Negative One
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First off, props and thanks to Tall-Gothic-Guy for the new fic summary. It's golden.
—
Feeling the transition from smooth wood to the grainy stone path leading away from Emilia's hut, Garfiel scoffs to himself.
"Roswaal ya bastard, th' fuck's yer goal 're, eh?!"
He looks up to see the clown drifting in the wind above Lewes' hut. Roswaal looks almost… peaceful. Like he's completed his life's work and is ready to settle. This enrages Garfiel even more. That clown had the gall to try and murder Ram, and then he floats around peacefully after throwing a tantrum? Unforgivable scum like him-
"…Th' fuck?"
Garfiel feels the sting of cold upon his face, and feels a bead of water drip from the bridge of his nose. This makes Garfiel stop focusing on Roswaal, and now he can see tiny white flecks all around him.
"What th' hell is this?"
The blondie's earlier words come to mind.
"Th' Ousagi… ain't that th' rabbit thing? How th' hell'd he be calling it in?"
Garfiel continues to walk closer to the slowly descending Roswaal, anger slowly building in the air around him.
"None a' that shit matters now, my amazing self'll beat yer ass inta th' ground! ROSWAAL!"
The floating clown made no movements, though with Garfiel's shout there was no doubt he hadn't heard the threat. Slowly, ever so slowly, Roswaal descended from his place in the sky. It was child's play for Garfiel to jump up and reach him at the top of his flight, but now it was a laughable effort to push off the ground.
With a booming roar and the crack of bodies connecting, Garfiel slammed into the clown. They flipped over in the air a few times. Roswaal, despite being bandaged and almost blown up from the inside, found purchase on Garfiel's coat and tried to fling him away. Garfiel wouldn't let him though, grabbing the arm holding him and yanking it away with enough force to snap the elbow out of its socket.
Roswaal only smiled, which caught Garfiel off guard and allowed the clown to push him away.
The two finally hit the ground. Roswaal immediately opened fire with an amazing spurt of flame, it traveled so fast Garfiel was almost caught up in it. After recovering from the dodge, Garfiel had to dodge again and again as the fire bombardment was relentless.
That bastard'll burn down th' Sanctuary at this point!
Roswaal was giving no heed to where his fire was landing, caring not for the homes and trees set ablaze as a result. While artemillion does have a heavy mana consumption, it is only the instance it is casted, like with most other spells. Even though it was a short time after, enough time had passed for Roswaal's extremely gifted magic abilities and mana generation to kick back in.
The bombardment forced Garfiel to refrain from approaching, but his stubbornness kept him from retreating as well. He was mad, madder than he'd been in his entire life. He never should have let anyone into the Sanctuary, regardless of if they had good intentions or bad or whatever.
A scream forced Garfiel to glance behind him, worried for those he lived with. In the millisecond he looked back, he saw the blondie slam a Sanctuary resident out of the path of some fire. The blaze singed nothing but grass as the blondie readied himself and jumped towards Roswaal this time.
Garfiel was raising a wall of earth to defend himself when he noticed the blondie jump out in front of him and waved the fire away with his arm. Meiss shook the appendage for a second, trying to beat down a small flame on his sleeve, before striking out with his fist at another incoming wave. His arm seemed to extend, a glowing wire shooting out a few feet that seemed to counter the flames. The fire was gobbled up and disappeared, a corona of the escaping flames sputtering out before they reached Meiss. The blondie looked behind himself, to Garfiel.
"I'll help you close the distance, so beat his clown ass!"
Garfiel didn't exactly appreciate the blondie taking the reins, but he really did want to beat Roswaal's clown ass
Meiss got to work swiping flame away with acedia, the colored wires once again seeming to gobble up any flames that licked their surface. Together, Garfiel and Meiss slowly advanced. Roswaal no longer seemed to be shotgunning, and had focused his fire at solely Garfiel and Meiss.
A bead of sweat dripped from Garfiel's forehead, the fire washing over him was hot, enough to blow scalding air at him even if it was absorbed by Meiss' magic wire things. It was almost thirty seconds later when they were within a respectable distance from Roswaal. Still out of range of acedia, but close enough that Garfiel could easily close the distance with a jump. That's exactly what he did, using a slab of earth to cover himself as he vaulted over Meiss.
Believing Garfiel would be fine from here, Meiss wiped sweat from his forehead, as well as brushed his sticky hair out of his eyes and back over his head. Vision fully cleared now, Meiss looked back to the now-raging forest fire behind him. With the barrier in place, it was of even more concern since the Sanctuary residents couldn't run from it. The most pressing matter, though, was the wrathful pink vortex running towards Garfiel and Roswaal. Quickly, Meiss remembered what he had thought of only a few minutes before. With the memories of her precious sister erased, Ram would be all the more loyal to Roswaal.
