Chapter 10: Na-tsu-ki Tsu-baru

Within the swirling hall, Natsuki Subaru came face-to-face with the blond girl.

"How delightful," she commented. "You are the first to discover this gateway into the Hall, tsu. As expected of a Gluttony."

Subaru could only point at her in confusion. "And who the hell are you supposed to be!?"

"Heh, we rescind our previous statement. Maybe Lye deserves that 'genius' title after all, tsu."

"You…know about us? Then you are…"

"We are the Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult, tasked with Gluttony, representing Satiation, Louis Arneb."

Upon hearing her name, his eyes lit up. "You're Louis! You're the one I came to find!"

"Indeed, tsu. We are the sister of Lye and Roy and, now, you as well. As you can see, w-, hey!"

Louis was cut off by her new brother, who lifted her up with a beaming smile on his face. "This is so great! I always wanted a little sister! We're gonna have so much fun, Louis, and I mean 'we' as in 'us!'"

"Put us down! We are an Archbishop, tsu!"

"Heh!"

It took most of Louis's strength to finally shake free of her brother's grasp, who let her go with a disappointed sigh. "Your actions wound my fragile heart, Louis! Oh, how tragic! I am unloved!"

"We think it would have been best to not give you the Authority," she remarked while dramatically dusting herself off as if dirt existed in this place.

"Augh! My own sister turns against me! Does this world know no mercy? Am I doomed to be abandoned by all?"

While covering his face in mock grief, Subaru heard someone give a slight chuckle. Since there was only one other person in this hall, he was pretty sure he could guess who it had been.

"We will concede on this point, tsu. You are entertaining, Natsuki Subaru…"

"Score!"

"Entertaining like a novice jester. It would have been more enjoyable if you had performed something for us, tsu!"

"Does your malice know no bounds, Louis!?"

The only response he got was a fanged smirk.

"While we must admit that you are livelier than those two idiots, you still show the same lack of intelligence as them, tsu."

Subaru grasped at his heart, faking an ache.

"Ha! Yes, amusing indeed. But, you know why our brothers wanted you to come here, yes, tsu?"

"They didn't really mention it, heh," was his response as he scratched his head.

Louis pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head.

"If it's any consolation, I know that they said something about my Authority not working and finding out what caused that."

"That is why we wished to meet you. You see, Natsuki, your Authority is compatible with you, tsu. Neither is your other Authority interfering with it. Rather, the issue is, quite simply, that someone is cutting your access of it."

He remembered the being in the void. "I'm really hoping that you can fix this, Louis."

"An intelligent remark coming from you, tsu? How unexpected…"

"Every word you say opens a new tear in my heart!"

"Relax, Natsuki. We have a solution for your problem. Of course, we want something in return, tsu. It would be no fun to let you play with your new toy and ignore us entirely."

"How can I forget my new, snarky, tsundere sister?"

"Tsunde…huh, tsu? Never mind, what we propose is an equivalent exchange: you will get your Authority, and we will get what we want."

"Uh, Louis, just being careful here, but what you want isn't my soul, right? It'd be…pretty bad to just sell my soul to a kid I only recently met."

If possible, Louis's grin became even wider. "It is simple, tsu. We will fix your Witch Factor and house a portion of us there."

"Okay, you lost me at 'witch.' Explain it like I'm a five-year-old."

"A piece of our soul will reside within you, and we will experience what you feel, tsu. In return, we will fix your Authority."

"Say, Lu, my life kinda sucks. Why would you want to experience it?"

"Why would we not want to? Natsuki, do you wish to be happy, tsu?"

"You sound like a saleswoman, but, yes, I want to be happy, of course."

"To experience that happiness, you will go through challenges. You will suffer pain, loss, betrayal, and more, tsu. But all this will make your success sweeter. All we ask for is a chance to feel that success with you."

"You won't…possess me or anything creepy, will you?"

"We may."

"Ah, that's a re-, wait, you may!?"

"Yes, tsu. If you are nearing your end, we may deem it fit to take over. You have our assurance that it will not harm your body and neither will we do anything you do not desire."

