Please be warned...I do not support any actual actions of substance abuse especially with regards to depression. That being said I will show it here for what is hopefully comedic purposes. Please note I don't actually drink myself so if my interpretation of a drunk person is wrong...then you know why.

"Typhon for the last time, I am not going to be a father," Subaru said as he was chased around by a little pint size Eldritch Abomination. He had just managed to snatch his lips back from the girl, but she was not taking his reaction well. Hearing the snickering from the side, he could only glare at the Greedy Witch who took amusement in his situation.

"But Baru I heard you were kissing Tella," Typhon argued. "When a boy and girl kiss that's how babies are made," She countered as she chased him around.

"Who told you that…was it Echidna?" Subaru asked while he ran.

"Hey…don't blame me for this one…it was all Juice's fault," She dismissed the boy's accusations as she watched the show.

"Considering she's trying to remove his lips…Subaru should be really grateful she thinks kissing is what makes baby," Daphne laughed.

"If anyone tells her otherwise then…." Sekhmet trailed off. The Witch of Sloth thought of Typhon as the daughter she never had. The little girl was precious to her and keeping her innocence intact was a must for the oldest witch. It was for that reason no one ever brought up the topic around Typhon. If anyone did then the Witch of Envy would seem like a puppy compared to what Sekhmet would do to them.

"Well, it's his fault for getting fancy with the half-elf," Echidna commented. "Speaking of which where is she?" Echidna asked.

"Didn't you hear?" Daphne responded. "She's holding up in her room. She and Subaru seemed to have disagreed about something." Daphne pointed.

"Oh really," Echidna said now curious about her rival's misery. "And what per se did they fight about,"

"We're not sure…but Minerva and Carmilla are going to check up on her," Sekhmet informed. "Just so you know…"

"Yes…yes…I know. Don't go kicking the hornet's nest," Echidna sighed. Sometimes Sekhmet took her role as guard dog a little too seriously, which was kind of amusing given how she, the laziest being in the world, was the peacekeeper of the Group.

Reinhard waited till it was around midnight when every other resident of the mansion was fast asleep before he enacted his plan. If everything went well the Sword Saint would be done with this matter by the morning. If everything went wrong…well then it was another crime on his long list of selfish and monstrous acts. He had snuck into the wing where Subaru slept. He needed to make sure he didn't alert the Demon Beast that slept with him lest he be forced to engage it. He had no doubt he could beat it, but injuring Subaru's dog was something he would prefer avoiding.

Upon arriving at the door to Subaru's room he took stock of the situation making sure Subaru was asleep. So far everything was going well for the Sword Sait. Using some meat, he had brought from the kitchen, Reinhard set down on the ground before fanning the scent into the room. The Demon Beast as expected had been aroused by the food but was still not fully awake. The creature stumbled as it got up from bed before heading outside. While it approached the meal, Reinhard had very briskly snuck inside the room. Once inside he began searching for Subaru's phone. Much to his dismay, it seems the power of the Witch had stopped him from immediately tracking it. However, he was still able to search the entire room in the blink of an eye and without making as much as a whimper. He found the metia with ease and was quickly able to sneak back out before the beast even finished eating his meal.

Once back outside Reinhard opened the Metia. It was a strange device with a black glass on one side with a pad with various engravements in a language he didn't recognize on the other. He pressed one of the engravements on the pad and the black glass suddenly lit up. That's when he felt something wrong. His connection to the Od Laguna, his Divine Protections reacted immediately as an ominous presence emerged from the device. Miasma, the corrupted mana of the Witch, enveloped him a defense mechanism no doubt for those who would have tried stealing the Metia. Reinhard didn't react to the idea he might be endangered, he knew he would be okay, but he was more worried now that Subaru would have such a safeguard on a metia. As the world around him was swallowed by blackness Reinhard could hope things went as he hoped. He was no doubt going to meet the Witch of Envy, the most intimidating woman world, there was so much that good wrong here.

"This…is really pathetic," Minerva remarked as she looked around, Carmilla followed suit. The Witches of Wrath and Lust had found themselves in a bar of all things. It was nothing fancy or extravagant really, just a recreation of a pub, 7th Heaven, they had frequented back when they were alive. The Witch of Wrath had some mixed memories with this place, especially with regards to a red-haired Sword Menace…sorry Saint. Minerva has sworn to avoid places like this and Carmilla likewise also avoided public areas due to her authority, but they needed to be here for their friend.