There was no hiding the destructive glint in Ram's eyes. Meiss had no idea to what lengths she would go for the clown, but he wasn't willing to wait and see. Taking advantage of her hyperfocus, he tried to tackle her to the ground. She blasted into the sky an instant before Meiss could try to restrain her. Feeling his arms close on air, Meiss was already repositioning himself. He readied acedia to shoot out and disrupt the magic allowing her to fly, but first he needed to get closer. Acedia wasn't fast enough to be wholly relied upon at longer ranges from the get-go, it needed time to build up speed. Ram's naturally potent glare pierced him.
"Get out of my way!"
"Roswaal just tried to kill you, does that not change your views on him at all!"
Ram folded her arms, dropping back to the ground.
"I am happy to be of any use to Roswaal-sama, if he deems it necessary to go through me to accomplish his goals I will gladly accept."
Meiss' brows hitched.
"What the hell is wrong with you! Being killed by him would make you happy?! The fuck- I can't-"
"Roswaal-sama is everything to me, and as such I shall give him my everything, and how he uses my everything is none of my concern."
This stunned Meiss. He couldn't fathom giving himself away to another so completely.
It was no wonder this surprised him, Meiss hadn't had many interactions with Ram up to this point; he did rather enjoy her barbed tongue though.
Ram slowly started walking now. Meiss had the impression she would walk right through him if he didn't move. That was something he couldn't let happen. He didn't know Ram's combat ability at all, but knew she must be insanely strong. She was Rem's twin after all. Plus she could fly, which was a surprise..
Meiss stood his ground as Ram approached, determined to be an obstacle. Ram's eyes widened in anger when she saw this, and she picked up the pace before starting to fly once more. It was an alarming speed, but definitely slower than Elsa. Meiss braced himself, readying his threshold of three acedia in case she dodged to the sides or up.
Before she was ever within striking distance, she shot diagonally up. Meiss kicked off the ground to try and meet her, fell short, and closed the remaining distance with two acedia. One missed, the other wrapped around her leg as she flew past. In a hiss of air the wind magic dissipated around her ankle. The wire yanked her back, before sailing through the air and slamming Ram into the ground below.
Meiss could never know how much Ram meant to Rem, he was an only child, but for Rem's sake he toned his next attack down.
Falling, Meiss' unassisted fist cracked against Ram's temple as she struggled against the acedia. Her face hit the dirt, blood spurting from the middle of her forehead. This was not enough to do little more than make Ram slightly dizzy from the sudden movement. She was an oni after all.
Oni… that's right, she's an oni like Rem. Where's her horn then? Does she not need it to fight me?
Meiss left the question unanswered as a blade of wind scored an unshallow cut against his cheek, carving his ear in half. The sudden pain made Meiss squeak and flinch back, holding his ear. In doing so he opened himself to Ram. She slammed his head into the ground, making him cry out as his ear was smashed into the dirt.
"H-how resilient-"
Ram then straddled him, hands on his neck. At first, Meiss was at a loss. Once it sunk in that she was choking him, he started to panic. Rem was extraordinarily strong, he doubted he would be able to pry any of her fingers from his neck unless he used dolorem++. Ram was undoubtedly in the same boat. Not to mention that Rem seemed to think herself so inferior to her sister, which suggested Ram was stronger than her. The thought terrified Meiss as he struggled under Ram. The maid effortlessly held him down, it was obvious she had training in more than just magic and her daily duties. Meanwhile, Meiss' ability consisted mainly of his own experiences in this world. Experiences that equated to barely more than a month. Technique-wise, he was no match for anybody here, Subaru included most likely if Meiss didn't use Melancholy.
Feeling his lungs cry and screech against his ribs, Meiss switched from trying to pry Ram's hands off him to attacking her directly. He tried to punch her, in the stomach, in the face, the thoat. She shrugged these off, tucking in her face to protect her neck. Next Meiss tried to attack Ram's elbows, she merely leaned in, bending her arms more and increasing the pressure. Panic surged in Meiss' mind, he was surrounded by air, so much air so boundful plentiful infinite but none of it went in. Breathe breathe breathe he couldn't breathe. He felt his eyes bulge as a dry sound escaped his lips. Meiss finally started to feel the pressure lessen, as if Ram was growing weary. Meiss didn't care anymore, sister or no sister he was going to free himself.
Meiss shakily brought his hands to Ram's, letting acedia burn them. She made no movements, no reactions. Amping up the heat, Meiss felt blood trickle from her hands before turning brown and thick from the heat. Ram looked to be properly struggling now, she was swaying over him, as if in exhaustion. Her forehead wound, dripping earlier, started to pour like a leaky faucet. The blood covered Meiss' face as she faltered and almost fell off of him.
Meiss bucked up, throwing Ram off. She shrieked hollowly, as if she barely had the energy to do so. Meiss then took his turn straddling Ram, holding her down with one arm, surprisingly, as he heaved his chest and wiped his face of her blood.
