BEFORE READING: You like music while reading? You want feels?

I have specific sections like this planned, and this is the first. When you see a bolded, bracketed text that says, [Play X Now], that is when you'll hit play on this video in another tab. Trust me, it fits the tone and pace of the scene I'm going for with most people's reading speed.

watch?v=gdAfVwSInX0


Emilia didn't stop or slow as they sprinted the noblelands' ring. When his stamina began to fail, she took Subaru by the hand with the most pained look. 'I'm sorry,' it said, 'but please fight through it.'

'We're almost there,' she communicated with a squeeze. They were still miles away from the city perimeter, but Subaru found his strength all the same

It was like an evening jog with Beatrice and Emilia. Many times with either-or, but never together. It was different. It was nice. That's what they were doing, they were on an evening jog through the capital on this cool and quiet night otherwise alive with crickets. Before them spilled the rest of the capital, stacked against itself, lit up like a porcelain display—the calm after the castle's collapse had apparently lulled it back to sleep. Trees passed by, leering and still, the sentries witnessing the monarchy's flee from battle in silence. As if none in the world was judging them—ridiculous, Subaru knew, but that was the feeling and it felt utterly wrong.

Brown dusted the land at first, like ash, but soon gave way to lush, dark grass the further they ran from cries of battle. This land's few nearby strongholds, towered shadows, watched their king and queen from a distance, windows black ever since yesterday. The silence enhanced Emilia's gasps, hoarse and half-crying, piercing the rhythm of their footfalls, their rumpling cloaks. Subaru wished with all his heart to comfort her, just as guilty—thus with no right to try downplaying everyone's sacrifices, nor his or her crimes.

The quiet upper class's ring was the same, deserted save for bags, children's toys, and abandoned mercantile stalls lining the stone streets. The Witches had already cleaned this place of all life, or so it would seem had they attacked this part of the city.

"It appears they've corralled themselves in the shelters, I suppose."

"Thank goodness," Emilia breathed. "I pray to the spirits that they aren't a target."

'Ammunition,' Minerva and Carmilla chimed in, from the depths of Subaru's gut fear.

A finger pointed past his thoughts. "There's a ground dragon stable at the next right, Emily. We can procure a ride there, I suppose."

"Good. I'll leave my coin purse in its pen." And so Emilia did, setting the string-tied purple bag in place of a raptor with crimson hide and plumes. Much as he wanted to, Subaru held back on cutting the hollow gesture short. Clearly, to Emilia, it meant as much as apologizing to the Knights they left behind.

That is to say, it was for her own peace of mind.

Subaru loathed to understand where she was coming from, how familiar the tragedy of it all was; its' self-satisfaction.

And Ram was there, reminding of Subaru's impact on good people like Emilia. This is my responsibility, Emilia, he agreed, and continued thinking while they galloped through the middle class's ring. These aren't your sins to bear. They're not. My choices forced you to do this.

Subaru couldn't bring himself to say something so narcissistic aloud. There would be no benefit or point. Emilia was too Emilia to think otherwise—in this loop and beyond.

So this is just gonna be another one for me to carry alone, huh? Nothing's changed, then.

Nothing at all has changed.

They were flying through the capital now, their ride having speed to rival Patrasche's small beginnings as Subaru's trusty steed. This was promising. They were making good time—there might be a chance to reach Roswaal's and get a breather from the Witches. Maybe they had a limited range with tracking Subaru. If so, that could be a huge boon to moving future battles away from the city.

Subaru handled the reins without needing to think about it, familiar with ground dragons like Patrasche. Beatrice sat against his chest, Emilia hugging him from behind, curled around his hunched back. She was glaring ahead, too, on nothing more than what was going to happen next—Subaru realized he, too, had fallen into the same rhythm. There was no justification to still feeling apprehensive about all this.

Subaru almost missed passing a wagon upon entering the deserted poor districts. There was a muscled form on top with his back turned, a big guy. What were they doing still—?

"Mishter Natskee?!" And Patrasche and Frufoo squealed irritably as they were yanked back, the wagon emblazoned with 'Mister Otto's House of Horrors' lurching to stillness.

"E-everyone?!" Emilia cried. Several familiar, instinctively welcomed faces popped into the window, Garf on top staring slack-jawed. "Rem?" Said maid's tired, smiling face took up Ram's window as tears rolled down Emilia's cheeks. "Rem, I'm so—s-so glad to see you all!" she cried. "A little upset, but… glad. Very glad!"

