Felt Part 1
"I wonder which of us Natsuki-sama will be with first." The Karsten duchess addressed the room in anticipation for the first viewing.
Emilia, who didn't like how her friend worded her statement chose to tighten her already near death hold on the boy and also began to snake her pale leg over one of Subaru's, almost appearing like a python swallowing its prey as the tracksuit leg disappeared and was replaced by a snow white one.
"Natsuki-san, Natsuki-san" a voice echoed in the darkness, it's tone sounding tired with a tinge of defeat, as if it had grown weary of repeating the boy's name yet again.
"Ugh, five more minutes Mum" Subaru muttered haphazardly, clearly yet to be fully released from the embrace of his slumber.
"Tch, Barasu's laziness doesn't seem to change no matter what situation he's in." Ram commented in disgust at the boy's ability to laze about regardless of where he was.
"But a tired Subaru-kun is a cute Subaru-kun." Rem replied to her elder sister. The blue haired maid mentally cataloguing every word the fatigued knight managed to mutter out, seemingly wishing to imagine the youth sleeping in the chair near her to utter these very same words. Although, she wouldn't mind watching his sleeping face for another few minutes…or hours.
Ram stared dumbfounded at her sister, as if she had grown a second head. Not at all liking her sister's attitude towards the nasty eyed young man.
"For the last time Natsuki, not only am I not your mother, but I would like to remind you that it is incredibly rude to sleep through these lectures."
The screen slowly flickered to life, showing what appeared to be a woman in a black dress sitting opposite to the dark haired youth whose mouth was slightly ajar as a string of drool connected him to the opened book on the table. The room surrounding them had walls covered in a deep purple as well as intricate patterns on its edges, befitting an individual of high standing in society.
A small blonde girl with crimson coloured eyes sat beside him, watching on with an amused expression.
"Hell yeah! I guess I'm the one who gets big bro first!" Felt fist pumped as she finally got to see what life could have been like, had her selfless knight been a bit more greedy. Even going so far as to smirk in the direction of Priscilla, earning her a glare from the Matriarch behind her fan.
"It would seem the halfwits dog became even more unruly in the presence of a gutter rat." Priscilla haughtily commented as her knight slowly shook his head in a similar way to the woman on the screen, both clearly fed up with the bullshit of another party. Not that he would tell her though.
"Hey, shut your stupid mouth you stuck up bitch!" Felt attempted to clamber over the back of her seat, only to be stopped by the sword saint.
"Felt-sama please, don't let her barbs get to you, let's just watch in peace"
"Hmph" Felt dropped back into her seat with a thud and crossed her arms, upset that she couldn't educate the intolerable woman on how to act like a decent person.
Strumming her fingers along the wooden table that separated the two, she adjusted her glasses and sighed.
"Felt, would you please help him stay awake"
Reinhard adjusted himself in his seat and leaned forward a few degrees, preparing himself for what could have been his life had he brought his friend with him.
"I probably could have saved him Od knows how many lifetimes of pain" he whispered in pity for the boy and frustration for his failure.
The elder Van Astrea heard his grandson disparage himself under his breath and responded in kind.
"Please pick up your head, Reinhard, it would be hard to watch your two friends while staring at the floor wouldn't it?"
The sword saint stared back at his grandfather dumbfounded, confused over the sudden development in their relationship.
Since when have we so casually addressed each other? Reinhard thought to himself however was broken out of his thoughts by the warm smile the sword demon directed to him. One that wasn't quite joyful or happy, rather, full of encouragement as if challenging him.
The sword saint too, smiled in kind at his grandfather's words.
"It would indeed be difficult wouldn't it" he responded as he gathered the courage to face the screen again.
"Of course" came the reply of the young girl who was directly beside Subaru as she readied one of her arms.
Smack!
A loud and excruciatingly painful slap could be heard as the girl delivered a painful blow to Subaru's slumped over back, causing him to shoot up in surprise and letting out an unfortunately, very girlish scream.
"Ahhhhhh!"
"Hahahaha" Many members of the audience began to laugh despite the seemingly awful pain the boy was in as the humour of the situation began to quickly dissipate the tense atmosphere that preceded it. Even the half elf who was clutching to her knight earlier allowed herself to loosen her grip if only a little in response. Of those laughing in the audience however, the loudest amongst the mob were Subaru's proclaimed "bro's", Otto and Garfiel.