It felt horrible, like his lungs had been squashed and then suddenly blown to full capacity. Absentmindedly, he realised the paltry amount of strength he needed to hold down Ram. He wasn't even using dolorem. The maid was struggling so weakly Meiss doubted she would be able to stand even if he got off of her.
He took no chances though, and increased the pressure. It hurt him to do this to someone who so closely resembled and meant so much to Rem, but this was no time for sentimentality. This situation had gone down it's worst possible path so far; Ram was wholly subservient to Roswaal and her removal would be optimal.
Despite the frailty of her, Ram still had nails. They gouged into the flesh of Meiss' arm weakly, barely taking off the first layer of skin before they fell, too weak to move. Ram glared at him with pure hatred, before the shine in her eyes left and Meiss loosened his grip. Her pulse surged against his fingers, and her breath came even.
Meiss breathed heavily, leaning off of Ram but keeping an eye on her. The oni race was almost a complete mystery to him. He knew they were a Japanese demon of some sort but wasn't privy to the lore behind them. It would be a cruel joke if they had some sort of ability to quickly recover from being rendered unconscious. That was assuming of course any deeper lore from Earth carried over to this world.
Unfocusing on Ram, Meiss dimly started to notice the sounds around him. The forest was properly ablaze now, it's roar almost loud enough to drown out the panicking of the Sanctuary Residents. It melted any falling snow that got even remotely close to the ground. Above those two in sound though was the fight between Roswaal and Garfiel. Meiss rubbed his neck tenderly, looking to the side hurt a bit after having his neck squeezed.
It was a short time since Garfiel and Meiss had parted, but the fight was in full swing.
In place of Garfiel, a large lion was swiping away fireballs and trying to tear into Roswaal. As for the clown himself, he looked like he was having fun. There was such a wide smile on his face, as if this was all trivial.
Then the weirdest thing happened. Roswaal stopped fighting. It looked like he gave up, welcoming the lion's paw like a gristly hug. The golden appendage swiped through Roswaal, cleaving him in half with sheer strength alone. His legs tumbled for a second, and his upper body flew into a house.
It reminded Meiss of the first time he experienced Shi ni Modori, being so violently flung, and he absently tensed his abdomen before putting in the mental energy to calm himself.
Roswaal is dead, Ram is unconscious. This is bad. Roswaal was Emilia's benefactor, he must stay alive at least until the end of the election.
Ah, that's really not good.
The lion shook for a second, before it's fur and size decreased until it resembled something humanoid. Panting heavily, Garfiel stood in place of the lion. He took one look at Roswaal's legs and seemed to ignore them. Shaking his head, he stumbled as he started walking over to Meiss.
Wait… what was Garfiel's relation to Ram?
Meiss felt his blood run cold.
I spent so much time problem-solving at the mansion I neglected to learn how everything worked here. I have no idea how Garfiel will react to Ram. I know they're at least friends, but…
"Th' hell happen'd to Ram?"
Meiss thought too long. Garfiel was already close enough to talk and identify Ram's form. There were a number of outcomes to this depending on how Garfiel reacted. He was closer now, enough to bump fists or exchange blows.
"She came flying over-"
Meiss blinked reflectively to shield his eyes from a spray of red. Garfiel's face split in two from an unseen force. Red gore dripped from Meiss' face, small dots of sprayed blood and chunks of brain matter. The taste of iron made Meiss want to retch before he had even fully processed half of Garfiel's skull falling away from his body.
"Uh- ah-"
"Garf you insolent cur! How dare you harm Roswaal-sama!"
Ram was standing, shakily but standing nonetheless. After cursing Garfiel, she looked to Meiss, murderous rage in her eyes. She looked ghastly, like she hadn't slept in weeks, and blood dripped from her forehead.
"Hornless or no, it is imbecilic to believe you could incapacitate an oni!"
—
"Subaru?"
"S-Subaru!"
Emilia… why is she up before me? Is that someone else?
Feeling small hands trying to shake him awake, Subaru groaned as his vision cleared. It was considerably brighter than it should be, and more comfortable too.
Then Subaru realises he's lying on his back instead of standing up outside the tomb.
He bolts straight up, and ends up clonking someone with his head. Clutching his forehead, Subaru makes a show of being greatly hurt.
"Itaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-"
Only for a weak fist to start pounding his covered face in annoyance.
So I didn't die and go back.
"That hurt! Stop with your jesting I suppose! This is no time for such a thing!"
"Even though it was reeeaaaally funny, Beatrice is right Subaru."
Subaru rights himself and finally opens his eyes. He's greeted by the surprising pair of Emilia and Beatrice. Beatrice always has a mad look on her face so her expression is of no concern, but Emilia looks genuinely worried. She glances to the door every few seconds, watching to make sure it stays closed.
