A supposed to be deleted Chapter but you guys really wanted it :)
So I officially Name this the Actual Chapter 2
For some who don't know, This Chapter contains NO SMUT sadly :(
But Fear not, Chapter 3 is very Smut heavy as it is intended to be
We will go back to Smut fun goodness next Chapter (And it is really close to completion lol)
In the Western District Hospital, in the First room of the third floor, laid a half-elf unconscious after her battle with Capella. The half-elf was sleeping, recovering her energy after their hard-fought battle.
The half-elf dreamed of the happy moments she had shared with her comrades. All the joyful and blissful moments that seemed like a dream because it was all too good to be true. It was only a few years back that she was once a secluded and lonely person, but now she had almost everything she could possibly dream of.
She was thankful to all the people that surrounded her. The decision to take the offer of the Margrave really gave her a new take in life. Helping other people, a characteristic she was known for gained her irreplaceable friends and allies. Throughout their journey in the Royal election, they managed to change the many lives of humans and demi-humans alike.
Once she remembered their deeds, the half-elf would reminisce about other people helping one another. Helping others in need, a philosophy instilled in her entire being. She never once denied a call for help except for one person.
She always came back to the face of the knight of the Fiery Matriarch Priscilla. Emilia never disliked a person, but she does not like Priscilla either as her attitude towards others were very different to say the least compared to her ideal way of treating other people. The knight of Priscilla however was very different; he was much like herself.
Time and time again, she remembered the knight, helping other people even though he was treated so harshly by other people, even by herself. Emilia saw him as someone she could befriend but she could not bring herself to do so.
The problem was that Priscilla's knight is part of the witch cult, so she could not possibly befriend a person like him. Inside Emilia's mind, she held some doubts about the man being part of the witch cult. But it was through her camp and the camps of Crusch and Anastasia, that she saw through the knight's deceit of not being part of the witch cult.
She remembered the first time she encountered him; it was when Gluttony escaped the prison in Priestella. At the time, Priestella was in utter chaos, just as Roy Alphard was running amok as well as the Sin Archbishop of Wrath, Sirius.
The knight kept on telling her that he was her knight and that he missed her so much, almost hugging Emilia, with the latter stopping him before he could give his hug. The look of despair that she saw in his eyes seemed so genuine, in addition to her chest's abnormal reaction in seeing him, made her believe that it could be true.
Emilia remembered the way they worked together on that day, it was in perfect harmony, every move she made, he would make moves to complement her own, as if he knew everything about her moves. With the defeat of the Sin Archbishop of Wrath, all the camps came together at the center of Priestella.
The knight went back to Priscilla's camp to retrieve the sister of Ram, where Ram knew it to be truly her sister as she felt her synthesia connection with her. The knight insisted to join her camp as well, to which she agreed.
As they went back to the Capital though, along with the camps of Crusch and Anastasia, her trust for the young man seemed to fade as each camp member brought more and more points to doubt his non-involvement with the witch cult.
The plans he made were all too perfect, as well as his smell beginning to be more pungent than what Beatrice and Rem could take. Emilia could only grow more disgusted with the man, as she thought of him having ulterior motives.
Emilia was repulsed by the way he tried to court her, his declarations of love towards her just made her want to vomit, as she believed that he was courting her because she looked like the Witch of Envy. Within the short few weeks, Emilia decided that enough was enough.
To her mind, the knight was like the Sin Archbishops, he just had his own sick concept of love. Unbeknownst to the knight, through her orders and the coordination of the other camps, he was detained so the camps could get more information about the witch cult.
Weeks of hellish torture went by for the man, Emilia never knew the degree of torture he went through until one day she went by his cell and saw his body mangled at the center of the cell, right after his torture session.
Emilia was tasked to berate the knight on that day, the camps could not break him as he kept on believing that Emilia would eventually save him. With that in the mind of the camps, they have assigned Emilia to berate him to break his spirit so he could finally spill the secrets of the Witch cult.