"I couldn't fail you, Your Grace." Rem didn't so much as glance in Subaru's direction; she was wearing her calm maidly disposition.

"Wh-what're you all—?"

"We're relieved to see you all safe!" Frederica's emotional cries came from within.

Petra piped up in the other window, eyes huge, "Subaru! Emilia! How the heck didja get away from the collapse?!"

"Hey, I'm asking what the Hell you're all doing here." It was a simple question asked simply, yet everyone reacted somberly rather than the fear or aggression Subaru braced himself for. Don't look at me like the answer is so obvious. Please—

"Are ya crazy?!" Otto cried, flailing his arms. "Didja not see the explosion of bodies at the North Gate?! Millions of 'em! Why would we charge into that?!"

They weren't listening. They didn't to begin with. Subaru donned his most appreciative smile. "Let me rephrase that, Otto-my-man, so your tipsy ol' self can understand me clearly."

Subaru cleared his throat.

Subaru took a deep breath.

And Subaru roared, "What the hell are you doing here?!"

Rem perched half her body out the window. "Subaru, we've come to assist you! And saving ourselves is not an option!"

"It is now, in fact." Beatrice flicked the reins in Subaru's fist, but not before calming him with a caress. "I'm unsurprised by this development, I suppose," she said quickly, their mount beginning to walk. "But nonetheless, it is what it is. We don't have time for idle chatter, so get this wagon turned around quickly!"

Everyone's faces went slack with surprise before resettling into a calm like Emilia's. Garf jumped from the wagon, landing a bipedal tiger, and in one fluid motion (with a couple screeches from the dragons/Otto), Garf had everyone flipped in the direction Emilia and Subaru were headed.

Without a word, they broke into decent speed.

A couple miles in the distance, towering over the field of tenements and apartment complexes, stood the Southern Gate. Open now, thanks to the others' rescue. Everyone moved forward without a word. At one point or another, they would've had to waste some time; Subaru focused on that instead of thinking about the Witches' certain pursuit several miles away.

"You're clearly hopeless without us, Barasu."

"Ram, shut it," said Garf.

"No. This needs to be said now or we might not get the chance." Subaru shivered at the implications of not just her words, but Ram's courage. Everybody's. "Running already? You should have done this from the start if that was ever your intent. Shameful." Emilia flinched.

"This wasn't my plan." Subaru tried his best to lack any judgement, yet Emilia sat upright in turn, quick breaths coloring what emotion he couldn't see. She didn't deserve to even touch him now, that was Emilia's statement there. Subaru did his best not to patronize her and lose focus. "We didn't expect the fight to be this hopeless. So, that's why… we're making a retreat. We know it's scummy, but—"

"Better that than hurling yourselves into certain death, I guess." Ram was sitting cross-armed in her seat between an equally apathetic Rem and Frederica. It was still mildly shocking to see them disobey orders this far, especially the demihuman.

They're probably mad at me. And they had no right to be. There's no reason for me to be so resentful, though. Subaru couldn't bear to think how many times he disrespected their wishes, only to get them killed one way or another.

And yet, much within Subaru writhed for release. He kept himself in check, his thoughts inside. His outrage, his hypocrisy. At least until they were safe. They were almost out of the capital, the Southern Gate looming several dirt-packed blocks away before Patrasche and Frufoo collapsed before a small gust of wind, throwing Otto and his wagon forward, along with Garf and a collective cry the short journey to the backs of the ground dragons.

Beatrice and Subaru together yanked their mount to a halt and a turn back around. Before any words of worry could form out in the open, the condition of Patrasche and Frufoo left Subaru giving a cry, then a yell, and finally a scream.

In place of their heads, a pair of fleshy gouges spilled crimson into an ever-expanding pool of blood. Wherever those friendly, scaled muzzles were, they had simply ceased to exist. Was it Typhon? Where?!

Patrasche was gone, just like that. "Emily!" snapped before Subaru's trance. "Get back on the ground dragon, in fact!" But she was helping Petra out of the wagon. "EMILY!" Beatrice shook.