"Hit me again Tifa," A voice called from near the bartender. It was none other than the Witch of Envy herself or rather Satella. She was downing another glass of what Minerva could only assume was…milk or was it cream? Minerva hoped it was an actual dairy product. Making their way through the illusionary bar, the two made their way by Satella's side. Upon closer inspection, both saw Satella's eyes were red and puffy as tears kept streaming down her face.

"Um…Tella…are you okay in there?" Minerva asked as she saw Satella down her glass. When the half-elf had finished she slammed the glass on the table startling the two. There was a silence as the duo waited for a response hoping it was Satella and not Envy.

"I…I…I…I" Satella choked.

"Breathe," Carmilla encouraged as she watched from the safety behind Minerva.

"I blew it…I blew it big time," Satella cried as she started sobbing at the counter. "Subaru and I fought and now he hates me," Satella wailed.

"Um…what?" Minerva asked skeptically. Satella getting into a fight with Subaru seemed like the most unlikely thing in the world for Minerva. Satella had to be the most complacent person in this world and the other with regards to Subaru. What could they have possibly fought about?

"Oh, thank goodness…I thought it was something serious," Carmilla sighed. She was worried Envy had gotten out or something. Maybe even Pandora coming to interfere with them would also be bad.

"THIS IS SERIOUS!" Satella yelled causing Carmilla to fall over. "My relationship hic with Subaru was hic getting so much better and now hic it's RUINED," Satella cried.

"Was it really getting better though?" Minerva asked ignoring her friend's outburst. "I mean…the lewdest thing you guys did was what…hand-holding," Minerva pointed out. It was months since this reunion started and the Witch of Wrath felt like any romance between the two was nonexistent, never mind Minerva was probably the densest Witch when it came to romance only surpassed by Sekhmet and even that was debatable.

"I was cuddling with him in bed, helping to keep away his nightmares and trauma," Satella pointed.

"Actually, that was me," Envy whispered in the back of her mind.

"Same difference," Satella snapped back.

"Wait…cuddling in bed…" Minerva repeated. "Were you two already…"

"No, we didn't do anything," Satella cut her off. Her face turning red like Reid's hair. "I was just helping to ease the hurt and trauma he had. I wouldn't stoop that low to take advantage of him. I'm not Envy or Pandora," Satella countered.

"I resent that comparison," Envy whispered.

"Okay…good because the last thing I need is giving Typhon Sex-Ed," Minerva told her friend.

"Minerva can you be serious," Satella scolded.

"I am…the girl mentally locked at 10 years, if she doesn't need to know the birds and bees then we avoid mentioning it," Minerva counted.

"MINERVA!"

"Look, you have no reason to be getting so worked up about this," Minerva told her fellow Witch.

"She's right…" Carmilla said quietly. "Couples fight all the time. Healthy relationships often have some conflict in them but ultimately…people in love will often forgive each other and work things out," The Lustful Witch said. No one ever understands everything another goes through and that leads to fighting but when you truly love someone you can work things out. If people were 100% complacent with each other then they would be following them blindly and blind love isn't healthy because it sometimes prioritizes the happiness of oneself over the loved one. Carmilla had the experience where her Authority made many people lose their own love for themselves in favor of Lust for her. It was truly a repulsive sight to her.

"What did you two even fight about, to begin with?" Minerva asked curiously.

"Well…" Satella trailed off as she explained the situation to them.

"Okay…" Minerva said as she crossed her arms meditating on what Subaru had done. He wanted to consider saving Elsa. The Bowel Hunter who had gutted him, Rem, Emilia, Beatrice, Petra, Felt, Rom, and Frederica, among many others they didn't know about. The Wrathful Witch was in two minds at the moment. On one hand, her more pacifist side was actually proud of Subaru's forgiveness being able to still decide on saving someone like Elsa. On the other hand…she wanted to scream at him for being an idiot. She was all for being reasonable but having viewed his repeated viewings she knew him saving Elsa would only be possible at the expense of him dying. In other words, he would need to suicide to save his murderer…again. "Alright…let's go…" Minerva said as she stood up.

"Minerva,"

"We're going to go and tackle this at the source," Minerva said. "You and Subaru are going to talk this out," Minerva told the Dark Witch.

"What?" Satella said in surprise. "No, that's a bad idea," She pleaded. "Just stay out of it," she told them as she returned to her drink. However, before she could even take a sip of it, the glass was wrenched out of her hand by Minerva.

"As if, the moment you started crying you should have known it was my problem," Minerva said. "And what are you even drinking…you do know we can't get drunk here…right?" Minerva explained.

"Just let me drown my sorrows tonight, I swear I'll be back to normal by tomorrow," Satella told her friend.

