Natsumi rubbed the snow from her eyes. Where was she? What was this place? The roaring wind didn't provide any answers to her questions. And the deep cold setting into her bones already told her exactly what she needed to know. She sat down in the snow. There was no point in walking anywhere. This cold, it was so familiar.

This was the cold that had shown her the reality of this world. Her new "home" was not the paradise she'd thought. She was not lucky. She was not protected. She was in hell. A cold, frozen, and murderous hell. There wasn't a shred of good in this frozen world.

A small flame appeared before her eyes. It was so far away, yet so gentle. She shouldn't be able to sense anything, but she did. Its gentle heat enveloped her, making her warm, safe from the dangers of the world.

But it wasn't enough. She needed more. She took a step towards. Then another. As she walked towards the flare, a grave voice resonated in her ears.

"Sleep."

She turned back. A golden eye had appeared on the horizon, glowing brightly against the snow floating in the sky. The wind howled as the blizzard rained down upon her. The protection given by the fire disappeared, and Natsumi was left alone to suffer.

Stuck in the frozen wasteland, all by herself and with nowhere to go, Natsumi accepted her fate. Her knees gave up and she fell to the ground. She made no efforts to stand up, it was futile. She would die there, just one more of Puck's unnamed ice statues left behind his rampage.

A red light shined behind her. Slowly, the pain went away. She used all her remaining strength to turn back, and saw the previously small blaze turning into a roaring inferno. It flew towards her like a phoenix, and the world was reduced to cinders.

For an instant, she felt completely safe.

Natsumi lunged forward struggling to catch her breath. She stood there for a few seconds, examining her hands with long breaths and her eyes wide open. After some seconds she calmed down and took a long deep breath. She found herself in an unknown place. Her eyes darted around, examining the room.

The bed was massive, even more than a wedding bed. The sheets were pure white and soft pillows covered the bedside. In front of her laid a massive mirror and a desk. It looked to be made of silver, and its legs were covered in gold. She sat up on the bed and examined herself in the mirror.

A white nightgown covered her frail body. She passed her hand over it, the quality of the silk was far above anything she had worn before. As she passed her hand over it she noticed one detail, she had no visible injuries. All the cuts and bruises she had were now gone.

Still puzzled, she stood up. Looking at her right she saw how dark it was outside and that the only window in the room had its curtains ripped off.

The light in the room came from a golden chandelier on the ceiling, which instead of holding candles had eight stones brightly shining. One thought came to her mind as she sat on the bed's edge hugging the skirt of her gown.

She had been saved.

Her lips curved into a slight smile as the image of Reinhard after defeating Elsa came to her mind. His clothes untouched as he idly stood in the middle of the destroyed loothouse.

"The loothouse… Felt! Where's she!?"She stood up and looked around the room for a sign of her being in the same house. She approached the window but it was too dark outside to see anything. As she headed to the door, she noticed a note lying on the desk and picked it up.

Despite squinting her eyes attempting to decipher the weird glyphs written on the paper, she was unable to understand anything written there. It all looked like nonsense marks. As she left the note back where it was, the sound of the door banging reverberated through the eerie atmosphere of the room, followed by a streak of yellow that collided with her. Air was forced out of her mouth, and she was thrown to the ground.

Looking up, all Natsumi could see was a bush of golden hair a slight distance from her face. It soon moved back letting her see the culprit behind her attack.

"Are you… Felt?" The little thief nodded, a smile plastered on her face showing off her little fang.

"Oh… I didn't recognize you." Natsumi said.

"Yer finally awake Big Sis!" Felt moved aside and stood up, letting Natsumi stand up as well. "I was waiting for ya to wake up."

"What's this dress? You look like a princess now." Natsumi couldn't help but notice the obvious difference in attire from when she first met Felt.

"That knight bastard insists on me wearing this shitty dress." Her face expressed nothing but disgust. "Look at this, the skirt goes below my knees! I can't walk with this on!"

Natsumi chuckled at Felt's child-like tantrum.

"By 'knight bastard' you mean Reinhard?" Natsumi moved next to the bed and sat on its edge.

"Yeah! He kidnapped me and kept both of us naked all night! He's a pervert, I'm telling ya!" growled Felt. Natsumi remained silent with a frozen expression. "He even had the balls to walk in!"

