Re Zero the Sage and the Crow

by LegendarySalad

Subaru gets recruited by Julius to help topple a dangerous new criminal organization. Along the way he'll meets new friends, foes, and meet an interesting character who could turn into one of his greatest allies; or one of his most dangerous enemies. Currently rewriting all of the chapters from chapter 5 onward for those wondering.

1. Chapter 1

Re Zero: The Sage and the Crow

All rights to the characters belong to the series creator Tappei Nagatsuki. This is a fanfiction with respect to the series and its creator.

Underlined Language- Represents English

Normal Text- Represents Japanese

Chapter 1: The Gathering Storm (Edited)

The air was dank and damp, with the pitter patter of water occasionally falling from the ceiling onto the dirt ground below. The small room in front of Subaru was but a bare box, with neither bed nor bench or any accommodations made for its unfortunate guest. There was a single window on the far wall that seemed to offer a glimmer of solace and sunlight, yet the window was completely covered in a cast of iron, as if to play a cruel joke on any prisoners that were unfortunate enough to be thrown in this place. A lone torch lit the cramped hall, casting eerie shadows on the walls that seemed to dance if one looked out of the corner of their eyes.

This place was designed to constrict, to break the fragile spirit and drive the occupants mad. They would find the darkness suffocating, and in their desperation to see the light once more they would peel their skin and fingernails in an attempt at prying the iron from the window. There was already evidence of this in the crusted bloodstains that could be faintly made out in the dim torchlight, momentos of the cell's past occupants. Subaru could tell from the moment he came in this dark place that hope was a forbidden idea here. They were horrible conditions to be sure, no one in their right mind would live there, but then again, who would want to live in a prison cell anyway?

Subaru took in the the cell in front of him, if there was one way to prevent people from committing crimes and heinous deeds, it was to make sure that the people knew that only cold darkness would wait for them if they got caught. The iron bars in front of him separated him from the cell's current unlucky owner. A lone figure, sitting on the floor with his back against the far wall. He was hooded and completely covered in a dirty cloak making it difficult to make out his appearance from where Subaru stood. His head drooped down as if surrendering himself to the crushing darkness and dispair. He made no sign as to know that Subaru stood in front of him. He simply sat and melted in the shadows.

The darkness was overpowering, the silence was unbearable, every moment spent in this place seemed to take a toll on his very soul. Subaru couldn't stand it anymore.

"Gyah!"

As he opened his mouth to speak to the stranger the large metal door that entered this block of cells screeched open, startling him and causing him to jump backwards.

"If I knew that you would be this jumpy I would've brought another torch." Sharp yellow eyes and an accompanying elegant yet annoying voice broke Subaru's concentration.

The owner of the voice was Julius Juukulius, the most perfect of knights according to many, and a source of irritation to Subaru.

"You scared the shit out of me!" Subaru exclaimed while glaring at Julius. "Don't go sneaking up on people in a place like this, people will think you're trying to break in and steal or something!"

Julius smirked. "I've been called a lot of bad things Subaru; mostly by you, but being compared to a thief is a first. And on another point, I doubt anyone would consider breaking into and stealing from a prison, especially a prison such as this. Such people I have never met, nor do I wish to meet them."

"Yeah, I might have to agree with you there. But still, it's rude to enter a room without knocking! Didn't your parents teach you any manners when you were a child."

Subaru waved his arms around, exasperated at Julius' impeccable logic. This was the kind of relationship that they had, always giving each other the hardest of times whenever they even set foot in the same vicinity. It was a relationship that people who didn't know them but knew their standings within the kingdom might have mistaken for a heated rivalry or political foes that could barely stand each-other. But the people that knew them actually knew the truth: that they were actually good friends, even if they would never tell each other straight up or admit it publicly.

Julius' white imperial knight's uniform was almost blinding in the dim light. It was like a ward that pushed back the suffocating feeling that had been slowly enveloping Subaru. After all, the past few minutes he had been loitering in the cell block trying to get up the courage to ask the stranger some questions, and that was precisely what the designers of this place wanted you to do: be alone with your thoughts. There was no better way to break a person than to have them running circles inside their own heads. He realized that Julius' presence was actually a big reason that he was even able to be here in the first place. Without him by his side Subaru would no doubt have been reduced to a mess, probably leaving before learning anything useful. With these thoughts a small smile broke upon his lips.

"What? Did I say something funny?" Julius looked bemused as Subaru smiled.