"How do I know you won't change who I am or something!?"

"Lye and Roy were idiots before we gave them parts of our soul. You will remain the same, Natsuki, tsu. If anything, we will only bring your feelings to light."

"I see…"

"Do you wish to make this contract, tsu?"

She offered her hand, which the black-haired boy looked at apprehensively.

"Ah, what's the worst that could happen?"

He accepter her deal by patting her head.

In the Taygeta Library, where bookshelves reign supreme as its sole inhabitants, a boy was unconscious on the floor. He held a book, titled Reid Astrea, and wore black and orange clothes.

Under his head was a pillow.

Or, at least, the closest thing Shaula owned to a pillow. It was actually a piece of fur from a courtesan bear that she had turned to cinders some time ago. The rotten mabeast had tried to enter the tower, and she did what she had to. What she was ordered to do…

Ordered by a master who'd never return.

Just thinking about it was enough to make her eyes watery. It was obvious that her master would return! In fact, he had returned, and was currently asleep in the library.

A part of her did not believe such a claim.

If he was her master, he would have surely shown it by now. Besides, what he said, about never asking her to remain here…was that true? Was this boy not her master? Did Flugel even plan to return in the first place?

He must have. If not, then he clearly would have told her, right?

Right?

All Shaula could do was sit next to the boy. His words had hurt, but maybe he was right. What if her master was never coming back? Would she still lock herself away from the world in this tower? When the boy left, like Flugel, would he leave her behind too?

She lay on the ground next to him.

What would she do?

Without a master, she was nothing. Who would show her the way? Who would teach her about the world? About all she missed guarding a tower for a master who would never come back? How many times had she wished for him to come back?

How many people did she kill in his name?

Could one of them have been…?

She refused to pursue that line of thinking any further. Thinking about it would just make her want to jump off the tower's balcony. If she died, who would guard the tower? Reid could definitely not be trusted.

If she died, who would help the black-haired boy?

It was settled, then. She would place her life in his hands. She was the tower's administrator and keeper, but if he passed all trials, he'd take her place. He could free her from all this.

And afterwards? What did she want to do afterwards? Would she leave the tower and wander the world? Would she even want to leave this place?

Would she even want to live?

Shaula quickly shook her head. Everything would come in its own time.

If she was fated to die, so be it.

With that thought in mind, she scooted closer to the boy and closed her eyes.

Finally awake from having visited his new sister, Subaru stretched a bit and placed the book he'd just…"read" …back on one of the bookshelves while also picking up his gospel, which, although he did not care much for it, he suspected the others might be a bit angry with him if he lost his copy.

The last thing he needed right now was a furious Pandora.

Paying little heed to Shaula, who was laying down close to where he had been, he started back up toward the trial room. Maybe it was for the best that she remained in the library; after all, her reaction toward Reid had been less than ideal, and he did not want to put her through that again.

Although he had lost track of time, Subaru supposed that he had been in the tower for about a day, including the time he spent unconscious when he first entered.

Despite the time he spent here, he never found the stairs any less annoying.

Seriously. Putting aside the whole Shaula ordeal, he would have pushed Flugel down these stairs for even thinking about designing them like this. Who in their right mind builds a spiral staircase that goes around a fall high enough to kill anything and does not put even a single safety railing?

It took a couple of minutes to ascend the entire staircase, but he finally arrived at the trial room. There was no Reid Astrea anymore, and the only thing present was the sword at the center of the room.

Just like before, he touched the sword, listened to the voice that told him of the trial's objective, and watched the redhead materialize in front of him.

"Disturbin' my sleep again, you? Whaddya even want?"

"To pass the trial, duh. You know, if you told me you were related to Reinhard, I would've never believed you."

"Who the hell's this 'Reinhard,' you prick!? Enough talking, are ya here to pass or chat, you!?"

Subaru shrugged. "Alright, but we're still doing the whole 'one step' thing right? Because I might get a little hurt if we're not, and I don't want to go home crying and covered in bruises."

His opponent nodded and pulled out the same chopsticks as before.