Another gust blew Emilia off her feet with a hollow "oof," so powerful that Subaru had to shut his eyes. A soft, surprised yelp yanked him back to the sight, where, as the others rose from their hands and knees, Emilia sat gawking as Petra's waist slopped from the upturned wagon in a squishy, ropey heap—her guts.

Emilia screamed. Emilia cried and wailed, pawing over to the remains like a mother who lost her child.

"Emily, compose yourself." Beatrice's voice was distant, hollow, her face trained on the sight Subaru had instinctively wrenched away from: Emilia apologizing to Petra's bloodied, stocking-clad legs.

She had been the only one in uniform, Subaru realized after looking around—at everyone in their nightwear; at Garf hoisting Otto from a puddle of puke and the twins holding one another as they ignored what their choices had wrought. Frederica's face was lowered in mourning, somehow the least emotive of all.

Petra will be fine. He was going to see Petra again soon. They all would—but the words, the courage, couldn't come fast enough. A slurp, a licking of lips, ignited a frantic scramble of the others' snapping to Subaru and Emilia's protection.

Atop a squat bank before them crouched a cloaked child licking the blood off her grin. "Ya know, even if ya hadn't stopped to chat, ya wouldn't've gotten very far. So! I wouldn't blame yourself for this one, Subarun~"

Subaru gave a yell, recoiling either from the idea of being eaten alive or the crooning of Daphne's nickname for him.

"It's just the way things are!" she giggled with glee, before firing like a bullet towards Frederica, jaws-first.

Before anybody could react, a cry of "Fula!" knocked Daphne off-course, sent her bleeding from an arm stump. At the same time, Frederica's calm lurched forth, ducking and punching upwards with a furred paw. Daphne's trajectory made another sharp change of direction in one second, but didn't fly any further before a lioness's jaws arched into her, teeth closing entirely around her tiny body.

Daphne was pawed in two on the way down, torn in half. Her head ripped, rolled off, jawless; her cloak scattered into the air, ribbons. Within seconds Daphne was in tatters, and Frederica threw a roar into the heavens, dampness lining the fur of her cheeks. Their ground dragon screeched before taking off as quickly as Daphne—throwing Subaru and Beatrice onto their backs like untethered luggage. Scrambling upright, Great Spirit in his protection, Subaru found pieces of the Witch of Gluttony scattered about a panting Frederica's paws.

That was… shockingly easy. But how did they cleave through all the Knights of Lugnica like they were nothing? How did a Witch of Sin fall to two inhuman maids?

"Why are you three even breathing if you're just going to sit there and die?!" Ram cried, jumping with Rem in-hand unto Frederica. Garf and Otto followed, then Subaru found himself being treated the same by Beatrice. "I know this is a heavy load. Apologies, Fred."

"This weight is nothing, Ram!" Hungry eyes trained on the gate.

"I won't be a burden." Emilia was wiping her eyes, smearing Petra on her cheeks. In this state, she composed herself with a sniffle. "I'll keep an eye on the sky!" She ran three steps down the road before taking to the air via a railway of ice.

The Head Maid broke into a gallop, whipping Subaru in the face with a breeze nowhere near as intense as it would be on a ground dragon, or an unburdened Frederica, needless to say. They advanced a dozen or so meters from the overturned wagon when Garf looked back, and his snarl slackened with horror.

"No-no-NO, AW SHIT!" He beelined in the direction they'd come, as big as the Hulk and covered in stripes before Subaru could tell him to please not bother.

But he had to—Garf was the only one who could stop the cloaked, young woman zipping for the remains of Daphne. "Minerva!" Subaru realized.

"He'll be fine, I suppose! By her very nature, the Witch of Wrath cannot directly harm others! The Sworn Shield will only have to overcome her in a test of skill!"

"Keep your cool, Garfiel," Ram mumbled, only to give a choked gasp as, several blocks in the middle of an intersection, a short figure dropped from the sky the same time a glassy explosion resounded, and hail showered upon her—above, Emilia skated circles around a cloaked woman suspended by nothing, blasting ice that was easily shaken off. In the middle of pseudo-snowfall, Subaru could barely make out the outlines of a dozen writhing arms trying to swat Emilia out of the sky, but always just shy of catching her in the midst of a fancy aerial spin.

Drained, she was giving it everything she had. "Emilia!" Subaru couldn't bear the sight, aware of what was inevitable.