The knight looked at Emilia with one eye open with tears flowing down his eyes. The knight could not move his limbs as all his limbs were broken. The knight remained at the center of the cell with the pool of his blood as well as his blood splattered on the walls.
"E-Emilia…" Subaru muttered in a low voice as he tried to get a glimpse of Emilia with his lifeless eyes.
Emilia could only look with shock at the gruesome torture handed out by the members of the camp.
"P-Please…h-help me…" Subaru could only close his eyes, with tears and blood running down his cheeks, as he hoped for her hand to reach for him again.
Emilia felt an ache in her heart that she did not understand.
Emilia was hesitant at first, as her heart tried to communicate something to her that she doesn't understand, but in the end, she finally did her task.
"I won't help you Subaru" Emilia said in a cold tone.
Subaru's eye visibly shaken from her cold response. Silence took a hold of Subaru as he could not believe Emilia's response.
"You say that you are my knight, right?" Emilia inquired.
"Y-Yes…" Subaru answered with a broken voice.
"You are relieved of that position, Subaru Natsuki"
Much to his dismay and despair, Subaru could only cry as he lost the only person that was keeping himself together. The job that gave his life meaning, stripped away from him truly made Subaru fall into the depths of darkness.
Emilia continued to berate the already broken man, sinking him deeper and deeper. Subaru heard every word that he hated to hear from Emilia.
"What did I do…to deserve this…" Subaru thought as Emilia continued to berate him.
"B-But… Why?"
"Because I hate you, Subaru Natsuki"
Subaru stopped moving as he heard those words. The will that was supposed to be unbreakable finally broke. Subaru felt his strength leaving his body. All the hardship that he went through, was for nothing. Subaru at that time felt that this was truly the end of the line for him.
Subaru finally collapsed as his body lay unconscious amidst the pool of his blood.
Seeing that her job was done, she went back to inform Felix and the others to heal him so they could interrogate him again.
- Break -
Having lost all of his will.
"I don't want this… Please give me another chance… A chance to get a new life…" Subaru pleaded within himself, a cry to get away from this hellish loop.
It was no use, Subaru thought as he was about to go to his inevitable death and start this hellish loop once again.
With the camps failing to obtain any information, the camps reached a consensus to execute the witch cultist.
Three days after his last torture session, all three camps got together at the Karsten manor to finally get rid of the world another Witch cultist.
The three days of reprieve gave Subaru the time to contemplate for his next move in his eventual next loop. The knight decided right then and there that he will not involve himself further with them anymore.
"Witch Cultist, it is time, I suppose" The little Great Spirit that he used to adore so much said.
"Is it really? Beatrice"
"Yes, and do not address me so lightly, I suppose" Beatrice retorted at the casual response.
Subaru went silent at her response. After a few seconds of silence, Subaru stood up and followed Beatrice to the training grounds for his execution.
Julius, Felix, Wilhelm, and even Garfiel were stationed at the center of the training grounds, ready to receive Subaru.
Subaru was back at a very familiar sight, the only deviation so far compared to the previous loops was Emilia's visit to him at the cellar, other than that, everything is going like the previous loops.
As they finally reached the training grounds, amidst the bushes, Subaru felt a familiar presence.
"What are they doing here?" Subaru thought as he never expected them to be at the Karsten Manor.
Although Subaru was surprised at the different cast present for his execution, he still followed his actions much like the previous loops.
Subaru let himself get tied up in his restraints. Subaru kneeled at the center of the training field with Felix behind him, readying himself to paralyze Subaru should he move out of line, Garfiel and Wilhelm on his left and right side respectively, looking out for unusual movements, and Julius at the front, readying his sword to decapitate Subaru.
"This never gets easier" Subaru thought as he resigned to his fate, but he had an inkling of hope where fate would finally give him a break from all the suffering.
"Do you have any last words? Witch Cultist" Julius said to the tied-up kneeling youth.