"Didya see 'im, I don't think even mine amazin' self woulda been able ta get 'im good like that" Garfiel managed to speak between his fit of laughter as he struggled for air.
"Right, right, good work on keeping our idiot awake, Felt-sama" Otto complimented Felt.
Felt in turn stood up and began to flex her childish biceps which had yet to see much muscle if at all, making the audience howl in laughter even more.
"What the hell was that for you damned violent loli!" A wincing Subaru shouted at his attacker.
"Betty's contractor seems to enjoy using that word a lot I suppose" Beatrice mused, somewhat jealous that the term was being used on a new target.
"Oi, teacher asked me to wake you up so I did, so it's not my damn fault you're so tired today."
"Well I'm not the one that begged me to keep telling ghost stories last night!"
"He what!" Felt shouted at the screen in indignation
"Subaru-sama always had cool stories, heaps of kids would annoy him to stay back whenever he visited for a bit longer just so we could hear more." Petra gushed, recalling some of the strange tales Subaru had gotten her friends and herself so invested in.
"You mean to tell me this is only some of what I've been missing out on!" Felt continued, growing far more frustrated with each syllable that poured out of her mouth.
The sword saint however shrunk away from his lady, immediately regretting his decision for not moving away from her seat once he found out Subaru was with them first.
"We didn't even stay up that late, what did you even do afterwards, hmmm." Felt questioned Subaru with a hand under her chin mockingly.
"Erm, well, I went back to my room to, um, take care of business…" Subaru muttered and looked to the floor, not liking at all where his little companion was directing this conversation.
"And what could he mean by that I wonder?" Emilia mused as did the rest of the females in the audience.
The males however, did not. Either attempting to stifle giggles or choosing to use all their willpower to give off the impression they knew nothing of what the young knight's business was. Surprisingly even Julius let out a subtle giggle as he smirked at the painfully awkward scene.
Otto, Felix and Wilhelm in contrast, appeared the most mature out of the audience as they simply shook their heads at their companions.
None of them wanted the responsibility of explaining everything after all.
"You mean, you meant to take care of 'business' at that time of night, completely isolated inside of your room?" the blonde stated sarcastically.
"Well I was a businessman, doing um...business?" Subaru twiddled his thumbs, seeming to have forgotten completely about the physical abuse he had just received.
Anastasia facepalmed at the boy's poor excuse and lack of wit, even if she hadn't quite figured out what he was getting at.
A certain fiery haired princess however slowly began to smirk behind the fan which obscured her face.
"You certainly never fail to entertain me, don't you?"
She glanced to her side at her helmeted knight who was trying, although very poorly, to not choke as he was failing to contain his laughter, and smacked him out of his chair for his apparent lack of maturity.
"Right, did it have to do with you softly repeating a certain someone's name?" Felt smirked smugly, eyes slightly drifting in the direction of their teacher.
Crusch blushed.
Anastasia blushed.
Frederica blushed.
With the exception of Priscilla, Emilia, Petra and Mimi, the female members of the audience began to feel immensely hot, faces flushed with embarrassment after hearing the on-screen Felt's remarks.
Felt herself, showed her cheeks and the tips of her ears redden in response however maintained a shit eating grin, as she could only nod proudly to herself at the trap she masterfully laid out.
Petra and Mimi, innocent as they were, stared in confusion as the older members of their camps reacted strangely to what Felt had just said.
Petra tugged on Frederica's sleeve to ask her what was so strange only to be met with a stuttering response.
"Uh, um, P-Petra-chan, m-maybe I could explain it to you a bit later." Frederica managed to force out as she shifted around in her seat to which the smaller maid looked at her suspiciously before turning back to the screen and pouted.
Ram was attempting to close the drooling mouth of her little sister as her master still had his head on her lap. She unfortunately didn't realise that she was fighting a losing battle as Rem was far too fixated on the imagery of a flustered Subaru softly touching himself while uttering her name. The scene was far too effective on her heart as her brain started to slow to a crawl and her legs began to rub against each other instinctively.
"Tch, damn Barasu, look what you've done to my little sister." the oni maid spat.