"Eh? Emilia-tan teaming up with Beako? Am I in another alternate worl-"
This prompts Beatrice to hit him in the jaw mid-word, and he ends up biting his tongue. Emilia reaches out as Subaru flails and curls up into a ball.
There's an uncomfortable minute where Subaru nurses his tongue and Emilia pats him on the back. Beatrice looks on in mock disgust, but still glances worriedly at Subaru. Eventually, Subaru recomposes himself with a calm look on his face. His first action is to chop Beatrice in the forehead as punishment for almost making him sever his tongue. This action bore no retaliation from Beatrice.
"What happened?"
The seriousness instantly shifts the mood as Subaru looks at Emilia and Beatrice. The drill loli looks at Emilia for a second before twirling one of her drills and opening her mouth.
"Roswaal cast a weather-altering spell in fact, and is currently in a physical altercation with the feral child and the boy-"
"Meiss?"
Beatrice nods.
"He muttered to himself like an insane man before magically being healed of his ailments I suppose."
Subaru looks at Beatrice.
"'Magically' is something of a daily occurrence, Beako."
Beatrice's eye twitches. Emilia smiles as she witnesses the teasing that Subaru seems to do naturally.
A loud slam makes Beatrice jump, and Emilia rises to her feet while looking at the door. Small spirits flutter around her for a second before winking out of sight. The half-elf looks visibly worried.
"They reeaaally don't like this place, huh... Should I have gone out with them?"
Subaru watches the door silently, backing away closer to Emilia's room. He knows there's a window in there just in case they need to flee. Beatrice mentioned a weather-change spell, so the Ousagi is inevitable now. There's no fighting such a monster without a large AOE. Roswaal is out of the question for helping with that, and Beatrice has no mana.
Subaru is surprised with himself for a second for slipping into that thought process.
Beatrice looks to Emilia.
"Betty can protect Subaru, do what you wish I suppose."
"Uhm…"
Emilia looks away from the door for a second at Beatrice.
"You routinely blast Subaru out of windows with no regard for the height of them, I don't think I would feel comfortable-"
Another thud, much louder, sounds from just outside the house.
Those inside the house hear Meiss' voice yell "JESUS CHRIIIIIIAAAAAAAAHH!" before fading away. A few seconds later the ceiling caves in and Meiss' form bounces against the floor. His clothing is shredded, and cuts cover his body.
Emilia scrambles to Subaru and shoves him and Beatrice into her room, ignoring their complaints. She then looks up to see Ram hunched over while flying. The maid looks at Meiss with murderous intent before pointing her wand at him to unleash another blast of wind. Emilia jumps over Meiss, using a spirit to shield them both with a shield of ice. The force of the wind knocks her into Meiss, who immediately scurries out from under her and palms the ice shield. He digs his fingers into the crystalline surface and drags it over him while shoving Emilia away in a horribly weird series of arm movements because he has to move the shield, get up, and push Emilia away.
Another wind blast hits the shield and richoches weakly off of it, blowing ceramic dust around the room from the previously shattered teaware. Meiss pools energy into a leg, feeling the familiar burn of electricity as dolorem++ starts to take effect. Emilia sees Meiss primed to jump, and tries to scramble to her feet and yell at him at the same time.
"No! I sacrificed range for stren-"
But Meiss was already shooting into the air.
Ram, infinitely more knowledgeable of the magic in this world, made no attempts to circumvent the shield. She blasted a more concentrated bolt of wind at Meiss, who had foolishly tried to close the distance between them.
"A-"
The shield of ice dissipated once it left Emilia's range, rendering Meiss completely vulnerable. He stared at the distorted air flying towards his head in slow motion. He dimly heard Beatrice yelling at Subaru, and Emilia struggling to summon another spirit while calling for Puck.
Unfortunately, his body would move no faster despite the warped perception.
But his speed is still fast enough to throw out a last-ditch attack before the bolt of wind hits him.
"JIWALD!"
Jiwald is light, so it instantly finds its mark on Ram as well as instantly leaving. Like someone had switched a flashlight on and off quickly. Her arm falls away, and her head is grazed with the beam. The heat lights her hair and uniform on fire; a shrilling scream echoes from her as she falls from the sky.
Meiss' hand burns as the borrowed magic flies from his palm. He feels another crack in his body, similar to when he first used magic but to a much, much lesser extent. Not anything painful by any means, comparable to popping a joint to relieve stress. Conversely, the bones in his hand shriek against his boiling muscles as the pain causes him to tear up and flinch. Ram's wind bolt misses his head, instead burrowing into the space between his neck and his shoulder. It passes through the skin easily, popping the lung and ripping his diaphragm to shreds. The bolt exits his lower back, along with the half-blenderized contents of his insides.
Emilia stares in shock as Meiss and Ram's bodies hit the floor next to her, spraying her with gore.