"I am not a Witch Cultist."
"Hmph, I see your will is still intact. Your grit and mental fortitude are quite admirable. If we weren't enemies maybe, we could've been friends" Julius said as he drew his sword out of its sheath.
"I thought you were my friends actually"
As soon as Subaru said that a laugh could be heard from Garfiel, as he thought Subaru made an amusing joke. An amused smile came from Julius. A heated glare came from Felix. Lastly, focused stare from Wilhelm.
"Ahahahaha Y'er really something, even after all the torture y'er went through."
"Maybe you would like me to make your execution slower and more painful, Nyah"
"Well, I am sorry, but I am not your friend, Subaru"
"Yes, I know now" Subaru muttered as he lifted his face to face the sword of Julius.
Julius lifted his sword, pointing it to the skies.
Subaru never lost sight of the sword of Julius as it went down to slice his head off.
To Subaru's surprise, as the sword went down halfway, it was hit by a purple sword, disarming Julius.
Subaru saw the sword of Julius flying off Julius's hand as well as the purple sword sticking at the ground.
"Ah! Who was that!?" Julius said as he put up his guard.
As soon as Julius said that, a woman came out of the bush.
The woman has cream blonde hair, and a dress that reveals her shoulder and legs. She went out of the bush and pointed with her remaining purple sword at the Knight of Knights.
"Let him go!" The young woman yelled, with a great intense glare to Julius.
"Medium! What are you doing here!?" Subaru yelled in confusion as he never encountered this situation before.
"To rescue you! Of Course!"
"Rescue me!?"
"Why? We barely know each other…Remember…"
"In the short few moments, we had back in the battle at Priestella, I knew right away that you were a kind person like my brother." Medium said as she recalled all of Subaru's exploits back at Priestella.
"You don't know that…"
"I do, without your help, many of us would have died. It's because of you that I can still see my brother alive and breathing… I can't let the man that saved us die in such a cruel fate"
Subaru's eyes shake as he heard Medium's words. Someone was willing to save him.
After everything he went through, Subaru thought that fate wouldn't be this kind to him. Even the person he wanted the most to save him was not there to reach for him and now all of a sudden, Medium came for his rescue, this is all too good to be true, Subaru thought.
"Hey, don't be surprised" Medium said as she took notice of Subaru's surprised expression.
"I just… never expected someone to save me"
"You have saved a lot of people, Subaru… I am one of them… Please… let us, the ones you saved, save you for once." Medium said as she placed her right hand onto her chest, voicing out her sincerity in wanting to save Subaru.
Hearing the words of Medium, Subaru felt hope return to him once again. The chance to start over and have another life
Closing his eyes, a small tear escaped from him.
"I am not the only one with that thought"
"Huh?" Subaru said as he opened his eyes and saw a gathering of soldiers behind Medium.
"What the hell's going on!?" Garfiel yelled as he saw a great number of soldiers going into the training ground.
"These look like Vollachian soldiers" Wilhelm stated.
"What are they doing here? Nyah"
"I told you, I wasn't the only one that had this thought about you." Medium smiled.
Subaru was surprised at the number of soldiers entering the training grounds. Almost a hundred soldiers entered, most of them he recognized. Subaru heard the voice of the soldiers call out to him, greeting him and giving their sigh of relief that he was okay.
"Looks like we made it just in time"
"That's a new look for you ahahahaha"
"Thank Goodness"
"Nice to meet you again, Sir. Subaru"
"It's our turn to help you"
Subaru looked around and felt great elation at the sight, he never thought that he would ever see. The countless hellish loops that he had suffered made it seem like that this moment was only just a dream.
Subaru felt his tears pour out of his face, not because of despair, but because of happiness.
"H-How did you guys know?" Subaru asked Medium as tears continued to pour down.
"Ever since you left, many of the people you rescued were trying to find you. With rumors running around at the Capital that you were imprisoned for being a witch cultist, we knew something bad must have happened. After long fruitless weeks, with our connections, we managed to get sufficient information to know about your execution."