"Hey, before we start, why chopsticks?"

"What!?"

"Yeah. Are they some family heirloom or something? Maybe some mythical weapon? Or do you just eat people after killing them? No, in that case, you should use a knife…"

He shook his head to clear it, and assumed the same battle stance as before. Reid just grinned at this display, knowing full well what the outcome of the fight would be.

Exactly like last time, Subaru lunged at him with a dagger, only to change the attack's direction at the last minute. Despite being a new tactic, Reid just effortlessly tossed him around and kicked him about halfway through the room.

Standing up, Subaru called to mind what Louis had told him.

He recalled his brothers' attempts to teach him how to utilize the Authority.

Taking a deep breath, Subaru assumed the best kung-fu stance he could (his only experience with the martial art came from movies) and once more moved toward Reid. Once in range, Reid was the first to attack, and he did so by targeting Subaru's lungs with his chopsticks.

Subaru felt time slow down.

Then, he heard the various voices.

In the second before he was tossed against a wall like a sack of sand, the hundreds of fighters his brothers had devoured gave him all the advice they could.

"Hit him in the neck."

"Poke his eyes."

"Bite his chopsticks."

"Dodge!"

"Puncture his ribs and sweep him."

The final voice was the only one he recognized.

"We'll take over, brother."

Subaru's body moved, but he was not the one ordering it to. He dodged the strike, but he could not have done so alone.

He struck Reid Astrea's neck with enough force to shatter a building, but the other was unfazed.

"How troublesome," Not-Subaru commented with clear snark in his voice. "That technique is enough to kill most normal combatants, tsu. Why are you still alive?"

"Save your commentary for when ya lose, prick!"

Another attack came from Reid, who kicked with a speed faster than one could see.

Faster than Not-Subaru could see, but not faster than he could react.

His body twisted uncomfortably to evade the coming kick, and did so again to escape Reid's follow-up strike with his chopsticks.

As soon as the redhead's attack missed, Not-Subaru closed the distance and, without remorse or mercy, drove his fist directly into Reid's groin.

Ouch.

While the attack itself did close to nothing, it forced Reid to respond. Reid had an opportunity now, and he took it by aiming his chopsticks at Not-Subaru's jaw. If it landed, it would have put him out of commission for a good amount of time.

Emphasis on "if."

The attack missed, and Not-Subaru took advantage of Reid's velocity to give him just a little, gentle kick on the back. A kick that would have cracked open a reinforced nuclear bunker.

Reid stumbled forward.

"Ha," Not-Subaru spoke. "We expected this outcome, tsu! None can beat an Archbishop of Gluttony!"

When Reid turned, his face was filled with anger. "You little shit, you! Watch your back when coming back down, because I might just kick ya down the stairs, prick!"

Not-Subaru just stuck his tongue out.

Subaru, however, was still in awe. He did all that? A half hour ago he got manhandled by Reid to the point that it was humiliating. Now, he managed to make the unbeatable redhead stumble and fail his own trial.

Subaru stuck his tongue out at the defeated warrior.

"That's what you get," he said, half in awe at being able to control his body again.

"AMAZING! I knew master could do it, yep!"

Both men in the room turned to the entrance, where Shaula was jumping in excitement. With a dumb grin on her face, she ran toward Subaru faster than the eye could see and jumped on his back.

She also stuck her tongue out at Reid.

Flailing his arms and trying to balance the keeper on his back, Subaru finally managed to gain his footing. "So, uh, Reid. I guess this is goodbye?"

Reid growled at him.

"I'll take that as a yes, thank you!"

"Oi!"

Subaru (and, consequently, Shaula on his back) turned to the redhead. "What is it now?"

"Ya passed, prick. But she didn'."

He was about to protest when Shaula hopped off his back and happily said, "Master! Please! Let me take the trial, I wanna beat him up, yep!"

"Shaula…"

With the best puppy eyes she could muster, she pleaded, "Please~…?"

"Alright, fine, make it quick. And take it easy on the guy, alright?"

"Yep! I will, master!"

Then the room exploded into an all-consuming white light.