"What a foolish contractor you are, I suppose" the little spirit sighed before lamenting on the embarrassing scene of her Subaru.
Emilia in contrast, after being educated on such topics by Subaru due to her apparent 'pregnancy' and limited knowledge on biological reproduction in general, tightened her hold on the young man. Instead, choosing to only play her name in her recreation of the event and forcing the other names that attempted to invade her mind out of the way. A task she wasn't succeeding in currently.
The males however...were not faring much better.
The shield of sanctuary could barely contain himself as he started crushing the arms of his chair as he quickly lost himself to his laughter.
Ricardo had already forsaken his fight and given up far before anyone else, choosing to instead roll on the floor within the tiny confines of the rows that separated each line of chairs. The leader of the Iron Fang was supported by Tivey, who fell down after him.
His fellow viewer, Al, had already made his way down there, courtesy of his lady practically mirroring the previous actions of Felt earlier in the viewing. Landing himself helmet first on the smooth floor.
Even Reinhard and Julius found themselves lost in a fit of giggles, one at the surprisingly cunning way his lady managed to corner Subaru and the other at the obviously uncomfortable knight who could barely hide his embarrassment.
The trio of Felix, Wilhelm and Otto deadpanned as they watched the reactions of the audience unfold.
That wasn't to say that they weren't amused at the situation however, they'd just simply rather tease the boy in person instead.
Roswall was still unable to care as his maid had to care for his battered body.
The consequences of acting like a clown and not staying in whatever circus the witch of greed ran in Sanctuary.
"To hell with that, you practically tried to break my back just now! Did you trip and fall on your head while you were out running!" Subaru blushingly attempted to save himself from the pit Felt was supposed to not dig under him.
"Hey, you should know I'm too skilled for that. Maybe you're the one who hit their head when your parents dropped you as a child." Felt shot back at the blushing Subaru, taking the hint that he really didn't want to talk about the subject. Who knew even the fun Subaru could be such a stick in the mud sometimes?
"Now hang on, my parents would never do that... actually wait, you may have a point." Subaru began to remember the violent ways his father would used to wake him up in the morning, suddenly the thought of that same man 'accidentally' dropping a smaller Subaru didn't seem as impossible as it once did.
"Natsuki-kuns father did seem like a lively one didn't he?" Anastasia responded to the ongoing scene as she calmed herself down.
"Indeed, although it does make me smile thinking of a smaller, happy Subaru-sama" Crusch replied to the merchant princess, deep in thought over a smaller Subaru running about.
Perhaps our own children may look like that… The Karsten heir pondered with a blush before pulling herself out of such thoughts to maintain her calm composure.
The drooling Rem, with the few functional synapses that were still functional in her brain, started to leak a red liquid out of her nose at the thought of a chibi Subaru.
"Still, I have my pride as a man! You can't just do that to me in front of our teacher."
"Yeesh, are you really sure you qualify as a man where you come from?" Felt deadpanned at her peer in disbelief that a being such as the one in front of her could be considered a man.
The room once again began to erupt into laughter at how quickly the little candidate shot down Subaru's vision of himself, causing the Wolfman who was struggling to get back into his chair to fall back down onto the floor, clutching at his sides as he had been laughing too much.
Ram nodded in approval, pleased with Subaru being put in his place by the small girl and for a line she couldn't have delivered better herself.
Beatrice seethed in anger at the poor treatment of her contractor on screen "What do you mean I suppose, Betty's contractor is one of the best men there is infact"
"What! Come here you little…" Subrau trailed off as he aggressively grabbed the smaller girl in a headlock and the two began to bicker even more as Felt attempted to get out of the hold.
"He certainly has a way of treating people doesn't he?" Julius said, not enjoying how Subaru was treating the smaller girl, let alone handling a candidate for the throne.
Said little girl however could only look on in envy at being deprived of such an interaction. In truth, the far too formal and respectful Reinhard wouldn't even dare treat her in such a way. At times like this she could only appreciate the brash attitude of the black haired knight, it was what made him such a fun person to be with after all.
Their teacher however, exhaled out and began to make her way out of her chair and the room, preferably very far away from the brawling duo.