"I praise your efforts, but Subaru Natsuki will still be executed" Julius said
"I don't think so" Medium retorted back.
"Why not!? Nyah"
"We can kill all of ye'r in no time!"
Subaru hearing the four men for his execution, he knew that they were outmatched in skill. Even though they were about a hundred, they were up against beings that were among the strongest of Lugunica.
"Medium, Stop! We can't face them, we will lose." Subaru said as he tried to plead to Medium to stop further bloodshed.
"I know that Subaru"
"T-Then…"
"Did you think that "She" would ever let us move on our own"
"She…!?" Subaru muttered, before opening his eyes wide at the realization.
"Uh-huh" Medium nodded as she replied to the surprised Subaru.
As soon as she said that, the soldiers started to give way and make a path to someone from behind.
One by one the soldiers moved aside, and little by little Subaru saw the silhouette of the person he least expected to help him in such situation.
Subaru saw the Fiery Matriarch walk with authority making all the soldiers that she passed by straighten up their posture.
"Ohohohoho… You truly are special, indeed" Priscilla said with her fan covering her mouth, as she walked closer and closer to the man about to be executed.
"W-What do you mean?" Subaru replied.
"What are you doing here!? Nyah"
"Priscilla-sama, why are you here interfering with this execution?" Julius said as he retracted his sword back to its sheath.
"My Divine self has deemed him to be worthy to work under me is all."
"Y'er think that reason alone will stop us from killing him!"
"Mongrels like you don't see the value of him, but I do."
"Don't worry, I have informed your Masters of this intervention. They have agreed to my terms in trading him for our information on the whereabouts the other Sin Archbishops, as well as a supposed "Witch" still wandering about. It also did help that should you have executed him; how will the people react when three camps convened to execute a Hero of Priestella" Priscilla said as she smirked at her last statement.
Felix balled his fist in anger as he heard the Matriarch's reasons.
"Felix, Control yourself. It is for the better." Wilhelm said as he put his hand on the shoulder of Felix.
"B-But!?"
"We have to respect our lady's decision."
"Now, Bring him to me." Priscilla said as he pointed at Julius to bring Subaru to her.
"Tsk" Julius muttered as he went to Subaru and undid his restraints.
After getting his restraints removed, Subaru stood up and shook his hands, relieved from the tightness of the restraints.
Subaru slowly walked towards Priscilla and saw her face gazing at his form.
"Hmmm…so fate led me here huh?" Subaru thought. Subaru chuckled at the thought.
"At least Medium and Flop are here… I still know little about Priscilla, even with the time I had with her back at Vollachia… I guess this is a chance to get to know her more."
"Thank you for your saving grace, Lady Priscilla" Subaru said as he got down on one knee in front of Priscilla.
Subaru knew that if he acted any other way, his decapitation would have been right then and there.
"I am glad that you know your rightful place." Priscilla said as she was pleased by the actions of Subaru.
Priscilla closed her fan and put her fan back in between her breasts.
"You have my praise for surviving the torture that you went through. I could see the reason why fate has bought you to me. A brilliant strategist and a man that can move the hearts of people, truly you can best serve your purpose under me."
Subaru looked up at Priscilla, as Priscilla looked unto him with expectancy.
"I… I will" Subaru said, accepting Priscilla's proposal.
"Very good, I will leave you in charge with all the soldiers over there."
"W-What!?" Subaru shot up a shocked look at Priscilla.
"Don't be surprised, the members of my camp seemed to be fond of you. I see you with great value with your tactical mind. Having entrusted this to you, you better not disappoint me."
"I-I won't" Subaru replied as he stood straight up.
"Good, now let us be off then" Priscilla said as she turned around slowly walked out of the training grounds.
Medium picked up her sword then approached the stiff Subaru.
