it was that Archer had just pulled, but also frustrated that people felt this fear almost daily and just accepted death, he didn't want this, he wanted to help people in the face of these overwhelming odds, if he could help it, he would take on the burdens of everyone on the planet and then some but he knew, the fear would always be there, the willingness to just accept death, it was terrifying, Subaru felt as if nothing could be done and he only need to await his reset, he wouldn't let anyone feel this without some kind of hope, no matter the cost
Subaru thought to himself 'I need to get stronger! I need to be faster! I need to be braver! the only way I'm going to be a hero is if I can become better, stronger and more courageous' Subaru then looked at Archer and cracked a small smile and chuckled to himself a little
"If I have you by my side teaching me the ropes, do I really have to be worried?"
"Hmm, I suppose so, although I don't know if I will be any good as a teacher, I only ever really fought by myself for most of my time, but I don't have time to ponder that now, it's time to just get on with it" Archer said back although Subaru could avoid all the physical damage through his ability to reset, it was more about the psychological side of things, Archer was worried on whether he would break or not mentally as though he wouldn't show it, the whole Betelgeuse thing messed him up quite a bit, the pain of having each limb being pushed past its limit and being ripped and broken was painful, it was enough pain to send some insane and push them off the path of heroism, yet Subaru pushed on, knowing that he could end up in the same position. Still the possibility that he finds himself in something worse wasn't necessarily impossible, in fact, it was quite likely if there were more weirdos like those witch cultists running around.
"Well, that's enough of that, that maid is about to come in and wake you up, there is someone else with her though so, be wary"
"Maybe it's Emilia-tan, I really hope so" Subaru had a dopey smile on his face as he though aloud, something which didn't go unnoticed by Archer, who looked a little disappointed and slightly disgusted
Back in the waking world, Rem and a maid who was identical to her, with the exception of hair colour and the eye which the bangs covered, walked into Subaru's room only to see him awake and staring at them, hiding her surprise and shock, she walked into the guest room and spoke clearly, if not a little coldly.
"Honoured guest, may I ask why you are up at such a time?"
"I just woke up as a matter of fact, I always liked to wake up early you know, got to start the day off early, right?" Subaru spoke with a small grin and a light chuckle as he goy up and walked over to his folded clothes, which had somehow already been washed but he was not going to complain, he looked at the two maids as if expecting something "Hey, um, sorry to be a little rude, but I need to get changed so could you, you know, Leave please?"
The maids acknowledged his request and left his room in haste as Subaru changed into his clothes which smelt like honey and apples, a weird mix but smelt nice and left a light after taste on his tongue, to his enjoyment, it didn't leave a bitter aftertaste like most deodorant when you catch a breath of it, regardless, he appreciated whoever did this for him and would have to thank them later for it
After he got dressed, he was about to leave to find Emilia when he heard a knock on the door, expecting one of the maids he said come in but didn't expect what he saw
"Oh! Emilia-tan, I didn't know that you would be coming to my room this early on, is there some sort of special occasion?"
"Good morning, Subaru, no there is not a special occasion but I felt like taking you to breakfast, since you don't know the way around the mansion at all... and you know, so we can hang out…"
Emilia had said that last bit in a small voice, almost a whisper so Subaru didn't hear and chose to accept Emilia's proposal to be brought to breakfast by her, in truth, Subaru was over the moon that Emilia had come to his room personally to take him and not one of the maids, but he would keep that excitement to a low for now as it was early in the morning
"Ok, Emilia-tan! Lead the way" Subaru
Emilia led Subaru through the lavishly decorated halls, the same crème wall paint and golden lines to go along with the colour, there were pairs vases with blooming flowers after and before every door further signifying the wealth that the Roswaal mansion could flaunt, Subaru was impressed by it sure, but his attention was on something else entirely. The way her silver flowing hair flew softly in the light breeze, how her purple amethyst eyes brightened in the moonlight and how her pale complexion radiated pure light in the night sky, how her facial expressions and mannerisms, no matter the mood, always made Subaru smile and the way she respected Subaru and believed him, above all, is why Subaru would do anything to protect her and why he loved her. Subaru had never felt this kind of love for anyone before, sure he loved his parents and maybe the odd crush here and there but nothing like this, so he would make Emilia happy, he would make sure
"-aru!"