And then, "NO!" Frederica's long body skidded lengthwise down the street, facing the direction of an alley wide enough for everybody—Beatrice at the same time whipping her hand up with a scream of Subaru's name.

A purple shield appeared between them and Typhon half a heartbeat before it shattered with explosive force, and everyone was blown away, separated. Subaru's ears rang, screaming, like the agony in his back as the dirt road cooled it. What just—? How did she—? That power was unlike anything Typhon had before now.

His reaction caught up on the sight of a childish smile beneath her hood, splitting into a grin several blocks away. Typhon raised her hand, walking forward, and then— " SUBARU, RUN!"

Beatrice blocked the way, a purple field appearing and shattering in an instant. She threw up another, giving an outraged, terrified cry that didn't end until the third shield was shattered, and the fourth appeared, and then: "Run, Suba—!"

Beatrice exploded, scattering in pieces like a glass doll.

"Ah—!" Subaru choked. "Ahhhh! AHHHHHHH—! "

"Don't you ever knock, I suppose?"

"Because you're so ridiculous, in fact!"

"Ha! Betty was not concerned, for Subaru knows that Betty is loyal to the bitter end, I suppose."

"Betty is much more efficient and doubly more powerful than a mere shotting-gun."

"Betty will not leave Subaru's side again, I suppose… That's all that matters… I suppose."

"I won't give Subaru a reason to abandon me, and I will not abandon Subaru in his hour of need like last time!"

Beatrice—the Beako of this world—was gone.

And so was Petra and Patrasche. And Crusch, Felix, Julius. Hundreds more, perhaps thousands.

Red and blonde chunks fell between Subaru's fingers. End this now, crossed his mind. Please. Get me out of this nightmare already—a boom blew apart Subaru's self-pity.

Emilia was still fighting Sekhmet, maintaining a shower of dusted ice to keep sight of her multi-limbed Authority. Typhon was turning in the crossroads, doing little but detonating the roof of each building in front of her. Ram leapt away just in time, every time, tossing wind blades haphazardly or to little reaction from the now-disarmed Witch of Pride.

Behind Subaru, in the direction of the roar, Garf fought on many blocks away, swiping left and right and left. Minerva ducked and swerved, occasionally parrying his blows like they were from an infant, like he was up against Reinhardt for the first time again. And ever since then, despite his size, Garf had gotten better—he lunged, twisted, swatted and snapped his jaws like a mad tiger, but Minerva danced around them all—swinging a fist low into a ball that jumped to life, to Garf, and sank its teeth within his striped, muscled calf.

An earsplitting roar cut Subaru deep, only for it to end in an instant: Minerva's fingers sank into a building fractured from the mana used to heal Daphne. She slugged it up and over, smashing the entire structure upon the Sworn Shield like it weighed no more than a sledgehammer.

Subaru lost his breath, tremors vibrating his calves. Garf… He could only think now, Why did you let everybody come back?! You didn't even say a SINGLE WORD TO ME!

More screams pulled his attention, and his being, back to their senses: Emilia was still fighting Sekhmet, and so was Rem, bestial cries breaking the rhythm of a morning star on flesh. Again and again, she wailed her weapon into Sekhmet's increasingly mushed being while the Witch's back became a pincushion of ice. Their weight combined with Rem's aggression bent the ghostly, snow-covered limbs below, before Sekhmet fell into a distant street.

Subaru had already been running, taking alleys to avoid the battle between Typhon, Ram, and now Frederica. He followed Emilia's sliding descent, the ice railway overhead dissipating on command as Subaru happened upon them.

Rem wailed the smear that was once the Witch of Sloth. "Die! Die! Die, you monster! Witch Cultist! DIE!" Sekhmet squelched with every quiver of the street.

"Rem," Emilia rasped, a weak hand unfurling. "That's good enough." Whether she was just drained or afraid or both, Subaru couldn't be certain now.

With another bash of her morning star, Rem snarled, "It's dirt, it's just dirt!" Subaru nudged her by the shoulder, instantly getting a faceful of sharp nails and gnarled teeth, and a horn glowering like a threat. "S-Subaru—!" she growled, wide-eyed.

Rem stepped away quickly, baring her fangs as she calmly… no, threw an open palm at the mess she made of Sekhmet. "It's just… dirt , you two," she managed breathlessly.