"Perhaps I should come back at a more appropriate time, one where you both can restrain yourselves instead of each other." The woman said exasperatedly as she made her way to the large wooden door that separated her from the outside world and sanity itself.
As the door closed with a loud thud, the pair ceased their infighting and disentangled themselves from each other before turning to face the other.
"Wait…" Julius replied in confusion at the sudden ceasefire between the two parties who were only a few seconds prior, in a grappling match.
"Perhaps Subaru-dono and Felt-sama had a plan behind the scenes." Wilhelm thought out loud as he rubbed his chin.
"Hmph" Priscilla let out a sound of approval as she enjoyed the sudden turn of events.
"Did you really have to go there." Subaru asked Felt as he wiped some sweat from his brow with his tracksuit sleeve.
"Hey, you just made it too easy."
"I guess I did. Well, it looks like our jailer left, how long do you reckon it takes for her to tell the boss?" Subaru sighed before asking his accomplice.
"And I wonder who this 'boss' might be, right Reinhard-kyun?" Felix spoke to the red haired knight teasingly, knowing that there would only be one person it could possibly be.
"Mmm" Reinhard hummed in response, wondering how his appearance on the screen would play out.
"Knowing her, I'd say she's probably dunking her head in the fountain before she gets to his office." Felt giggled at the thought of their stern teacher giving herself a head bath.
"You two seem to make a good team" Al mused behind his helmet towards Felt.
"They make more than a good team, that lady ate up the bait real quick" Ricardo responded with a wide smile.
"While I'd prefer if the boy used his wit for schemes a bit more wider in scope than this, he definitely doesn't have an empty head on his shoulders" Anastasia also offered her thoughts on the situation.
Julius grimaced as some unsavory memories resurfaced "Well, not all the time I suppose."
"Then I suppose we had better begin then." Subaru stated while carrying what looked like a leather ball underneath his arm.
"What's that ball bro's holding?" Mimi asked aloud to the others
Petra, who had a mile long grin answered in kind. "It's a ball people in Subaru's home used to play sports would have two teams with goals set up on opposite sides of a field and you would have to kick the ball in the other teams goal."
"Why not just pick it up?" Tivey questioned the maid, adjusting his monocle.
"It would be against the rules dummy." His sister pointed out as she wacked him on the head with her staff.
"Bit late to turn back big brother, carry me." Felt said as she took the ball off his hands and picked up what appeared to be a small doll of a white Rabbit.
The theatre started to grow a bit uneasy at the sight of the small creature, even if it was just a doll in this viewing.
Some began to shift uncomfortability, still recalling Subaru's run in with the great mabeast without the help of Beatrice and Emilia. Otto brought a hand to his mouth to reduce his likelihood of expelling anymore of his stomach's contents, vividly playing the memory of his friends' innards being torn out of the many new orifices made in their body.
Garfiel as well as a few of the others could feel their grip tighten at the sound of Subaru's screaming and his futile effort to escape the horde of ravenous beasts. Beads of sweat running down their foreheads.
Emilia herself relaxed her hold of Subaru, fresh tears falling from her beautiful amethyst eyes as she could only lament her uselessness throughout the entire ordeal. Cursing herself silently for treating her knight's body so callously, even if they weren't conscious of it.
"Subaru you dunderhead, how could you still be with me after that?"
Beatrice was in no better mood either, briefly wishing she burned in the library to atone for not being there for the one she held so dear. What use was she as his contracted spirit if she couldn't even fulfil her most important task?
The small spirit slapped herself on the face as well as the foolish half-elf beside her to cease such thoughts running rampant through their fatigued minds.
"That was then and this is now, I suppose. What would Betty's Subaru think if he knew what you and Betty were thinking right now."
Emilia rubbed the bright red mark on her wet cheek as the thoughts started to fly away.
"Heh, he'd probably give us both a headbutt for being so dumb"
The spirit responded to Emilia's words with a "hmph" and crossed her arms.
"Emilia-sama, while it may sound out of turn for one such as I to say this, but please remember that Subaru-sama suffered so greatly for everyone to smile, not sob in sadness. I ask that you please raise your head, not wallow in guilt, but smile for the tomorrow your great knight has fought so hard for." Crusch encouraged her rival with a weak smile of her own.