Cut out of his thoughts Subaru turned to Emilia, who seemed slightly concerned, who had been calling his name for some time now apparently
"Subaru! Are you ok? You've been ignoring me and staring at the door the whole time, it's kinda creepy"
Feigning hurt with a dramatic pose, Subaru once again attempted to fluster Emilia again like usual
"Oh, it was nothing, I was simply thinking of how gorgeous Emilia-tan would look in a swim suit" Subaru actually started to imagine this, his face adopting a dopey smile and now ignoring Emilia's embarrassed and furiously blushing face followed by complaints and pleas for Subaru to stop
"Please Subaru! It's embarrassing, seriously you dunderhead!"
"Really? Who says 'Dunderhead' anymore?" Teasing Emilia again, she sighs in defeat and accepts that she'll never beat Subaru in a battle of wits
"Anyway, Subaru, we're here, inside here should be-!"
Subaru walked in without any warning and looked around to see was present, who happened to be the only inhabitants of the mansion, Rem, the red-haired maid, a drill haired little girl, Emilia and a… clown? He was confused but the aristocracy probably had weird tastes when it came to dinner entertainment, still though, why in the morning? Oh well, he would leave these things to be answered in the near future, he doesn't want to make a mistake
Emilia came in and scolded Subaru instantly
"Subaru, why did you march in by yourself? I was going to walk you in and introduce you" Emilia finished her sentence with a sad face and tone of voice to match with it but tried to put on a stoic face, which failed dramatically and the result being somewhere between pouting and holding your breath, only Emilia would be able to do this thought Subaru
"Well, Emilia-tan, I thought I would come and introduce myself first, bringing along with me the element of surprise to leave a lasting impact… now" he turned to face the audience witnessing this new spectacle and struck his signature dramatic pose "My name is Natsuki Subaru, a hero of justice and saviour of Irlam village, also, most importantly… Emilia-tan's friend!"
Hearing this, Emilia puffed out her cheeks in an attempt to pout which was swiftly complimented by Subaru as he turned back to gauge their reactions, he wanted to break the ice and lighten the mood, the clown was laughing a bit which helped, then he looked over to the two maids who were completely stone faced which hurt Subaru's pride slightly, however, he would not let it get to him bowing slightly he continued
"And you three are?"
The clown stood up first and when he introduced himself, Subaru was both relieved and scared out of his mind
"Aaaaaand I am Roswaaaaaaal L. Mathers, pleasure to maaaaaake your acquaintance, Natsuki Subaru"
Relieved because he had not spoken up about the nobles and their choice in hiring a 'clown' which if said aloud, he probably would have been beheaded and hung on a wall as a trophy
"And the maaaaaaaaids beside me are Reeeeeeeem and Ram, both are haaaaaaard working indivduaaaaaals, so please treat them with respeeeeect" Roswaal gestured over to his two only maids before Subaru commented again
"To take care of this entire mansion, they gotta be insanely good at what they do" Subaru was in awe at just how clean the place was, it was practically spotless and done by just two people, if he didn't know better, he'd call BS on it but here he stood in the presence of said maids
"Of course, sister and my work is astounding, even an outsider can see that from a mile away, it's to be expected from how amazing me and sister are" The red haired maid now identified as Ram spoke up, honestly, Subaru's first thoughts were that she was quite arrogant and prideful, albeit, in this situation it was deserved so he would let it slide for now but then her blue haired counter-part spoke up in monotone
"But sister you are much better than me at everything, I don't deserve th-"
"Rem… I thought we talked about this on the carriage, you need to stop putting yourself down so much, sure, maybe for comparison every now and then but the way you're doing it is not healthy, I'm concerned but if you're feeling down, you can always come and talk to me, ok?" Subaru interrupted her self-deprecating rant with a little bit of scolding and an offer if she were to ever need help, Subaru was genuinely worried, anyone with a brain could tell and Ram was honestly thankful that someone was trying to help, even if it was some outsider who she'd never met, it proved that there were good people
'Maybe I was wrong about you, Natsuki Subaru, but I will still keep my eye on you'
Rem, still with a straight face and a cold expression she nodded and went silent
The last person who had yet to introduce themselves was the small drill haired girl, Subaru wanted to speak to her but it was like she had a bubble around her, she didn't want anyone to speak to her but Subaru could see a bit of desperation in her eyes, as if expecting something, Subaru decided not to push the subject as it was probably something really personal, in the end, the drill haired little girl did not introduce herself and instead Roswaal introduced her