"What do you mean?" Roars and cries of battle, and raining rubble in the distance, hastened Subaru's words.

Rem continued in a trance, "They're made of nothing but dirt," as she dropped to her knees, fingers dabbing the gorey smear. "It looks like flesh, but… ptoo! Ugh." Rem wiped her mouth. "Yes. They're just mimicking human bodies. Golems, in other words. Made of soil in this instance."

Subaru didn't understand the full implications of this reveal, and still it chilled him. "What's it all mean?" he wondered rhetorically.

"Nothing much, I'm afraid," said Emilia.

Rem nodded in agreement. "Whatever they are, the smell of a Witch Cultist is all over them. Power aside, these are assuredly the Witches of Sin."

And yet, blood coursed through their veins—Subaru vividly remembered the way Typhon was juiced last time. He also remembered Betelgeuse's final, desperate attempt to kill him and Otto, only as a corpse barely clinging to life by the will of his Authority, the Unseen Hand. Was this a similar deal?

Subaru couldn't think quick enough, not even to realize he should have been doing so on his feet—a wall of ice appeared and shattered, appeared and shattered; appeared and appeared, both shattering. Emilia and now Rem continued their defense against Typhon, Minerva and Daphne following her leisurely approach down the street.

"Crap!" Subaru couldn't begin to wonder what to do next.

"Otto!" Emilia cried, voice lurching as she kept up with Rem. "Take Subaru, and Rem—and run! " A mighty ice train carved through the streets, railing for the trio of Witches.

"Your Grace," said Rem, "I'm not leaving you—! W-we can do this togeth—!"

"SUBARU'S LIFE IS NOT UP FOR DEBATE!" The eye of Lugnica's Queen flashed purple over her shoulder, full of tears and fury. "Go! Please, go!" she cried, charging in the direction of her shattered ice train, sprinting through its chunky hail.

Reluctantly, Rem turned for Subaru as another's hand grabbed him by the wrist, yanking him through a series of alleyways. Otto hit practically every wall, his green cloak twisting and his breath hoarse and terrified. Where was he the whole time?

Speaking of which, where was…?

The towering wall loomed ever closer, overlooking their escape past a couple blocks' worth of rooftops. They were leaving Emilia behind, and someone else Subaru couldn't be sure was dead. 'Hey,' he mouthed, then aloud, "Hey! Wh-what're we doing?! We gotta save Meili!" He hadn't seen her go, at least. "We can't abandon her—!"

Otto's scramble fell into a head-slumped jog, releasing Subaru's wrist on the spot. "Sh-she's… gone," he gulped, "Mister Natsuki…"

Subaru's gut dropped. "W-wait, w-what?! Didja see her?!"

"Y-yeah…"

"You gotta be…" Did Otto abandon her to save his own skin? Is that why he made it—?! "You gotta be kid-ding—! " Subaru's voice yanked as his wrist and Otto's were led by Rem.

She said, "Meili committed suicide, Subaru."

Two things hit in an instant: the first, that Subaru had no one to blame but himself. The second came seconds after the implications trickled in, snapping the last several minutes into clarity: "This's what you actually came to tell me, right?"

Blue hair momentarily sank into a small pair of shoulders. "Subaru, it doesn't matter now—"

"It's the only thing that does by this point!" She had zero right laying claim to what mattered in a world where Subaru couldn't stay dead. "Rem! Why?! Why did you come all this way, just to tell me that Meili killed herself to spite me?!"

On and on, the alleys bent and jerked. Ice cracked and exploded in the distance. Otto wheezed. "This's on you!" he rasped. "I'm just a cabbie!"

Rem stammered softly in contrast to the hardness of her sprint. "S-Subaru, she didn't—spite you, she wanted you to—!"

"To what?! What's both your endgames here?!" There was no reason for Meili to willingly kill herself otherwise. "Did you plot something, just to get me to never force you to leave again?! Is that what you guys talked about with Emilia?! While I was planning with Garf, you guys were sicking Frederica on me with that messed-up request, weren't you?!"