A void.

An abyss.

An endless dark.

A world without light.

No matter where she turned, she could not see.

No matter what she did, she could not feel.

No matter who came for her, she would not be freed.

Without sight.

Without taste.

Without hearing.

Without touch.

Without smell.

She could only feel envy.

Envy toward the world's inhabitants, who were free.

Envy toward the Divine Dragon, whose memories of that fateful day were gone.

Envy toward Reid Astrea, for having passed away in peace.

Envy toward Flugel, who she once loved.

But she was never envious of her beloved.

He suffered too much.

He was forced to flee from his friends.

He lost his happy ending with them.

He became part of them.

Just thinking of that cult would have made her ill, if she could even feel at all.

Her counterpart told her to take him, to steal him away, to protect him from the world.

The jealous woman just wanted him to be happy.

If his happiness required her to not interfere, she could settle for that.

But her counterpart could not.

Not now, when the tower's keeper was fawning over him like a schoolgirl.

Not now, when the Witch of Vanity had him in her grasp.

If only she was strong enough to break the seal.

If only she could have met her beloved under different circumstances.

All she could do is dream of how things could have gone differently.

"Tha~nks, master! I really needed that! It was super caha-, cathe-, caht-, it was relieving!"

The tower's keeper and the Archbishop were currently sitting on the stairs that led to the final floor. While Shaula remained her usual, giddy self, Subaru had to take a second to recover after what had happened in that room.

"I don't even feel bad for him, nope! Can you believe the number of times he tried to grope me!? It was so~ good to put him in his place, yep!"

"Shaula…you…you could have vaporized us…I think my eyesight is damaged…"

"C'mon master! It was just a little Hell's Snipe, that's all, yep!"

"Hell's Snipe" was Shaula's signature technique. From what she had demonstrated in the…fight against Reid Astrea, it appeared as a white needle in a circle that shot toward its target. The shape it had reminded him more of a scorpion's stinger, which he supposed was a nod to the girl's scorpiontail haircut.

Said "fight," however, had barely lasted a second, as Shaula had brought forth the fury of the Sun to bear on the redhead, who, although largely unhurt, had been forced to take a step back.

Subaru's eyes still hurt from seeing that display.

"Ouch…my eyes…Shaula, if I go blind…"

"No worries! If master goes blind, then I'll be his eyes!"

"I doubt you'd be as effective as my…current…eyes…"

Her smile beamed brighter than that display of force in the past trial.

Once Subaru felt his eyesight return, both he and Shaula ascended the final stairs toward what was supposedly a final trial. Of course, he already had some expectations for it: the first trial required intelligence and the second required strength, so the last would be either agility or a mix of brain and brawn.

Finally, they reached the final room.

An open space with six pillars, one in the center and five around. The room itself was open, and Subaru could see the early morning sun rising on the horizon as well as feel the breeze coming from such a high altitude.

Leaning against the center pillar was a dragon.

Gray and blue, with a crown-like head, it observed the two soon-to-be-trial-takers. Its eyes followed them, but showed little signs of life.

"Woah," was all Subaru could say. If this final trial involved becoming a dragonslayer he was going to be so pumped for it!

Shaula audibly gagged. "Volcanica. I should've known you were here if that bastard Reid was."

"Thou, who hath reached the top of the tower," Volcanica spoke. "Step forth through the first floor, almighty petitioner. I, am Volcanica. In accordance with the ancient covenant, I ask the will of thee who hath reached the summit."

Subaru raised his fist. "Alright! Bring on the trial, big guy!"

There was silence.

"Thou, who hath reached the top of the tower. Step forth through the first floor, almighty petitioner."

Both keeper and Archbishop looked at one another, and Subaru said, "Hey, Vulcan? You said that already."

"I, am Volcanica. In accordance with the ancient covenant, I ask the will of thee who hath reached the summit."

"My will is to take the trial, man. I just want to get out of here."

The dragon made no sign of understanding.

"Hey, master. I think his mind may have gone bad…"

"What!? So we have to deal with an incompetent trial-tester!?"