"The oooooone over there iiiiiiiiis Beatrice, spirit of the foooooorbidden library, a very poooooowerful yin spirit"
Subaru couldn't help but get an uneasy feeling from Roswaal, his emotionless smile and dead eyes, it's as if he knows more than he lets on but he pushed that aside for now
"Speaking of powerful spirits, Archer! I call upon thee!" Subaru called out in the most cringeworthy and dumb way anyone could've thought of as Archer started appearing out of thin air, surprising everyone there in the room
"I may as well introduce myself, my name is not important so you may call me 'Archer' for now, and just a warning, I will eliminate any threats presented to myself, Subaru or anyone in general" Archer stated this coldly, it was now known, do not attack Nastuki Subaru unless you had a way to deal with his contracted spirit first, the only one seemingly not shocked was Roswaal who had a slight smirk on his face which alerted Archer, if only slightly, the only problem that he would have with Roswaal if he needed to fight him was his proficiency in magic, other than that, it would be a simple task, if he didn't almost drain all of the mana of Subaru just by materialising, but that was a topic for another day "I will be going now, direct any questions towards Subaru, he will probably not be able to answer them but have fun watching him try" Archer finished with a smug smile and a sarcastic remark which was aimed entirely towards Subaru to which Subaru responded
"You know, you're really funny Archer, how about you stop pushing all of your problems onto me, that would be so nice of you, my friend" the sarcasm pouring off of Subaru's voice was tangible and you could tell this was a normal occurrence due to how casual it seemed then Archer responded with another smug remark
"But 'friend', remember that time in the carriage when the elf girl fell asleep, I think I was saying something like… womani-"
"No! please, stop! Stop! I give, I give! You win!" Subaru slumped over in defeat and Archer giving one final triumphant and smug smirk, he finally dispersed into hundreds of motes of light leaving a depressed Subaru and a shocked audience, excluding Roswaal, all thinking the same thing
'what in heavens name is going on here!?' no one really caught on to the dynamic that they had, they were casual at times but when it counted, they were both level headed and knew what they were doing so moments like those were allowed
"So, any questions? Please don't have any" Subaru pleaded but Roswaal just had to raise his hand "Yes Roswaal, go on" Subaru's pleas fell upon deaf ears as Roswaal completely trampled on any hope Subaru had of slipping out of this situation
"Weeeeeell I was wonderiiiiiiing, why did he have such aaaaaaaan intimidating auraaaaa?"
"Well, I'm not really sure, but I assume he has been through a lot of battles and seen stuff we wouldn't even see in our worst nightmares, but overall, I think it probably has something to do with his battle prowess, and even then it's probably held back by me somehow" Subaru finished his little impromptu explanation to a listening Roswaal who was surprisingly interested in the matter but Roswaal dropped that and returned to his cheery usual self and returned to the original matter at hand
"Nooooow theeeeeen Subaru, it is tiiiiiime, you saved the villaaaaaage under myyyyyy care and saved a royaaaaal candidate, so yoooooooou may haaaaaave any wish that I caaaaaaan give you, of cooooourse it has to be withiiiiiiin the realms oooooof possibility" Roswaal offered Subaru anything he wished for, money, fame, power and a multitude of other things but he wished for one thing that could push him closer to his goal
"Roswaal, there are knights here that support royal candidates, right?"
Sensing where this was going, Emilia audibly gasped and went to protest "But Subaru! I look like the witch of envy, the backlash that would cause to you, people would also discriminate against you!"
"And? Is that all? Emilia, I know that you are not the witch of envy, we already cleared that up on the way here, in the carriage. I will never discriminate against you just because you resemble someone, it's not what's on the outside, but what's on the inside that counts you know? You are what you make of yourself, not what others make of you" Subaru shut all of Emilia protests down and she started to tear up again before stifling it and smiling before speaking again
"Thank you, Subaru, I would be happy to have you!"
Turning back to Roswaal who had a smile on his face he presented what he wanted for his reward
"Roswaal, I want to be Emilia's personal knight, to be at her beck and call and to defend her and the people at the drop of a hat, I will show my support to Emilia-tan's camp by being her knight for the royal selection and forevermore!"