—
Shocking awake, Meiss coughs the dust from his mouth and rubs his bleeding forehead. He shifts uncomfortably, something hard pressing into his chest as it's pinned between him and the tomb floor. The blond raises himself weakly, seeing the black crystal hang from his neck.
"What?"
The word is breathy, almost an exhale as he grabs the necklace to examine it.
Oh? It seems we have a contract.
Meiss' eyes widened.
"Wha- Echidona? But-"
It never happened? Do you not know that contracts transcend both time and space? Of course I hope you didn't forge a contract with me under the pretense you could… die and undo it? Die and undo it? … Shi ni Modori? The ability to reverse time and start over from zero. Endlessly. Over and over. That's… what a wond-
Meiss rips the crystal off his neck angrily.
Shut the hell up! This is precisely why I left it out of the contract's clause, Echidona.
But imagine the possibilities if-
Not hesitating, Meiss throws the necklace across the trial room. It bounces off the wall unscathed. Meiss hunches over, palms on the ground and breathing heavy.
"I know you can still hear me if I speak out loud you demented bitch. This is also why I pushed for the necklace, just in case I needed some time away."
Meiss knew that wouldn't keep her away forever. She was too smart to accept that part of the contract without a failsafe in case he chucked her into a lake. It would take a moment to reconstitute the necklace around his neck again, so now was the time to think without a prying eye.
Meiss walks over to the door that leads further into the tomb. He's careful to not disturb Emilia, who had started crying while in the trial's sleep state. Meiss wanted to be a little quick, he wasn't sure if Echidona could still pull him into her dream world or not after being put into the necklace. He didn't want to exit the tomb and come back later either, he would rather not be launched into alternate presents. Who knows, he may be launched into possible futures if Shi ni Modori doesn't mess with the trial somehow.
Echidona did confirm though that the trial runs automatically, but she'll no longer be visiting those who pass them unless the necklace is close to the tomb.
There was no handle on the door, but there were hinges Meiss could spot through a small crack between the door and the wall. There was no lock that Meiss could see, and he wouldn't be surprised if it didn't open despite that. Giving the door a small push, Meiss backed away unsurprised as it held firmly.
I'm terribly concerned that you would attempt to break into the room of a defenseless woman. Especially when the three trials are the only prerequisite.
Meiss snapped the necklace off his neck again, and Echidona started to seemingly get aggravated. The crystal started to violently heat up in his hand, causing him to drop it.
"Oh well, Echidona, two can play at that game."
Meiss looked at his hand, covered in blood after wiping his forehead. He ignored Emilia's whimpering behind him as acedia slowly covers his hand. Looking at the door, Meiss plunges his hand into it where he could see a hinge. The door gives slightly, but Meiss is still unable to push it down. As he starts to melt through the waist-height hinge, the necklace reappears.
So-
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
Meiss snaps the necklace off again and throws it behind him roughly. He summons two acedia and slams them into the door where the hinges are, before summoning dolorem++ to kick it in. The door takes seven full strength kicks before it finally flies into the room, hitting a clear box and bouncing off. Meiss heaves angrily as he glances at the box. He limps over, his leg burnt by dolorem++ once more, and looks coldly at the real body of Echidona.
"Didn't expect this, but it is a tomb I guess."
Meiss places his hand on the transparent coffin, and leans over it to look closer at the body of the Witch of Greed.
"She looks older… maybe she uploaded herself into the tomb when she was younger?"
Meiss moves his hand over Echidona's face.
Do you intend to brute force the barrier open? This wouldn't-
An acedia pops from Meiss' collarbone and melts the necklace's chain. The crystal slides off his chest and onto the floor. He tries to stomp on it, but it's made of some strong material and only hurts his foot. Just as he's about to lift his foot up to kick it away, he feels his body get heavy.
Suddenly, an overwhelming force pushes Meiss straight down, as if gravity had multiplied several times over. His feet slip out from under him, pitching him forward. The crystal bounces away as his feet slip and his head slams into the edge of the coffin. Meiss can't even make a sound as he finds himself on the floor, the strength of the downward force into the coffin preventing him from making any movements.
He lays for a second, stunned. Meiss tried to push himself up, but that causes his head to spin and his arms slide out from under him. He feels his eyes droop, and close for a second. Only a second it seemed, but blood was sticky along the side of his face when his eyes shot open. It wasn't too long, the blood wasn't dryed or starting to dry, but it was long enough for half his face to be dripping in a small pool.
And he couldn't move.
He could feel the necklace once more around his neck. It poked him painfully while he was face-down under the heavy weight.
Yaaawn~ …How much… huu~, longer must I do this?
Until he realizes breaking through the barrier this foolish way won't work.
Eh? Lamb, Lamb? What's wrong? You seem really mad at something! What are you mad at?
"S-Sehkmettttttttt…!"
Don't get pissed… haa~, at me.
"G-guh…"
Meiss can't move. He tries though.