"Besides, you're not the only one who feels useless over what happened."
"But of course madam, your carriage awaits" Subaru respectfully bowed before offering Felt his arms so he could carry her bridal style.
The foolish mannerisms of the black haired youth seemed to lighten everyone's spirits and made them give a small grin at his behaviour.
"Man, it must've been really nice to have big bro carry me." Felt spoke in envy
"Felt-sama, surely you would enjoy a ride within my arms as well." Reinhard replied to his lady, acting like a small puppy ready to show off to their master.
"Right, now I remember why we don't do the carrying part." The girl silently wept at her knights behaviour which was far too formal for her to enjoy so casually as she could with someone like Subaru.
Reinhard on the other hand looked like a kicked puppy at his lady's response.
Petra also started to pout at the thought of not being able to be carried around by her crush.
"Indeed, a ride in Subaru-kun's warm arms is one I could never forget." Rem spoke softly as she failed to forget the time her hero brought her fragile body with him so courageously.
Several females looked on in envy at the smiling maid, vowing to either claim their 'Subaride' willingly or through force.
As the small girl made her way into his embrace, Subaru quickly made his escape with Felt in his arms, zooming down the long corridors of the large building they were in. The two hurriedly made their way out to the grass paddock behind the large Astrea Manor, thankfully situated behind a certain sword saint's office who was dubbed, albeit lovingly, the "Royal Party Pooper''.
The scene then changed to a bright office which was decorated in various ornaments and heraldry. Large wooden bookcases reaching the ceiling hugged its sides in a warm embrace, showing what could be generations worth of knowledge within each aged binder whose colour had faded with time. This was contrasted by the large glass window at the very back of the room which faced its entrance, showing off the lovely weather outside and a view of the area at the front of the manor.
"This place looks similar to the forbidden library Beatrice-sama" Ram observed.
"It does, I suppose." The spirit nodded in affirmation at the maid's thoughts.
Garfiel added his own thoughts with bluntly "Ya mean it looked li' tha' place cap'n burnt tha' shit out of?"
Frederica went to smack the head of her foul mouthed brother whereas many others winced at the memory of such a significant place being engulfed in a blazing inferno.
Lying just in front of the large window was a strangely basic looking desk, its surface covered in neatly stacked piles of documents. At the table however sat two individuals, the first being the teacher of the rowdy duo from earlier and the second being none other than Reinhard Van Astrea, the sword saint himself.
"And you're saying he put her in a headlock?" A respectful voice inquired.
Julius and Felix facepalmed.
"That must definitely be Subaru-kyun."
"It sounds even worse when repeated aloud."
"That would be right Reinhard-sama." The voice of the female teacher curtly replied, clearly wishing to not be in the office and instead on her way home.
The sword saint furrowed his brows and began to rub his forehead in exasperation. Clearly this wasn't the first bout of trouble the pair had gotten in and yet, he still had a slight smile on his pale lips.
"The manor truly would be more lively with you around, friend" Reinhard whispered softly.
The bottom of the screen however, displayed white subtitles while Reinhard rolled his fatigued shoulders a bit reading;
"Office of the Royal Party Pooper"
"Well the screen's not wrong about this, that's for sure." Felt commented while waving her fist causing a few giggles to escape the audience.
The sword saint however blushed in embarrassment as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.
"I see, well I suppose there's nothing you could have done. While the two do have their moments, they're a spirited bunch so already having them both sit down to study for as long as you had is an achievement in and of itself. Please, take the rest of the day off, I'll go down there and speak to them myself." Reinhard responded to the teacher before she bowed and made her way to vacate the mansion. Staring off through the window, the sword saint gazed at the beautiful blue sky which failed to have a single cloud blemish its seemingly boundless figure.
"Those two" he whispered under his breath as his smile grew even wider.
"You certainly care quite a big deal for them don't you" Wilhelm nodded warmly at the kindness of his grandson, tears threatening to fall as his thoughts drifted to how poorly he treated such a kind person. Let alone his own blood.
Felix gave the old butler a comforting hand, understanding that his relationship with his family had always been contentious to say the least after the unfortunate demise of his beloved wife and Reihard's own grandmother.