"Big sis?" Felt noticed Natsumi's blank stare. "Are you there big sis?" Felt's words snapped Natsumi out of her trance. Her entire body shook as if she was trembling.

"Yes. I was… thinking about something." Natsumi put on a smile. "You were calling Reinhard a pervert, right?"

"Yeah! He pisses me off!"

"You shouldn't be saying these things." She waved her finger in front of Felt, reprimanding her like a little child. "He saved both of us."

"But…" Felt cast her gaze downwards, tightly clasping her skirt.

"No buts. Now, what time is it? I'm hungry."

Felt glanced at a particular blue-colored rock on the desk before answering.

"It's water time. The old maid said that the old man was in charge of-" Felt shut up as the door shrieked as it was opened by the maid.

"Nice meeting you, Subaru-sama," she said, bowing. "I'm Carol Fauzen. As head maid, I am in charge of taking care of the Astrea House in Lugunica." She straightened up with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. Felt trembled and dashed forward, hiding behind Natsumi.

"She's the maid I told ya about. She spent all day annoying me," whispered Felt into Natsumi's ear.

"P-Pleased to meet you," she stuttered. "I'm Natsuki Subaru, but you can call me Natsumi." The maid nodded.

"Understood, Natsumi-sama. Now if you please, Felt-sama."

"Is this more of your stupid lady-like training? Just so ya know, I know everything I need to know!"

"A true lady wouldn't throw a vase full of flowers at a maid just to run away." Felt gulped and hid her petite figure behind Natsumi. "But it's not the time for studying. Natsumi-sama can't have dinner in a nightgown, can't she?"

Both girls let out a soft "Oh."

Felt grasped Natsumi's nightgown before letting it go. She jumped off the bed and dashed out of the room before Carol could do or say anything to her. Carol bowed as she said:

"Now, Natsumi-sama. If you please, follow me. I'll guide you to your room, the wardrobe has already been filled with various outfits."

"What took ya so long?" said Felt, standing just outside Natsumi's room. At Carol's insistence, both she and her big sis would sleep in separate rooms. She would stay in the biggest room in the mansion for a reason that the maid didn't explain, while Natsumi had a smaller room not far away, all for herself.

She had to wait for a long twenty minutes before the door was opened again.

"The food is going to get cold! Ya weren't even responding!" Taking a closer look at Natsumi, Felt froze and her breath stopped, staring at her slack-jawed.

Her long hair wasn't tied in a ponytail like before, but instead was kept straight up to slightly below her shoulders. A black shawl draped over her slender arms complementing her thigh-high black leggings. A royal blue skirt tied the outfit together.

"Felt?" She asked, moving a strand of hair to the side. "Are you okay?"

"Ah, yes!" Felt trembled in place and gave a hasty answer. "It's just that… Big Sis is really beautiful." Natsumi took a step backwards, looking away while toying with her hair, a slight flush on her face.

"Felt-sama, Natsumi-sama, dinner is ready. If you please, follow me." The two young girls followed her. Along the way, Natsumi started a conversation.

"Uhm, Felt, why do you keep calling me Big Sis?"

"Hm?" Felt turned to face Natsumi. "Oh, ya saved me so that's why."

"That's it? Just because I helped you?"

"Yeah. No one else would have cared. If not for you and that red-haired bastard Old Man Rom and I would be dead." She averted her gaze as she shyly said: "If you don't like I-I can stop…"

Natsumi remained silent and slowly extended her arm forwards, patting Felt's head. The young opened her eyes in shock, perking up, and casting Natsumi's hand away.

"Whatcha doin'!?"

"Oh. You were acting cute so I wanted to pat you," she said while fidgeting. She approached Felt and slightly bent forward to meet her height. "And I don't hate it. You can call me Big Sis all you want."

Carol giggled at the interaction. Felt dashed forward and started walking next to Carol with a pout, leaving Natsumi behind. The rest of the short walk was silent.

"Good evening, Felt-sama, Natsumi-sama." Having arrived at the dining room, Reinhard welcomed the two. He stood up from his seat in the middle of the table and slightly bent forward in a bow. Felt ignored him, walking up to the seat furthest away from him.

However, to her disgrace, the old maid picked up the chair directly in front of Reinhard and moved it backwards while looking at Felt with her eyes squinted. She took the hint and changed seats.

"Big Sis, sit here!" Felt said with a smile while indicating the seat to her right. Carol put her hands on her hips and sighed before moving the chair right to Felt, allowing Natsumi to sit on it.