Typhon is sure that if Lamb finds out what he's mad at he can fix it! Lamb is that kind of guy, right?
Huu~, it's best… haa~,to leave him… huu~, alone right now.
Whaaaaaaaat whyyyyyyy! Typhon thinks Lamb should get a big hug! He's too busy worrying about things to worry about himself.
I don't have to worry about myself. As long as the others are standing in the end… I don't matter. I don't fit into the equation of people to try to protect if I am the protector.
…Lamb is mad at himself?
…
What an idiot. How can the one wishing to end the pain of others not cater to his own?!
This ticked Meiss off for some reason. Instead of trying to move, he shot out an acedia at the coffin. He couldn't see it due to his position, but he could hear a sizzling sound as the acedia melted through the crystal. Eventually, he could smell the burning, horrid stench of melting skin. It was something he tried to ignore when it happened while fighting, but now it was the only stimuli his brain could focus on besides sight. The walls dimmed around Meiss as his uninformed guess turned out to be correct.
Ah! My body!
—
Subaru stood in front of the tomb worriedly, a much longer amount of time had passed than usual. He was almost tempted to go in himself, but he knew Emilia and Meiss could take care of themselves. Lewes rubs her head for a second.
"Hmm… Gar-bo, I'm feeling a bit nauseous. Can you take over here for now?"
Garfiel looked over unconcerned for a second, before closing his eyes nonchalantly.
"Eh? Did yer age finally catch up t' ya, Ba-baa?"
…
"Ba-baa?"
Subaru turns to look at Lewes, only to find her face-down in the parched dirt. Garfiel rushes over and flips her onto her back.
"Ba-baa!"
Garfiel shakes her gently for a second before realizing she's not breathing. Being an artificial spirit, Lewes didn't need to breathe, but that action had been programmed into her to be automatic. Garfiel held up his hand to Lewes's head and started using healing magic.
"It's no use."
Subaru turns to the tomb, to see Meiss limping out of it. Meiss had barely whispered, so Subaru is surprised he heard it. Blood cakes half his face, dripping from a long cut on his cheek. Subaru steps away from Lewes and Garfiel and turns to Meiss. Meiss is still in the tomb's shadow, barely illuminated by the stars.
"Garf! What happened to Lewes?"
Ram walked over and knelt next to Lewes, inspecting her. Rem walked over as well, but couldn't find a space around Lewes so she joined Subaru.
Rem spots Meiss standing next to the tomb. She calls out to him, prompting him to step from the shadows. He does, and limps over.
"Meiss? What happened?"
"Where's Emilia-tan?"
Meiss coldly looked up at Subaru.
"The barrier is gone."
"No way, you need to leave the tomb to take the trial again."
Subaru steps up to Meiss, looking over his shoulder to see if Emilia is walking down the tomb's corridor. He doesn't see her so he questions Meiss again.
"Where is she?"
"I didn't beat it with the trials. I broke into the sealed room and undid the mechanism that creates the barrier."
Garfiel stands up, visibly shaking.
"You WHAT!"
With seemingly no time passing, Garfiel lifts Meiss into the air by his neck. Fur starts to pulse and disappear randomly along Garfiel's body as he holds Meiss tightly. Meiss struggles for a second, eventually holding his body up with his arms on Garfiel's forearm.
Ram looks up from Lewes and stands up, slowly approaching Garfiel.
Meiss finally chokes some words out.
"Forced… open… souls… ejected…"
Garfiel shakes Meiss, baring his teeth and closing his eyes to stop himself from transforming out of sheer anger. Subaru holds his hands out to Garfiel, pleading with him to not snap Meiss' neck. Garfiel looks at Subaru, about to yell at him for still siding with Meiss.
"This bast'rd jus' told us-"
Using this distraction, Meiss' hand shoots out an acedia that severs Garfiel's arm halfway down the forearm. Garfiel, not expecting this, is stunned for a second too long and finds his vision being obstructed by a hand. Somehow not crying out in pain, Garfiel tries to step back and become a beast, but the hand is quicker.
Meiss lightly pushes his palm forwards, carving into Garfiel's skull with ease. Everyone is stunned for a second as Meiss uncaringly lets the body flop to his side. Subaru catches a whiff of burned flesh and retches on the spot. Rem grabs him by the waist and starts dragging him away, her jaw set.
"GARF!"
Ram jumps back and fires a windbolt at Meiss. He jumps at it head-on, using acedia to negate it. This catches Ram off-guard, and Meiss is able to close the distance. Now they're in his ballpark.
Meanwhile, Rem is dragging a struggling Subaru away.
"Meiss! Meiss! What the hell is wrong with you!"
"Subaru-kun please! Maybe what happened in the trial led to this. Nee-sama is strong, she'll be ok, so for now think rationally!"