"S-Subaru, you're wrong! Nobody was plotting anything! "

"Y'see!" Otto gasped, throwing his gray head back as he jogged upright, slightly lagging behind Subaru and Rem. "Queen Emilia came t'us, implorin' that we convince ya… t' not push us away!" He collected his breath, as did Subaru. "She wanted ya to look past th' pain of losin' us, and see that you shouldn't hafta suffer the comin' battles alone! But I… didn't know… how t' put my feelings t' words!" he gasped. "Frankly! Mishter Natsuki! All I could think was t' punch ya, and getcha to snap outta it! And that wouldn't help, an' all Fred could do was… offer up her life. And heartfelt devotion to Emilia's cause..."

And Rem? She answered as though sensing notice in her lack of courage. "I didn't know what I could say to convince you, Subaru. After three years of doing this alone… what could I know?"

That's right, they didn't. They had no idea what it was like to live a life where death meant nothing but pain was everything. "I didn't want this, though," Subaru said. "I understand that, all of it! But I never wanted any of it! Don't you understand?!" He didn't even try explaining himself this loop, and Subaru knew it. Not with detail that encouraged empathy—only sympathy.

"Then why were you fleeing to the safety and comfort of your closest friends, Subaru?" Rem panted. "When all seemed lost, and neither you nor Queen Emilia knew what to do, what was your first answer, but to seek shelter with the people you already trusted your lives to?"

"An' there's nothin' wrong with that!" said Otto. "I mean, I'm not excited to go through what you do, but who is?! Clearly not you, and yet you do it anyway—!"

Rem's horned-head stiffened upright, rearing with a beastial scream and a slam of her foot—ice erupted from the soil behind Subaru and shattered, giving way to Typhon in Sekhmet's restored embrace, floating (walking herself) above the rooftops.

Subaru and Otto were yanked into an alleyway beside them and then through a window an immediate left later. With a grunt, Rem had them on their feet and made for a door on the opposite side of this… this gatehouse, Subaru realized, barred and full of tables and weapon racks lining the walls.

Rem froze suddenly: they were stuck here and she knew it.

We're right at the Southern Gate, too.

"Mishter Natsuki." As Rem paced to and fro, going from rubbing her chin to racking her brain, Otto grabbed him by the shoulders. "Natsuki… S-Subaru," he burped, determination glassy and half-lidded, "I gotta tell you somethin' important, f'it's the last thing I do."

And that was the last thing Subaru needed right now. "Otto, man, not right—"

He whipped a flask monogrammed 'O.S.' in front of Subaru's face. "This," Otto said, "none o' this, is any o' your fault, Subaru Natsuki."

"Please, don't." Subaru was too afraid of losing Otto to hear more.

"We're here fer you ," he pressed, insisting on his flask for proof. "These feelings you have for us, this… 'cowardice,' as'm sure you're callin' it… They aren't your fault, either! They're a good thing!" Otto was drunk. "They're why we go so far—!"

"'Good?!'" Subaru slapped his hand away. "Tell me how 'good' they are when we're stuck here, waiting to die because of 'em?! Tell me how strong my love is when it hurts seeing you guys bleed out and scream?!" Subaru knew he was yelling into the void; he knew they were right. He didn't even have a fighting chance until the others came along, but still. But still.

Rem's eyes shimmered, twinkling pink from her horn. "I'm afraid I'm too ignorant to properly answer your questions, Your Grace," she growled softly. "I only know that… you are someone who is worth suffering through a Hell such as this. And, to you, we are worth the exact, very same. This is the evident truth, that none of us can ignore. That and… you haven't broken. Not yet, not after three long, lonely years. This is your strength, my king, Subaru. It's why we're here, and with us by your side, I feel you're all the stronger for it. Not weaker. So don't see it as a weakness, but a testament to your power."

"...Ha'h. Ha-ha!" Subaru almost let himself fall for the cute maid praising him for being so strong. She was the one who could tank damage like a demon and rend flesh as though it were paper. "This's all my fault."

Rem clasped herself by the heart, demonic nature flaring as she snarled, "It is not! I seem to recall you sending us away, and myself the one who turned us back—!"

"Because of me."

"Wh-wha'?"

Subaru didn't realize he was smiling until the foggy image of Rem and Otto winced in shock. "You only feel this way because of me. Because of how I used Return by Death. You thought of that. You must've."

"You—!" Rem breathed, only for Otto to stumble forth and throw all his body weight into a fist-to-the-face.

Subaru hit the ground to the sound of, "Don'chou ever think such an arrogant thing again, you absolute idiot!"