"So, what are your orders? Boss" Medium said as she bought her hand onto Subaru's shoulder.
Subaru was just slack jawed at what was happening right now.
After taking the situation in, he finally looked to the woman beside him then to the soldiers in front of them, ready to listen to his commands.
"Let us follow our Lady"
As soon as Subaru said his order, he walked alongside Medium, and followed his brand-new Mistress. The soldiers later marched as they followed their new leader.
As Subaru walked, he slowly came to terms that this was the best option for him. After his countless hellish loops, he wouldn't dream of facing that hellish torture again.
"Fate has given me this chance. I will not waste it." Subaru thought as he looked at the back of Priscilla.
Subaru held no resentment towards his friends and loved ones, just sadness and disappointment that they could not look past his witch cult connection, and just see him for what he really is.
"This is a new start" Subaru muttered.
"Hm? What did you say?" Medium asked.
"O-Oh Nothing, nothing."
"Hey, Medium, how is your brother?"
"Oh, Flop is doing well, he got fully healed. He is actually waiting for us at our carriage."
"Oh good, that's good"
"We are in your care, Subaru" Medium said as she turned her head to face Subaru with a smile.
Subaru turned to face the smile of Medium.
"Thank you for trusting me. I promise to take care of all of you" Subaru said he gave soft smile back to Medium.
- Break -
As the Priscilla camp left the manor of Crusch, the three camps got together to discuss about their next move against the witch cult as well as their next move against the Priscilla camp.
Emilia remembered she heard how Priscilla intervened and the dialogues that were exchanged by the parties in the execution. Emilia was surprised at their dialogue between Subaru, just as he remained the same even after all the torture he went through.
More and more Emilia fell deeper into the thought of Priscilla's knight, she did not know why.
At that instant, a surge of memories came rushing back to the mind of Emilia. Memories and feelings that were supposed to be lost forever, now coming back to her. One by one she remembered the memories she had with the raven black haired youth. His voice rang inside her head, reminding her of his feelings towards her.
"I love you Emilia"
"I am the half-elf's one and only knight"
"EMT, Emilia-tan is truly an angel"
"Take as long as you like, I will wait for your answer. When that time comes, I know what that answer will be."
Memories of his love came to her, how he made her better and stronger than she was back then, how he held her hand through her lonely nights, and how he kissed her when she was all alone.
Emilia was reminded how much Subaru Natsuki meant in her life. As all good memories pass, she remembered her time at Priestella when Gluttony escaped.
Emilia was beyond excited at the time as she will finally reunite with her Subaru.
After a long time being apart from each other, Emilia realized the feelings she held for her knight.
"Beatrice, I'll tell him that I love him too" Emilia said to the Great Spirit.
"It's about time that you finally give Betty's contractor your answer, I suppose."
"I-I'm sorry that it took me this long to realize my true feelings for him. I promise to give back the love he gave to me tenfold."
"Hmph…I doubt you will beat Betty's love for her contractor, I suppose" Beatrice said as she pouted at Emilia's response.
"Emilia-sama and Beatrice-sama! Gluttony has escaped!" a soldier yelled as he opened the door where Emilia and Beatrice were in.
After the soldier's warning, was the moment where everything changed. The world has forgotten Subaru Natsuki.
Much to her pain and regret, she remembered what she had done to her knight after the battle at Priestella.
"I love you Emilia"
"Beatrice, I'll tell him that I love him too"
"Because I hate you Subaru Natsuki"
"I am the half-elf's one and only knight"
"I promise to give back the love he gave to me tenfold."
"You say that you are my knight right?"
"You are relieved of that position, Subaru Natsuki"
One by one, Emilia remembered her failure. The man that was so happy to be with her was denied by her. Instead of showing the love that he deserved, she gave him nothing but disdain and despair.
The only person in her life that she refused to help was the most important person in her life. The man that gave so much in her life, she did nothing for him in return.