"Seems like it, master…"

Looking the massive dragon over, Subaru turned back to Shaula. "Shaula, I hate to be the one who says this, but you know about your master, right? He's not coming back…"

She stayed silent, but her usual smile fell quite a bit.

Subaru offered her his hand. "Shaula, don't wait for him to come back. Don't stay here another four centuries."

"What…should I do, then…?"

"Take the trial."

Her face showed a mix of shock and dismay. "But…I can't…if master finds ou-"

"He won't, Shaula. I doubt he's going to find out and, if he does, I'll take the blame."

"Why…?"

"I'd honestly like to give you some cool reason, but, really, it just crossed my mind. I'll be leaving this place soon enough, so why should you be forced to stay?"

"Master wants me to."

"Flugel wants you to stay in this tower, alright, but what do you want?"

"…"

"Do you want to go back to the normal world? Do you want to stay here? Whichever you decide, I'll support you, but I want it to be something you decide. I wouldn't condone something like 'I want to burn down the world' but, mostly everything else…"

"…"

"Shaula, don't tell me you've never thought for yourself."

"I do! I…decide what to have for lunch and dinner…"

"I'll concede; that's better than nothing. Still, do you see? I understand from what you said that Flugel must've been a great guy. He probably had the power to change the world. But, does that excuse leaving you here?"

"And if he returns…?"

"Let me worry about that. Better yet, stand up to him and tell him you were sick and tired of following orders. Tell him you decided to think for yourself."

"…"

"From what I gather, you, Reid, and the big gecko here don't get along. Why would Flugel leave you here with them?"

"If it was by ac-"

"What if it wasn't? I told you, if Flugel comes back, I'll give him a piece of my mind. If he doesn't, you'll be here forever. Is that what you want?"

"I can't take the trial! I told you!"

"You can, but you're considering the risk of your master finding out you went against orders, when you should be considering what will make you happy."

"…"

"I'll wait here all day, if need be. Just, uh, I have no food, so, I kinda don't want to starve…"

"Do you know what I wanted?"

"What?"

"When master left, I wanted to go with him. As the days passed, I wanted him to return. After you came, I wanted to spend so much time with you."

"You know I'm not him…"

"That's right…you never will be…"

"…"

"But you didn't have to be. I could have fooled myself that you were master and been happy, but you took that from me too."

"…"

"I wanted to spend so much time with you. I wanted you to congratulate me for my good job. I wanted you to say what I've always wanted to hear."

"And I never did…"

"Nope. I wanted you to stay with me so badly that…I hid a final rule from you. Without it, I thought you'd stand no chance against the trials. I thought you'd come to me for help, for company, and…I was wrong."

"What was the rule?"

"You can destroy the trials."

"…"

"If you pass this trial, then, like master said, you will be the tower's new keeper. You could command me to leave."

"Do you want to leave?"

"Yes…"

"Aren't you the keeper?"

"Yep."

"Did Flugel give you that title?"

"Yeah."

"Then…he knew he wouldn't return. This tower was his, so he was the keeper before you and, yet, when he left, he named you his successor."

"He wouldn't…do this."

"I'm not one to tell you what he would or would not do but, the fact remains, that he has not yet come back."

"…"

"Shaula, did your master…love you?"

"…"

"If he did, then, wouldn't he want this? Wouldn't he want you to be free? Once the trials are over, what would you do?"

"I need…time to think about it. It all happened so fast."

"I agree. Take all the time you need. I'll stay here and, when you decide, we'll take the trial together. You saw me get tossed around by Reid, so against a dragon I stand no chance."

"…"

"Shaula, let's make a deal: help me pass this trial and come with me. Become your own person. If Flugel comes back, you're completely free to go back to him and return here. If he doesn't, I want to be your friend, and I want you to see the world for yourself."

"…"

"Do we have a deal?"

The nod of her head spoke louder than words.

AN: I'd like to give a shoutout to both Moe's server (because I love you guys) and the voice in my head that orders me to keep writing. Also to everyone that leaves a review, favorite, or follow. Thanks guys!

SMT!