"Yeah…nope," Minerva said as she lifted up the crying Witch who thrashed around. "Let's go," Minerva repeated as they started walking out of the bar.

Upon exiting, the trio immediately found themselves back in the living room. Minerva, still having Satella hoisted over her shoulder, took immediate note that Subaru had been broken once more with Typhon pinning whatever was not shattered this time. Minerva merely shot a glare at Typhon who still looked unperturbed by the whole shattering Subaru again. Normally the Witch of Wrath would have screamed her head off, but this was not the time for that. She would yell about it later.

After the group had managed to calm Typhon down on her rampage to avoid early pregnancy with Subaru and Satella; Minerva had informed Typhon how the act of getting a baby was random, so Satella wasn't pregnant this time as far they knew. Minerva had also gone and reassembled Subaru…again. The half-elf and Subaru were now seated awkwardly on the couch with all the other Witches surrounding them, including Echidna as they all decided to deal with this issue right now. The last thing any of them wanted was Satella getting depressed and giving into her Envy or Subaru start spiraling down again.

"So…are you two going to make up or not," Echidna said breaking the silence.

"I don't see what you all are getting so worked up about," Subaru growled. It wasn't a big deal. Besides, wasn't Satella the leader of the group? If she decided something could anyone really refute her? Also, he sincerely doubted any of them would actually care if he wanted to save his friends that much except for maybe Minerva.

"The big deal is that you two had a fight and now we need to resolve it," Minerva admitted as she crossed her arms. These could honestly be like children sometimes.

"What is there to resolve though?" Subaru asked. Satella gave her an ultimatum and he was going to prove her wrong.

"You both acted without using your brains…not like that is anything new…and we believe some…things might have been said without thinking," Echidna pointed out. As much as it pained her, she was sure that if Satella decided to snap and pretend to be Envy, the excuse would be this issue, so the Greedy Witch would play along and help rectify the matter. Although considering these were the two most stubborn individuals in the world, she feared this was going to drag on for the next few months if Satella didn't cave.

"Look I appreciated that you guys are doing this…but really…nothing is wrong here," Satella said dismissively.

"Tell that to the ten gallons of milk we just saw you chug down," Minerva sighed.

"Wait…you did what?" Subaru asked in confusion.

"I drank some milk…it's no big deal…I need the calcium," Satella laughed weakly. She had hurriedly dried her tears and tried her best to create the illusion she hadn't bawled her eyes out. She had lost her temper and said some dumb things, so it was alright for Subaru to be mad with her.

"Now I wished I had gone to check on her," Echidna muttered only to feel an invisible hand tap her.

"Look it's like Subaru said…it's no big deal," She told them.

"We know about the fight," Sekhmet informed. "You wish to save the bowel hunter…and you wish to update his loops to only save Subaru," She scolded. "Both of you should know that those actions are close to breaking the contracts you both made." The Slothful Witch pointed out.

"Meth-Meth is right," Daphne added. "Subaru promised he wouldn't risk his life anymore and die unnecessary deaths…and Tella promised she would always help him." The Maebeast creator said. "If you both break the contract…you do realize what will happen?" Daphne pointed out.

"I lose my connection to you all and lose Apollo," Subaru answered. "Satella also returns to her seal and the six of you return to the tomb,"

"Not exactly," Echidna interjected. "While losing the connection with us is one aspect…this contract was made to all you to reset to zero," Echidna pointed out. "If you undo it…you'll return back to your previous timeline before you made the deal," She clarified. "Only this time…your third attendance would be used up and a fourth tea party would take nothing short of insanity." She informed the former NEET.

Subaru's eyes widened at that statement. He hadn't even considered that breaking the contract could have such consequences. He had been so caught up thinking the timeline was fixed that he forgot all about the significance of his unthinkable present and what it might mean. So if he failed now then he most likely would return to Sanctuary and have to deal with those issues again. Rem would be in a coma, the bunny would be at Sanctuary, and the Assassins at the mansion. He had made so much progress with this timeline already and was closing in on preventing the Cult if he failed now…

"So, you realize the gravity of the situation," Echidna said. "Just so you know this deal has an extra punishment for the ones who break it…you two would forget about everything that happened in this timeline," She added. The contract among them was specifically to boost the powers of Satella to allow Subaru to return to zero, there was no reason the others would be caught in the crossfire for their foolishness.

"So was this all some ploy you all made," Subaru questioned.