"But-"
A high pitched shattering sound hit their eardrums. Meiss had punched Ram's arm, somehow making it shatter into fist-sized chunks of glossy material. Subaru's eyes widened as Rem stopped moving.
"Is that…?"
Subaru wasn't able to finish his thoughts. He heard Rem say "Sorry, Subaru-kun," before a sharp blow hit his side and he was punted the rest of the way to the trees. He wasn't able to recover fast enough to protest or try to stop Rem.
After a second, Subaru rolls onto his side and watches as Rem's morningstar bounces off of Meiss as she pummels him repeatedly. Ram is laying on the ground a few meters from Meiss, Subaru can't tell if she's alive or not.
With a roar of anger, Rem's horn fizzles from her forehead and her attacks start to increase in speed and power. She's driving Meiss back a bit. Subaru struggles to his knees, but Rem must not have realized how hard she kicked him.
Dismayed, Subaru watched as Meiss caught the head of the morningstar and ripped it from Rem's grasp. He threw it to the side and started to close the distance, but Rem wisely backpedaled away while shooting ice spikes at him.
Subaru was standing now, and shambling towards the fight. As usual, there wasn't anything he could do combat-wise, but maybe he could reason with Meiss.
Rem was still backpedaling, but suddenly seemed surprised and looked around her. Like a mime, she started patting the air around her, and eventually started pounding on it. Meiss listlessly limped over. He hadn't sustained any damage from Rem besides some bruising, but Ram was still seemingly effective, as he bore many small cuts from her wind.
Rem backed up as far as she was seemingly able, glaring at Meiss threateningly. Meiss stared back, and Subaru could tell that his eyes were glossy, as if he was detached from the here and now.
Rem suddenly stumbles back, as if the invisible barrier had disappeared. She isn't fast enough to recover before Meiss jumps forward and clocks her in the jaw. Rem's head snaps to the side, blood spraying from the corner of her mouth. Rem stumbles back, raising her arms to catch another of Meiss' punches. Her arms block the punch and she grabs Meiss' arm. She swings him over her head and into the dirt behind her. Meiss bounces slightly, the air forced from his lungs. Rem falls as she scrambles away. Meiss rolls over and grabs her foot, and suddenly Rem's entire body crumples flat to the ground. The effect lasts only for a moment, but the force was enough to incapacitate Rem. She slumps to the floor, weakly moving. Meiss gets up and stares down at her for a second, before turning towards Subaru.
Subaru stands there, shocked and enraged. What the hell had happened? Why had Meiss snapped like this? Too angry to think clearly, Subaru growls.
"You motherfucker, what the hell's wrong with you! Do they mean nothing to you?! Was what I said last time wasted breath?"
Meiss droops his head. He breathes for a second, before clenching his teeth.
"Did you really think… that having one short conversation in a decrepit hag's grave site would change some fundamental part of me? How stupid are you? Sure I cried, but nothing changed! That's mostly derived from having almost no physical contact back beyond the waterfall. I won't deny that I may have gotten a bit more huggy recently… but that doesn't matter! You can't expect to talk someone into changing, Subaru! This isn't a fairytale! You can't become some paragon, or expect to help everyone! You can't save everyone! … And sometimes… sometimes people don't want to be saved… I don't want to be saved. I'm not worth saving, and nothing you say will make me think differently. Nothing would ever make me worth saving, so don't even try to fit me into the equation! Those without worth should. not. be. counted! Isn't that the cruelest fate? To be worth nothing but unable to do something about it? What good am I? Would it make any difference if I wasn't here, or didn't make it out of this situation? Now I can't even take that second route thanks to your power."
Meiss narrowed his eyes at Subaru coldly. The vitriol dripping from his voice stunned Subaru quiet.
"After getting over the shellshock of returning for the first time, I thought 'what a wonderful ability! Subaru can go back when things go wrong and achieve the best outcome! Isn't that amazing!' But no. Oh how STUPID I was! It's no blessing, is it! It's a fucking curse. Shi ni Modori… When you die, we go back in time. We can Return upon death… 'I've died and started again over and over and over!' That's how it is for you, right?! Endless pain and suffering with no end in sight! A limitless power that comes from this world's equivalent of the fucking devil! You may have so much to gain from this power but I have nothing! I've always lost! I've always failed to do what I want! I'm not like you! Your hands must have the biggest influence, you can hold anything you want, keep it close to you. But I can't hold anything! This world is full of monsters but to me, maybe you're the worst of all! You shrug off your death like nothing, like it's just a bump in the road! You act like you haven't died X amount of times, how the hell do you live like that?! How can you stand there with a smile on your face, seeing the faces of dead people all around you? … No, I don't want to know. If you told me you lost something significant when you die, I wouldn't believe you. It's incomprehensible that you would be sane if you lost something every time you died. I think more than anything, you would be lonely. Living months in days, unable to talk about it, unable to share your lives of lives. Over and over… all alone. Alone that whole time before I came along… I could never be like you…"
Meiss continued.