Emilia had left the room to go cry tears of happiness, no one had ever treated her so well in her life apart from Puck, Emilia was truly happy, someone truly wanted to be her knight and saw her for who she was and not some witch of envy replica, she thanked Subaru once more with choked back sobs and tears before running off
"Unfoooortunately, I cannot kniiiiiiight you properly at the mooooment so the official paaaaaart will have to wait but aside from thaaaat, Welcome aboard, Siiiiiir Natsuki Subaruuuuu" Roswaal replied, eccentric as ever but still keeping that emotionless smile while the maids seemed somewhat shocked but kept it on the low, barely noticeable
The rest of the day went relatively normally, Subaru had moved from a guest room to a proper room, the same wall paint with golden lines orienting the walls, this time, in his room stood a large double bed not unlike the last one in his old room except slightly larger with his folded tracksuit and nightgown on top of his duvet, and a new addition to his growing variety of clothes, he was given a fancy outfit, likely to be his uniform however, unfortunately, the uniform would need some adjustments so he would have to talk to one of the maids later about it, but for now he set up his room, he also noticed he had a small bookshelf and a rather large dark oak desk with several compartments in it, a wooden chair with a comfortable cushioned back and seat coloured a willow green which was relaxing to the eyes, it had a lamp on top which was seemingly powered by magic crystals, it reminded him of batteries but less complicated
Subaru was feeling pretty tired but he still had a few things to do before dinner and then, sleep so he picked himself up and moved outside his room only to be met with a library with the small blonde sitting on a stall directly in front of him
"We still needed to talk to her about that thing you absorbed so why not get it out of the way now?" nodding internally at Archers advice Subaru waited for Beatrice to speak
"I've been meaning to speak to you, I suppose"
"What a coincidence, so have I, do you want to go first or what?" both looked at each other and waited before Beatrice stood up, putting her book down and speaking up again
"I suppose you should go first, I'll allow it, me being the ever-benevolent Betty after all"
"Ok, I'll tell you the short version, I defeated a sin archbishop of whatever and apparently my spirit tells me that a part of something that is either him or something that belonged to him was absorbed into me, I found out apparently you know all about this stuff through anonymous sources, so please tell me what's wrong with me, doctor beako!" Came the silly request from the nasty eyed boy, Betty already knew what it was so he decided to enlighten him on it as it could prove to be useful so it would be best to find out quickly whether he will be of any use
"For now, I'll pretend that I didn't hear that nickname and continue with the explanation, first you probably absorbed his witch factor, you can think of Witch factors as the opposite of od laguna and their divine blessings, a witch factor is what gives someone an authority and no divine blessing can be as strong as an authority, authorities given by witch factors vary between people and under certain circumstances, if the person is not compatible with the witch factor, they can lose their sanity, so chances are that you have a witch factor and an authority, I suppose" Beatrice provided enough information on the matter to relieve some of the stress that Subaru felt and he even felt a little proud of being able to have a new ability, he'd be more happy if the original owner hadn't been Betelgeuse
"Wait! So this tugging feeling I've had in my abdomen is this witch factor then?" Subaru was hoping to get an answer that would explain what this 'thing' was so he could find out whether he could use it or not
"No, I suppose, that would probably be your authority, if you can interact with it, it definitely is your authority, I suppose" Subaru was now kinda excited, he didn't suffer any consequences when he gained the witch factor so he decided to risk it and pull on the thing, he could see in his mind this pulsating jumble of pitch black mass, so he decided to pull until he got something out which revealed itself to be a pitch black and purple hand coming out of his stomach, there was only one but still, he had one
"Woah! You see this, this is awesome I got one of his 'unseen hands' " Subaru was practically jumping around the room while Beatrice looked on in confusion 'There is nothing there, why is he jumping around like a lunatic, I wonder?' Beatrice decided to speak her concerns "What are you talking about? There is nothing there"
"Oh right! I forgot, I got an ability that lets me summon hands which are invisible to everyone but the user and me for some reason, also I can only summon one for now" Subaru explained to the little girl "By the way, for a little girl, you sure know a lot"
Beatrice was visibly fuming and shouted "I am not a little girl!" before launching Subaru out of the room with magic, at which point Subaru dragged his feet to his bedroom and passed out on his bed leaving his clothes to one side and barely dressed in his nightgown, he was too tired and would sort it out tomorrow, drifting off to dreamland he realised he would have to fight Archer again, he wanted to get stronger and this was surely helping but Archer hit hard and Subaru could still feel pain, overall it wasn't the best experience but it was necessary, so, as he drifted off, he once again found himself upon the hill of swords facing towards an elevated Archer who looked upon him and asked
"Are you ready for round two?"
And that's a wrap, I'm sorry for the late upload but I just lost motivation for this chapter as it was mostly normal until later into the chapter so I got bored and then in the middle of writing, I get a motivation boost at 2 in the morning so that's nice but I need to ask, does anyone know where I can read up on Meili's backstory? I don't have access to the LN so I wonder if any of you guys know about where I can learn it or if any of you guys can summarise it for me but anyways, as always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter (: