Re: Pensivity
Arc Three: ｢Return To The Capital｣ "Cup Half Empty"
—
The sun casts gentle yellow light over this world, showing all the beauty of the land. Look closer though, and it becomes apparent that the shadows are much stronger than the feeble light can ever be. Yet the shadows are mostly glossed over and ignored, save for the occasional mention and acknowledgement that they exist.
The day is sunny and the breeze is gentle. a perfect day for a stroll or a picnic. The sunlight tousels the hair gently. It's perfect. But to him, the wind in his hair is mocking and fake, for his soul is grey and devoid of the drive to continue living.
Empty. That is what he is.
"Petelgeuse…"
…
"Petelgeuse…"
…
"Petelgeuse…"
…
Metal squeals in his ears as the teen walks through the swinging gates of the mansion's fence. He had been walking, on and on and on and on and on and on and on and this was his reward. Death. Not just his, everyone else's. Death, dead, dying, too late, too weak, too useless, too stupid… He can't save anyone, he is weak and powerless, a burden to the ones he cares about. The blue proof of this rested in his arms right now. This teen, Natsuki Subaru, falls to his knees, all notion of life gone from his mind. He kneels, in preparation for his return, having cried and cried and cried until his tears couldn't flow. Yet he tenderly holds the person in his arms.
The outside of madness. The edge of insanity. To live with a foot in these places is to not live at all. Yet to the one who lives after life's end this holds little meaning right now.
Lighter than a feather, lighter than the very air that he breathes but as heavy as the world itself. Rem. His shining blue light was faint, leaving, left, gone, gone, gone, gone. Everyone's gone gone gone gonegonegonegone…
A shrill cracking echoes through Subaru's eardrums, breaking through his thoughts. He flinches as another shrill crack echoes through the courtyard. Sharp pain in his ears. Stone is shattering. The wall of the mansion now has a few cracks that were never there before.
What is this?
A beam of colored light pierces the solid wall of the mansion, it is followed by two others. The lights zig-zag through the stone in slow motion to Subaru. The parts of molten and solid rock give easily after being smashed once more, and a body sails from the new hole in the wall.
The blur hits the ground and bounces before skidding to a stop in the middle of the spacious yard. Long shoulder-length blonde locks covering the face like a curtain, midnight clothes that cover the entire body except for the hands, feet, and head, and piercing ice-blue eyes that shine from underneath the golden fibers of hair.
"That was supposed to hurt?"
With a voice full of malice and animosity, the stranger rises from the ground. Dirt cascades off their body as they rise to a meagre height. The stranger then glowers at the hole from which they burst from. The blonde opens and closes their digits, which are covered by light blue winter gloves. Subaru could just be seeing things, but it looks like there is a glow emanating from underneath the clothing of the arms and stitching of the gloves.
The gender-defining factor of the stranger is his masculine voice, which is teetering on the edge of becoming middle-deep. His body is short and undefined, not fat but not skinny either. If looked at like a girl, his rounder legs could be seen as womanly curvature. The guy voice throws that off though, his legs are slightly more defined for some odd reason.
Cackling, interspersed with a crawling chorus of footsteps that sounds too familiar. The man that Subaru cursed and hated and wished dead emerged from the hole in the mansion. Dark green hair in a bowl cut, flowing garbs of the cult, commanding the Authority of Sloth, Petelgeuse Romanee Conti.
The rubble around Petelgeuse shifts to the side to allow him unhindered passage. Dark wisps of shadow curl around him as he steps into the warm sunlight. His eyes, wide and unnerving, focus on the blonde.
"Ahhhhh, receiver of Love… How slothful that you neglected to end this bout when the chance arose. How slothful to remain dormant for four long centuries!"
The madman grinned as the blonde grimaced.
"I don't have time-!"
The blonde stomps the ground, causing the earth to rise around his foot slightly. Ice-blue eyes shining magnificently in the setting sun.
"-for incessant chatter, you son of a bitch!"
Then the stranger is gone, shooting horizontal to the ground towards Petelgeuse. The crazed man raises one hand, pointing it at the advancing blonde.
「Taida no Ken'no!」
A wave of black hatred flows from Petelgeuse, engulfing the area. Subaru doubles over, grasping the body of Rem tighter as if the long-gone warmth could save him. That black wave… It sends Subaru's mind into a spiral of angered voices and ridicule. The voices attack him from every angle imaginable. It is as if every dark thought, hatred, animosity... It is as if negativity itself is given form and allowed to wriggle inside Subaru's body.
"Petty tricks like that aren't going to work on me!"
The blonde, unimpeded by the power of sloth, sinks a fist into Petelgeuse. The force raises the madman from the ground, and another fist raises him higher. The cracking of ribs and release of spittle only serves to paradoxically invigorate Petelgeuse, for when he reaches the crest of his flight he spreads his arms.
「Miezaru Te~!」
Petelgeuse snaps out of motion, duspended in the air. He looks down on the blonde from his new vantage, lips curving into a sinister smile. Curls of darkness explode from the madman and race towards the blonde, who makes no move to dodge. Only when the darkness is mere feet from the golden locks is an arm raised in defence.
The stranger catches the dark force.
The rest of the advancing darkness halts as if surprised.