"Ah, yes, I'm going!" She waved at Reinhard with her right hand. "Good evening to you too, Reinhard."

"Hm? Where's Old Man Rom?" asked Felt. Natsumi had just sat down and was taking a look at the cutlery. It brightly shined and seemed to be made of silver.

She felt the need to examine them further but repressed it. It would surely be seen as impolite.

"I'm extremely sorry, Felt-sama. I failed you." Reinhard looked downwards, apologetic.

"Cut your bullshit and tell me where's Old Man Rom." Felt slammed her fist against the table with a piercing gaze.

"After I left you both in grandmother's care, I contacted the knights to look for any hint of the Bowel Hunter's whereabouts. It seems the knights took Rom-san to a nearby hospital. I attempted to bring him here as you asked, but he was injured and needed rest."

"So ya let him there? Ya didn't talk with the healer who came yesterday?"

"Ferris? I'm ashamed to admit Ferris left with Crusch-sama back to her domain."

"Hm? Who are you talking about?" asked Natsumi after examining the luxurious room. All the luxuries made her feel out of place.

"Ferris, Crusch-sama's knight. The best healer in the kingdom and a close friend of mine. Luckily, he was in the capital yesterday to heal your injuries."

"So he was the one to heal me?" asked Natsumi. Reinhard nodded. "I'll have to thank him then."

"I'm sure you'll have an opportunity in the near future. Speaking of gratefulness, I con-"

"That's enough! Leave that for later, I'm hungry!" Felt cut off Reinhard with a shout.

"Understood, Felt-sama." Carol disappeared behind a door and soon came back accompanied by an old butler. Both were carrying silver plates. The butler dropped the tray in front of Reinhard as the maid did the same with Felt and Natsumi. Both retreated to the side, not giving any indication of eating themselves.

Natsumi opened her mouth as if wanting to say anything, but seeing Reinhard pick up a fork and start eating and Felt barely remembering to use it before indulging in a slab of meat, she gave up.

It was probably a custom of this world. Thinking about it, she recalled servants not eating with their lords in the medieval ages.

Looking down on his plate, she found her dinner to be… luxurious, just like everything she had seen today. From the rooms, clothes, the existence of servants, and now even the food. Would she have to pay for all of this? She gulped at the thought of just how expensive this could be.

She had to admit, however, that the food was exquisite.

"Ah, that was delicious!" Felt let out a long breath as she relaxed in her chair. She had finished the first, devouring everything on her plate aside for some veggies she secretly moved to Natsumi's plate.

If not for the creeping sensation of Carol's gaze penetrating her soul, she might have licked the sauce off the tray.

After everyone finished, the two servants moved from their spots and silently retrieved the silvered trays. Natsumi recalled Reinhard wanting to talk about something.

"Ah, Reinhard, you wanted to discuss something right?"

"Yes, Natsumi-sama. After rescuing Emilia-sama I'm certain Roswaal-sama will want to reward you. If it's not too much trouble, we should organize a visit to his sta-." Reinhard noticed Natsumi's absent gaze. "Is something wrong, Natsumi-sama?" She hugged herself and started trembling. Reinhard dashed out of his seat and arrived at her side. "Natsumi-sama!"

"Big Sis!" Felt noticed as well. Reinhard extended her arms intending to shake her out of whatever she was imagining but stopped midway through. Natsumi's situation only got worse as she started digging her nails into her skin.

Felt started shaking Natsumi as a few tears spilled off her eyes. Seeing as it had no effect she wiped the tears off her eyes and with a determined gaze, she snapped Natsumi out of her trance.

A loud thump resonated in the room. Reinhard looked with incredulity at his lady, Carol covered her mouth and the old butler rushed out of the room.

Natsumi touched her right cheek, slightly red after Felt's slap. She looked at her hand and then at Felt. She was sniffling, suppressing her tears as best as she could with her hand still high up.

Natsumi opened her mouth but shut it close. She deviated her gaze from Felt to the ground.

"I… I'm sorry," she mustered the courage to speak these words, still unable to look at Felt straight in the eye. The butler came back, carrying a small kit. He kneeled in front of Natsumi and opened the kit, revealing a small bottle and some cotton. He extended his hand forwards.

Natsumi was unsure of what he wanted but extended her hand anyways. The servant poured some of the bottle's contents onto the cotton and proceeded to heal the small cuts Natsumi had caused herself. Natsumi now understood what he was doing.