"Otto, please—"

He shrugged Rem off, rolling his shoulder wildly before throwing a finger in Subaru's face. "You—! You're arrogant, Mister Natsuki! Y'so selfish!"

Otto was usually much more eloquent, even as deep in the bottle as he was. "But not wrong," Subaru countered, smiling despite it all, the tragedy of his situation. It was absurd—this changed nothing yet Subaru felt like he lost and gained something here, and couldn't decide which had more weight. He didn't know what to do, neither here nor in the next life.

Just like that, the ceiling shattered as though it were a sheet of glass. Through the rubble, Sekhmet loomed overhead, Typhon swinging her feet from within her arms. "Hiya!" she cheered in a layered, demonic voice. "Are ya done talkin' yet? I'm bored! I wanna play with 'Tella some more, but she's sleepy!"

"What'd you do to my sister?!" bellowed Rem, losing her tenuous grip on composure.

"I judged her, obviously! 'Nerva crushed that beast-girl good to gimme my arms back, but I was able to judge the littler maid juuust fine! Boy, was she guilty of sooo much! So much screaming—!"

Rem gasped, gave a cry and a bellowing roar in one, spinning; the spiked ball lugged behind before she tossed it, sent it twirling for the Witches. Otto helped Subaru's chest hit the ground before they could get clotheslined.

Rem's weapon detonated like a glass ornament before Typhon—at the same time, as the loss of hope crushed him, Subaru and Otto were flying towards the Witches of Sin, past them, on a spearhead of ice howled into existence by Rem's despair and willpower.

They were just going to be killed faster—"This's my moment!" Otto tackled Sekhmet and Typhon, the three falling away, grunting "Insane boy—!" and "Oh, wow!" respectively.

What was the fucking point? Otto's name was about to scream from Subaru's lips before he was tackled in the side, blowing the sob out of him.

Sekhmet? Was this the end? The sound of ice carving replied, Emilia's arms tight around him, her panting in his ears.

"Got you," she exhaled. "I got you, Subaru."

"Mili…" Subaru couldn't decide whether to hug her or fight back as they skated through the Southern Gate's archway.

A black abyss of stars and rolling hills stretched out before them.

"We made it."

They wouldn't make it far from the friends they were abandoning. "E-Emilia—?"

"We can make it, please!" But the steady flow of ice sputtered and skipped, before stopping altogether with a couple airy puffs of frost. "No—!" Emilia gasped, and air rushed up from below. She and Subaru didn't have time to cry before the land of Lugnica spanked them for even trying, for having the nerve to attempt it.

"Ow'woah!" Subaru was all but dragged into a mad dash towards the darkness ahead. "Wha—!? Mili—!"

[Play 'Stay Alive - Ru's Piano Cover' Now]

"I'm going to save you!"

"Where are we even going?!"

"Just stop arguing already!" Too shocked to reply, Emilia, gasps hitching sharply, continued on their desperate pace. "Just let me do this for you, Subaru, please!" she cried. "Let me do everything I can to help you with what strength I have left!"

"Emilia…"

"Just do as I say, and everything'll be alright! I can do this, Subaru! I can save you; I can save you, I know I can save you! I'm strong now! I'm so much stronger than when we first met, I swear! I swear!"

He never doubted that. But her desperation was so familiar that Subaru couldn't find the words—not in time for Emilia to know how much he believed in her before she was yanked back, out of his hands with a despairing cry.

"Emilia!"

"Is this truly the best you could come up with, boy?" She writhed, suspended starfish-style before the hovering form of Sekhmet, whose hood seemingly pulled itself back. Her eyes opened, magenta on pitch black. "If so, then we are well and truly doomed to this fate."

"WE DON'T HAFTA BE!" Emilia spat. "Sekhmet—! You're Sekhmet, right?! Listen! My… m-my name is Emilia, and I'm a relative of the Witch of Envy, Satella!"

"Mili?!" What was she planning—?!

"You're here… f-for me… right?" She donned her bravest, most terrified smile. "If so, if I'm at all right, then please! Spare this city, my friends, and my beloved husband next time, please! I'll give myself up without a fight! I'll give my life the next loop if that's what it takes, I promise! I promise! And Subaru…" Emilia struck him a wobbly, weak curl of her lips. "And Subaru, I know, will respect my wishes… if this's what it takes to save everyone! You understand, right?! Subaru?!"