"No… nonononononononono! My gift! You dare to witness my love?! My love?! My love! My love! My love my love mylovemylovemylove!"
The blonde tugs at the black appendage, and clicks his tongue in dissatisfaction when it breaks apart. Then the stranger bends his legs before jumping up higher than the suspended madman. The blonde begins to fall, flipping once in the air. The wisps of black advance on his form, intending to rip, flay, maul, dissect. None of this happens, for a short river of light bursts from the blonde's hand to intercept the advancing darkness. Orange and cyan, kaleidoscopic, marbled color and light, this short river that is less than half a foot in length is what severs the darkness.
Subaru would be dumbfounded if he was in the right state of mind.
"WRYYYAH!"
With this stolen battle cry, the blonde slams a sparking fist into Petelgeuse's face. Skin rips, bone deforms, and teeth fly. The madman goes flying into the earth, rebounding twice before coming to a stop. Unperturbed, Petelgeuse stands up, cackling to himself before he notices the audience. Sloth turns his dark gaze to the shivering form of Subaru.
"Ho ho! The one who is swathed in, drowning in, suffocating in, shrouded in… The one who displays so much Love has finally arrived!"
The blonde lands, cursing to nobody as Subaru's presence was noted. It seems that the presence of more people was an unforseen possibility. The stranger holds the arm that had punched Petelgeuse, wincing as his hand makes contact with the burned and smoking sleeve. Then he turns and launches himself at Petelgeuse once more, grabbing the madman by the neck and slamming him into the ground.
"Don't forget who you're fighting, Sloth!"
The blonde spins while holding Petelgeuse, gaining momentum before launching him in the direction of a small seating area with a dome above it. Sloth collides with one of the pillars and his body bends at an unnatural angle. He glances off the pillar and lands in the grass beyond the benches. The blonde jumps once more to close the distance, before a whisper unheard by the fighters sends a blast of freezing wind throughout the area.
This blast of wind flings the blonde away and sends Subaru tumbling over himself, he clutches Rem to his chest in an effort to protect her body.
"I despise that prideful woman and her wretched cult, always buzzing around like flies."
A behemoth, feline in nature and with glowing yellow eyes, appears within the mansion. The monster grows larger and more intimidating, until the mansion can no longer contain it. Glass shatters, stone cracks, wood shreds, the feline monster bursts from the roof of the mansion. It turns it's gaze to the three in the mansion's yard.
The madman, Petelgeuse, spreads his arms and lets loose his shadows. This was for nought-
"Ql Huma."
-the simple chant of another freezing blast tears these unseen hands to nothing.
The blonde's breath hitches at the muttering of this spell, rather than the effect.
"It's futile. You'd need a thousand of those to be a threat, half of what Satella could summon."
"You dare you dare you dare talk about Her as if you're acquain-"
The madman is cut short as ice builds up from the ground behind him and shoots up, taking his head and upper torso with it. His arms hang lifelessly in the air for a second before gravity catches up to reality and brings them down to the ground. The feline studies the body for a second befer it looks to the white sky.
Subaru and the blonde stare at Petelgeuse's body, transfixed at such an effortless kill.
"Hmph, now that that's done, I shall fulfill my duty. The end of the world is nigh."
The blonde breaks from his stupor when the feline announces his intentions. The stranger rises to his feet, before turning to glare at the yellow-eyed behemoth.
"You killed the bad guy and you're still not content? You would slaughter millions?"
The feline slowly looks down at the blonde and regards him coldly. The blonde returns the gaze. Colored eyes do not waver despite the obvious gap in power.
"Precisely. Remember that silver-haired half-elf you failed to save? She was my everything, my reason for being. You would not know, you do not look like the type to have someone like that."
The blonde inhales, freezing air burning the lungs. Quite a bold statement from the feline. Of course the blonde has people he cares deeply about, but...
"You're right. I don't have anyone I would die for, since the one who would fit that description died before me. There is a second person who would fit, but it's impossible for me to see him."
The feline "hmph"s and returns it's gaze to the unending sky. Subaru watches this exchange from his cold eyes. His legs have long since frozen, the contact with the ground leeching his natural warmth. He can barely feel his arms, it's impossible to judge if the fingers remain or have snapped off in the cold.
One would infer that the monstrous feline is making it snow. That is true. It is making it snow, but just that alone would never be able to freeze the world. The other, deadlier half of this display is much more fatal. In order to supply the mana for it's form, the feline forcibly steals every last drop from any souce within range. The includes the Od of plants, animals, and people. Life itself withers beneath the feline.
Yet strangely the blonde remains mostly unaffected. It is only after Subaru feels his heart freeze and blood stop pumping that thin frost starts to settle upon the blonde.
With a final puff of air, the last drop of warmth leaves Subaru.
—
This rewrite is going to cover the first three chapters since in my opinion they suck. Also removed auras because in hindsight they're a bit extra.
Heads up to new readers: The next chapter is Re:Zero anime episode "From Zero." (I haven't read the light novel so I don't know what chapter it is.) If you don't want to read what is essentially a written form of that episode, then it is ok to skip most of it, since that chapter serves the mundane purpose of introducing the blonde to Subaru and Rem.