"Thanks…?" She stopped midway, not knowing how to call him. She turned to Felt, but she shrugged after wiping some tears off her face.

"Grimm… Fauzen." His voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken in months.

"Fauzen?" She turned to the maid standing behind Felt. She nodded as if knowing what she was going to ask. She turned to Grimm. "So you two are married?" Grimm nodded.

"My dear husband got injured back in the demi-human war. Now he can barely speak." With his free hand Grimm brought the neck of his uniform down, revealing an ugly scar on his throat. He quickly covered it back.

"Natsumi-sama, I…"

"Shut up, Reinhard. While Big Sis was suffering you did nothing to help," seethed Felt.

"I…" Unable to come up with anything to say, Reinhard stared at the ground. "I'm sorry."

"YOU BETTER BE!"

"FELT!" Natsumi cut her off and stood up. "I'm sorry but… I'll be going to bed." Before anyone could catch her, she ran away from the room. Felt growled at Reinhard, who kept staring downwards, and then ran behind her.

Arriving at her room, Natsumi quickly locked the door and snuggled under the blankets. She paid no mind to the knocks or Felt's shouts.

"I fucked up… What am I going to do now?" she mumbled to herself. Being under the blanket made her feel comfortable. The heat calmed her down.

"What if they kick me out? Why did they even heal and feed me? Did Felt ask? Was it Reinhard's doing?" Many questions rounded her mind. She didn't notice Felt giving up.

She started scratching. Only a bit. Peeling the layer of frost off her arms. She never liked exposing too much skin. Now exposing it just made her feel cold.

She gritted her teeth and scratched a bit more, a few drops of blood coming off her arm.

"If they kick me out… what will I do? I don't know how to read, my money is worthless and all I have is…" She stopped as something popped on her head.

"My bag. What happened to my bag and phone?" She had lost track of them back at the slums. Did Reinhard pick her bag, or was that just wishful thinking? And what happened to her phone?

"I want to go home." A few tears dropped from her eyes. She didn't wipe them off, they were warm.

"I don't want to die. It's painful, it hurts, I don't want to die." She stopped scratching, putting her knees close to her body and holding them with her hands.

"I hate it. I hate Return by Death. I…" A realization came to her mind. "Return… by Death? That…" She searched through her memories, trying to find the moment when she named that cursed ability. She found nothing. But then, how did she know that name?

She had no time to think as she heard a noise coming from outside. She peeked her head above the blankets and found the window wide open and a shadowy figure sneaking in. She quickly jumped off the bed.

"Re-" The intruder cut her off by blocking her mouth with their hand. Thanks to their proximity, Natsumi could take a look at the intruder and recognize it.

"Ya locked your door but left the window open," said Felt.

"Felt…? Why are you here?"

"Ya ran away and didn't open th' door so I sneaked in." Felt smiled, showing off her little fang. Natsumi took a deep breath and calmed down.

Felt removed her hand from her mouth, and Natsumi moved back to the bed. Felt followed and both snuggled under the sheets.

"Why did ya run?"

"I was scared. I don't know what happened to me and I didn't know what to do… so I ran. What do I do now? What if they're angry at me now? What will I do if they kick me away? I don't know how to read or write, I have no money, I…"

"This is just a load of bullshit," declared Felt with a stern tone. "I didn't make a deal with that red-haired idiot for nothing. You're staying in here, want it or not."

"Eh? Ah…" Natsumi couldn't find the words to answer.

"Why… Why do you go so far for me? Is it just because I saved you?"

"Yes." Felt nodded, even though Natsumi couldn't see her under the darkness of the sheets. "No one else but ya would have bothered. It's all thanks to ya that I'm alive, so I'll pay ya back."

"I… I see." Natsumi turned her back to Felt, suppressing her need to cry a few tears. "I'll go to sleep. Goodnight Felt."

"Goodnight."

"And thank you." Natsumi whispered.

Felt didn't answer.

Before falling asleep, one thought remained in Natsumi's mind. Living with Reinhard and Felt… perhaps that wasn't so bad.

AN: Finally, Arc 2 begins. As I've already said in a few places, I'll try working on a schedule. One chapter of Maiden's New Life a week, one chapter of Stars that form the Future every two weeks. I wonder how long it will take me to break this.