Reinhard made to get out of his chair, only to accidentally knock over two of his dolls, one being dressed in black pants with a single orange stripes on the sides and a white and black shirt, its head holding button eyes and a patch of spiky hair. The second was also humanoid in shape, only with a patch of blonde hair above its red button eyes and a neck obscured by a crimson scarf. It too had clothes matching the individual it was made to represent.
The merchant princess observed the screen as she fluffed her scarf "Natsuki-kun seems to have some talent when it comes to craftsmanship doesn't he."
Anastasia couldn't shake the thought that with the appropriate funds and equipment, the young man could be a game changer in the business world. Not only with his knowledge of the various things in his homeland, but also with his ingenuity and creative thinking which was very unorthodox.
A valuable asset in many regards and one she would be foolish to disregard.
She could only look on in envy and frustration that the current camp he was in were far too incompetent to make use of such talent within their midst.
Not to mention the slight tug she felt whenever she saw his smiling face...
Picking them both up in his hands, he softly caressed each before placing them back on the desk and made his way to find his two troublemakers.
Passing through the hallway on the first floor, his trek came to a sudden stop as a leather ball crashed through one of the windows to his right, followed by the voice of a shocked Felt.
"Oh shit!"
"With all the subtlety of a ground dragon in a porcelain store, my, you are quite a rowdy child aren't you street trash." The Vollachian Matriarch snobbishly remarked towards the small candidate as she elegantly flicked her fan.
"That's it!" Felt had vaulted over two rows of seats and began to converge towards a smirking Priscilla who thoroughly enjoyed stirring such a response.
"Aldebaran."
"Got ya princess." The one armed knight got up to separate the two candidates, shielding his master behind his large, solid frame and readying his sword.
The fight however wouldn't occur as the strongest individual in the room appeared almost instantly between both parties with arms outstretched in each direction.
"Felt-sama, please, return t-"
As the sword saint attempted to continue he was stopped mid sentence by the complaints of his lady.
"To hell with that Reinhard, this bitch is nothing but a cunt who seems to have one of her fans lodged in her ass! Surely this is more than high t-"
"Felt-sama, I will not ask a second time"
Reinhard watched Felt with an icy stare which warranted no argument. The young candidate could see that it was no longer her knight she was speaking to but the sword saint instead.
Breathing out heavily, she made her way back with all of the audience's eyes watching her every step. Plonking into her seat, she received a few headpats from a weary Emilia who understood what it felt like to be at the receiving end of constant verbal abuse, albeit for different reasons.
"Hmph, good riddance" Priscilla remarked as her opponent's back was facing towards her, only to be met with the glare of a clearly pissed Reinhard who peered at her over the arm of her bulky knight. While fear wouldn't be an accurate way to describe how she felt, being the one above all others as she was, the look she received made her pause. Not only did she lose all track of thought, her breath hitched in response as well.
"Candidate Barielle, I would appreciate it if you kept such unsavory thoughts to yourself."
Having said his peace, the sword saint made his way back to his original position.
"Eh, well, sorry for the trouble I guess pal" Al muttered as he rubbed the back of his helmet, unsure of how to alleviate the tense atmosphere that settled upon the room as well as being inches away from shitting himself at the glare of Felt's knight.
With the helmeted knights final words, the booming voice of their warden broke through the strained atmosphere which had begun to plague the audience members.
"While I do not particularly mind the infighting between individuals such as yourselves, I find myself responsible with the task of reigning you in and asking you to please direct your gaze back to the showing at hand." The voice echoed, clearly not in a forgiving mood at having their presentation being so rudely interrupted.
Following their captors demands, the audience found themselves in a bind as they once again pointed their focus back onto the large screen in front of them.
===============Author Notes================
I really didn't expect this to be done so quick however thanks to the power of sheer, absolute boredom and redbull we managed to get it out pretty quickly.
I would also like to formally point out that the scenes I'm showing will be random slice of life moments so its up to you guys to imagine how good ol' Subaru found himself in such a position as I had a few pms from some peeps who beta read this who were confused at how everything progressed timeline wise.
On another note, as some may have figured out that I will only be doing one tale for each camp along with a few extras such as everyones favourite psycho assassins however each will be divided into two parts.
Also, also, can we please appreciate how cool a weapon like the flail is?