"Don't go spinning this on us," Minerva countered. "The clause for you not sacrificing yourself was made to ensure you kept your self-respect," She pointed out. The other Witches glanced at her hypocritical words considering they knew her to be just a bad as Subaru. However, the difference between the two was that Minerva was already dead and already learned the hard lesson that someone people aren't always worth the risk. A suicide platoon of elves and years of isolation driving you mad can work wonders for some people. She was still reckless sure but only when it mattered, when she knew the people she relied on were willing to help her or when the people she cared for were endangered. "We have no problem helping you…just not when it's with somebody who obviously enjoyed killing you," Minerva pointed out.

"Yes…looking over the memories, I don't think Elsa was forced at all…to quote her words…your guts looked amazing," Echidna said in a deadpanned voice.

"I…" Subaru trailed off.

"You have low self-esteem," Sekhmet interjected. Everyone turned their attention to the lazy Witch. She had already grown tired of this useless back and forth and decided to tackle the problem at its roots. "You're a little naïve kid who believes everyone could be a good person if they just try, and you're willing to let yourself get killed because you believe that no one else needs to die," She scolded. "That's a slothful delusion…people die all the time, and you need to accept that. While you can forgive someone, letting yourself be killed like that is just foolishness," Sekhmet pointed out.

"So, am I just supposed to sit around do nothing?" Subaru asked.

"No…but I'd suggest you use your head more, acting only your emotions and heart can only get you so far," She pointed out.

Subaru said nothing at her remark. He was letting the words sink in. He'd need some time to internalize all this though.

"As for you," Sekhmet said as she turned to Satella. "I have to agree with Echidna here but what you did really lacked any common sense in the slightest," the second strongest Witch said. "You have made the commitment to helping Subaru and choosing to backdown now is just slothful. I thought you'd be more diligent in finding a solution," She informed. "I'm not saying you're wrong…far from it…but you couldn't have thought that while Subaru needs some confidence in himself taking away the people, he cares most about wouldn't be a good idea," Sekhmet said. They might be murders who killed him but still…they had shown themselves to somewhat loyal allies like Otto. Besides…they needed to be neutral about this…both parties were at fault after all.

"But Sekhmet,"

"Don't but Sekhmet me," She told the half-elf. "I don't care if you two still disagree. If you break your contract that's fine…I get more sleep regardless but you better deal with this maturely. You don't need to make up right away….just try and understand each other's motives and reasoning and be open-minded…even if you think the other has lost all their marbles," Sekhmet told them. "Capiche,"

"Yes," The duo answered.

RING!

"Uh…what was that?" Typhon asked. She had been quiet the whole time not wanting to interrupt the adults, after all, Satella and Subaru were being punished for being dunderheads and fighting.

"That sounds like the doorbell," Subaru reasoned.

"Um…why would anyone ring the doorbell?" Minerva asked as she got up to go and check on the door.

"Maybe it's Pizza," Daphne said excitedly.

"Really?" Carmilla asked.

"I'm allowed to be optimistic." The glutton shot back.

"Son of Reid," Minerva screamed as she slammed the door shut leaning back against it. Everyone turned to the Wrathful Witch who now wore a panicked expression on her face.

"I take it, it wasn't Luigi's," Daphne sighed.

"It's worse… it's Reinhard," Minerva answered.

"Wait…what," Everyone exclaimed.

All of them rushed to a nearby window glancing outside. There they saw none other than the Sword Saint standing by the front door. He seemed to notice them as he offered a gentle wave before turning his attention back at the door where he rang the bell again. Two thoughts persisted through their minds.

"How did Reinhard Van Astrea, the descendant of Reid Astrea, even get into the Dream Citadel, and why in Od Laguna's name did he know how to use the electronic doorbell?"

Dammit, it got pushed back again...I had the fallout for this fight be planned as a small interaction but it blew up big. So Reinhard was postponed a little more. No, I don't intend for them to magically return to the status quo but a little conflict now and then is good for the couple.

Interesting story about the drunk Tella scene. I had a little inspiration from MLB and my own personal life. One time I went to confess to a girl...let's just say things didn't work out. Remember when people said the worse a person responds is no...that's a lie. The person said no and then added how they didn't want to be friends or have anything to do with me. It stung but I recovered... I also went to Dairy Queen for a chocolate milkshake because Rush ain't breaking that easy. Seriously why do people think alcohol works...its a depressant...depress is literally in the name. Use Chocolate instead.

But enough about me...I decided to go this route because one I thought it might be a little funny and two I thought it would be an easier way to show Satella's mood in a more exaggerate fashion. You can always say and act like everything's fine but you're still going to be down and hurt. Whether are not people get the metaphor or not...but I guess that's why the author's notes exist.

As always please take care, get your vaccines, wash your hands and social distance and I'll see you next time.