"What kinda guy are you? You have no physical strength but you have it all. Your mental strength must be amazing. You could learn anything you could ever want or need to, you have infinite time. Nothing you do will ever be useless, because everything you do is for the continuation of everyone else. What you did before here doesn't matter, that world is gone. We're both here, starting from zero in another world, but it seems like you're going up while I'm going down. Is that you? I hate it."
Meiss stopped for a second before clenching his fists. He spreads his arms wide, splaying them out to his sides.
"Well this is me! I don't talk to people unless approached. When approached I try to drive them off with bluntness. If that doesn't work and some superficial friendship is formed then I act buddy-buddy, I feign compassion sometimes! The only reason I skipped the first layer is because you were from Earth like me. But underneath that is the me who doesn't bat an eye to killing, who has no care for the pain I cause others. Even further under that is the me who's disgusted at what I can do! I hate it, the smell of burnt flesh! The smell of iron in the air when someone bleeds! I couldn't stand the sight of blood on Earth, but now I wade through it constantly! I can't stand it! I wish I had never been given Shi ni Modori! This curse, is the most despicable thing I can imagine! I loathe this Shi ni Modori, almost as much as I loathe myself."
Meiss lifted his head, it really looked like he should be crying, but he wasn't.
"'To be, or not to be,' do you know what that means?"
"I- it's Shakespeare, I think."
"So you don't know, then I'm going to drop that topic. This run is useless now."
Meiss started stalking towards Subaru, his arm starting to glow with the light of acedia.
"Y'know, I have no problem paving the road to hell."
Suabru backed up, hands splayed in front of him as he realized what Meiss intended to do.
"Hey, wait wait! Just because Shi ni Modori has some benefits, that doesn't mean I want to die! This is botched, but let's run it out, we may find something to help us! No really, I don't want to die! Meiss stop!"
Meiss continued his stride, raising the acedia to stare at it blankly.
"I don't believe you."
"Eh? Seriously?! Stop! STOP!"
Subaru's eyes widened as Meiss suddenly lunged forwards. It seemed like it was happening in slow motion.
I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die!
There was an indescribable feeling of something clicking into place.
Subaru screamed, bringing his arms up to defend himself as he shut his eyes, only to hear a loud crack. It sounded like the loud peal of flesh on flesh. Subaru didn't pay it much attention though. He fell to his butt and retched right next to himself. For a second there, it had felt like his body was filled with maggots. Horrible, blood-curdling worms that had infested every inch of his body. He felt violated, much like with the Ousagi. The maggot feeling was still persisting, but not as strong.
And he wasn't dead.
Slowly, Subaru opened his eyes. He looked directly in front of him to see Meiss laying on the ground. Subaru blanched as he saw the boy's neck twisted at an unnatural angle. Up and to the side, and twisted sharply. What was more surprising than that though, was the black arm protruding from Subaru's chest.
"Mie… zaru Te?"
Subaru stared at the Unseen Hand for a second before it disappeared. Along with it went the maggot feeling.
"What the… No, I can deal with this later. Rem!"
Subaru scrambled to his feet, cautiously stepping around Meiss' body before sprinting over to Rem. She had remained groggy throughout the exchange, but there was no reason to believe she didn't hear it.
No, there was no Witch. We definitely talked about Shi ni Modori. She must not have heard.
"Subaru…"
Rem weakly latched on to his tracksuit, and almost pulled him on top of her with the sudden weight. She moved his head to her face, and weakly told him in no louder than a whisper:
"Rem is fine, but please go to Nee-sama. She's still alive."
"Eh?"
Subaru pulled away, looking at the one-armed Ram. If he really looked, he could see the faint rise and fall of her back. That didn't comfort Subaru though, since she was missing an arm.
Rem was still looking at him, but Subaru felt sapped of his strength. He fell back onto his butt again, his breathing considerably laboured. Even in just the few moments of using it, the Miezaru Te seemed to have sapped all his strength. Now that there wasn't an immediate threat either, he was spent. The events of the past few minutes started to hit him.
Subaru looked up at the sky, what was he going to do from here on?
—
Time to update Meiss' K/D ratio.
WesternReader (Chapt1; 7 4 2020):: Yes, but Ql Huma is a considerably strong AOE when at full strength, so it just ripped the Unseen Hands to shreds with its sheer strength. Also, Petelgeuse won't freeze instantly even under Puck's mana-gobbling, Pete could still do some damage despite their speed (and I also just wanted to shut Pete up quicker). Reinhard is all the way in the capitol and has no idea Puck's doing anything yet at the time chapter 1 takes place.
^ (Chapt2; 7 4 2020):: I don't believe I said that, but if I unintentionally implied it then that's at the fault of me. I wasn't talking about Satella, she may be the Cult's target of worship, but it's not her Cult.