He could only stare, hearing this, as Sekhmet gave a sigh. "I'm afraid you are mistaken, girl. Your only purpose is to die."

The hope in Emilia's smile collapsed.

"To die after your people, to die after your household, to die after your husband, and so on and so on. We may be here as a result of your lineage, but only because your existence is fated to bring misery upon the world wherever you breathe." Tears rolled down Emilia's face, rocking, denying this. "We aren't here to fulfill any conceit of self-sacrifice, and your purpose isn't to do more than suffer. This agony you're feeling, you're condemned to experience it a hundred times over, by the will of the Highest Authority and mine. Nothing more, nothing less."

"I knew it." Emilia breathed deep and harshly, and then, "I knew it! I KNEW IT! I KNEW—! " Her fair face went agape in a silent scream, elbow crunched inwards. Blood spurted from the bone, a choked cry sounding just before Minerva made herself present, fist straightening Emilia's arm with a tap.

The Queen of Lugnica lurched forth where she hung, heaving for air. "I felt," she snarled, "none of that!"

"Oh?" Sekhmet's lips curled into a smile. "What about here?" Emilia leg kicked outward—at the knee.

"AUGH—!" She choked as soon as the Witch of Wrath restored her limb.

"You're too kind," Emilia wheezed, sweating red from Petra's blood. "This isn't so bad, Subaru!" Her uneven words, her gasps for air, told otherwise.

"Such strength," said Minerva.

"I'm interested to see the extent of whatever willpower urged her this far. Minerva?"

She readied her fists, poised between Emilia and Subaru. "You're horrible, Sekhmet."

"I'm just upset."

Emilia wept in fear, shaking her head, before snapping stiff with absolute horror—her arms and legs tore off, one after another after another. And they were promptly mended back on, one after another after another. Torn and mended, torn and mended, Minerva's fists following in a blur, always a limb behind Sekhmet—arm, leg, arm, leg, one after another spraying blood. Tears and screams lashed about, Emilia's torso writhing in the heart of the bloodshed. Crying.

Wailing, "I feel NONE OF THIS!" and, "SUBARU! I DON'T FEEL A THING, SUBARU!"

She was still trying to save his soul.

Subaru charged for the three, sword and whip in either hand, teeth on his tongue with a scream around the blood filling his mouth. Invisible Providence reached for Emilia's bloodied self, only for a truck to slam him in the chest, flattening Subaru back upon the ground.

"Please," groaned Sekhmet. Subaru clawed at the thick fingers he felt curled around either shoulder. "What can you possibly do to save her, boy?"

Subaru snarled against her strength. "I don't care! I don't care... what I hafta do! I'll break my bones, I'll rip myself apart! I'll throw myself against you a hundred times if I have to! Or a thousand! I'll destroy myself until I can't form a single thought again if that's what it takes! Anything—! I'LL DO ANYTHING TO KEEP HER OUT OF YOUR DAMN HANDS!"

"NO-H'OHHH!" Emilia wailed, writhing in midair. She was being louder than she'd been all loop.

"H'ah." Sekhmet sighed deeply. "How tragic an exchange. We truly are all hopeless."

Deep down, Subaru sensed that she was right. "Shuddup!" he sobbed.

Minerva readied her fists. "Sekhmet, would you like to knock five hours' worth of good sense into 'em?"

"Gladly."

Emilia shook her head, crying anew, her eyes wide with horror. "S-Subaru, don't blame yourself! Please, Subaru, don't blame yours—!" Emilia's head went flying in a twist of silver, a golden form blasting towards Subaru. The Witches fell aside with Emilia's headless corpse as the figure leapt, tackling him.

Rolling with him. Rolling and rolling and rolling, the world spun.

Until it all stopped on a bruised, blonde beauty with fair skin leaning overhead, the momentum of their tumble jamming two furred fingers above Subaru's brow.

Frederica poked him in the brain.

Wait.

She withdrew her fingers with a fleshy crackle, fur soaked to the knuckle in crimson. Warmth washed over Subaru as the sight of her rolled back—the sight of Frederica's breaking composure.

"Please… please, forgive us," her gasps echoed.

True to her word, Subaru felt nothing but a mild headache.

"...Then, as his wife and queen, order him to be a man already. At the very least."

"It Was You Who Melted My Frozen Heart"