Emilia remembered her beloved's form when she visited his cell, broken, bleeding, and crying. Emilia remembered how he pleaded for her help only to coldly deny his pleas.
Broken and lifeless she left him; how could she do that to the same person that helped her every time she stumbled.
She abandoned him yet again. She knew in her heart back then that she should have listened to him in the first place, but in the end, she let the people around her form the picture on what Subaru is.
Regret and denial consumed Emilia, as she remembered each time her heart tried to tell her about her feelings towards him, the day at Priestella even to the day at the cell.
Emilia was in a nightmare that seemingly won't end as she remembered their refusal to help Priscilla's camp in fighting the Witch of Vainglory.
Even when the camps held a huge disdain for the Priscilla camp, Subaru still lent them a better insight at their opponents, even giving them strategies that saved a lot of people as well as their own lives.
Emilia remembered his last forced smile as they departed to fight their own respective enemies. How it broke her, that it may as well be the last time that she will ever see her knight.
As Emilia continued to drown in her thoughts. Emilia heard a voice calling out to her.
"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! I suppose"
Unbeknownst to her, her body was actually writhing in her sleep as she remembered Subaru.
Coming back to reality, she woke up wide eyed with shock from the shaking of Beatrice.
"Ah! ha…ha…ha…" Emilia groaned as she tried to catch her breath.
Emilia looked at her side to see Beatrice with tears in her eyes.
"B-Beatrice…S-Subaru…I-I…" Emilia muttered with a broken voice as she looked at Beatrice, ashamed for what she had done.
"I-I know…We both failed him, I suppose" Beatrice said as she embraced Emilia.
The two embraced each other wallowing in their shame and guilt.
Beatrice a bit lost in her regret, forgot the reason she tried to wake Emilia in the first place.
It was only until the voices of the soldiers and medical officers outside of their room reach her, did she remember.
"Control your magic! I suppose" Beatrice screamed as the room they are in was like an ice cave and the entire floor they were staying in was getting a huge temperature drop.
Snapping out of her despair, Emilia finally noticed the ice that surrounded them.
"Ah! I-I'm so sorry!"
"It's all right. Take a breath and calm yourself down, I suppose"
Emilia tried to calm herself down however she can, but the memories that came with so much guilt still filled her entire being.
"B-Beatrice, where are we?"
"We are at the Western District Hospital, I suppose"
Remembering their success in defeating the Sin Archbishop of Lust, Emilia remembered Subaru's last call for help to her.
"It would mean so much to us if you could lend us your strength, Emilia-sama"
The voice of Subaru echoed in her mind, gone were the playful pet names he gave her, and what remained was just a name of respect, removing any familiarity to the both of them.
Emilia clenched her jaw at the thought. At this moment she wanted to do anything and everything to get her Subaru back.
"B-Beatrice, where is he right now? maybe we can help"
The Great Spirit simply shook her head.
"Betty doesn't know either, ever since gluttony severed our contract, Betty lost any form of connection with him, in fact"
"Beatrice, we can't just sit here and do nothing! He was right in front of us! We can't be so useless!" Emilia said as she was getting heated with her inability to help him.
The eyes of Beatrice shake as she heard the half-elf's comment.
"We've already done nothing but wait for his arrival from Vollachia! After receiving him, we just…*sob* we just… *sob* How could we do that to him…"
Beatrice understood her more than anyone else as she knew how much he meant to her.
The Great Spirit went closer to the broken-hearted half-elf. Beatrice knew better that the half-elf was not in her right mind to make any rational decisions at this moment. All she can do right now was to be with her by her side.
The half-elf cried and cried all through the night, letting out every regret and sadness within her heart. It was only until she exhausted herself to the point going back to sleep once more, did she realize what she felt. Cold, she felt so cold, without him by her side, her heart will never be the same.
Yes I am sorry for holding out on Emilia-tan's sadness
I know I could have written more but my inner EMT just wanted me to stop making her sad lol (I am a huge Emilia simp lol)