"No nothing...I haven't t-t-t-thanked you for coming."

Thankful, but still difficult to spit the words out.

Julius raised an eyebrow. "Well this is indeed a strange thing for you to be saying. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Just take my thanks and leave then if you're going to be like that." Subaru grumbled in response.

Julius gave out a light laugh at that cold-blooded response, as Subaru refuted what Julius said with ire in his voice.

"In all honesty it is I who should thank you. You came when the Imperial Knights were in a truly desperate situation and apprehended a dangerous individual. With this we should be one step closer to finding those criminals and the one who has shamed us all as Imperial Knights."

Subaru was taken aback by those words. He thought that the guy in front of them was just a normal thief that had picked the wrong target, albeit one that Subaru could tell was different than thief he had ever seen. Originally he had come here to ask him questions, particularly about the specific item Subaru currently held in his pocket, but now he was hearing that this guy was connected to the group that was causing all of this commotion in the kingdom.

"Wait. This guy is one of them? I thought that he was just a lone thief that I caught. Man this makes that whole near death experience so much more worth it to be honest."

Julius eyed Subaru before regarding the stranger in the cell.

"The cloak he wears belongs to them. It's tattered true, and it looks like it hasn't been well maintained, making it difficult to identify him as one of the Blood Dragons' members. But there is no mistake. He can lead us to their hideout and we can wipe them out."

Subaru was surprised at the determination in Julius' voice for sure, but that information did answer one question that Subaru had been pondering.

"Well that explains the doom and gloom cell he's in. In all honestly this place gives me the creeps, couldn't we have given him a more...normal cell?" Subaru shivered as he said this, his discomfort apparent to the perceptive Julius.

Julius clucked his teeth at that response, a sign of his own discomfort and unease at the situation they were in. He didn't want to be in this place any more than Subaru did.

"I'm not happy about this either. This place makes a mockery of true justice and is not right or humane in the way it extracts answers from people. As knights we must never stoop to the level of mere torturers, a fact that I'm sure you're aware of given your new station as Emilia-sama's knight… Even so, the orders to keep this man down here come from higher up, the deputy commander himself. We cannot disobey them, even if we want to."

Subaru felt annoyed with that particular piece of information. "A knight's code of chivalry is a real pain in the ass, you know that right? Even though there's nothing chivalrous about this."

"It's this code that sets the knights apart from a common mercenary, we must show restraint and set an example for others. Otherwise, who will?"

Subaru sighed at this straight laced response, even if Julius completely ignored that last part, but it was the kind of response that he expected from Julius. Ever sticking to the code set down by the Imperial Knights, it really wasn't something Subaru could abide by. He knew the problems that could occur should the chain of command be constantly subverted and disobeyed. There would really be no point in having any authority if no one listened to you in the first place.

Julius sighed. "Anyway, we should stop waiting time. Has the prisoner told you anything yet from before I got here?"

"No, you entered before I asked any questions."

"Hmm, well then I suppose we should start."

With those words he looked at the stranger in the cell, Subaru could feel the intensity of Julius' gaze focus on the stranger as Julius prepared himself to ask the questions that could potentially put an end to this group they had been pursuing for the past week. Julius' voice rang out, clear and full of an authority that only an Imperial Knight could muster.

"You are here because you are suspected of being connected to a dangerous criminal gang. I am Knight Julius Juukulius and this is Knight Natsuki Subaru. Although I lack the authority to set you free, I must implore you to cooperate. Should you comply and answer our questions, I can at least promise you more… spacious quarters."

The man didn't even so much as flinch when he heard Julius' voice, there wasn't even a rustle of clothing to indicate that he was even listening. Still, Julius continued on.

"First question, who are you and where do you hail from?"

Still nothing, even after several moments of waiting he was as motionless as ever. One could be forgiven for believing that the man probably thought that if he stayed still then they couldn't see him. This was not what Julius expected nor wanted.

"I request that you share what information you know."

He softened his voice, attempting to coax the man out of his shell.

"Please, answering the questions will only benefit you, you have my solemn pledge."

Still nothing. Subaru knew that Julius was doing this for the man's sake as much as their own, he never wished a fate like this on anyone, no matter how despicable they may be. But Subaru knew that Julius wouldn't get this man to crack, there was something about him that seemed foreign and yet all too familiar when he had been chasing the stranger down.

Subaru thought back to the chase and remembered very vividly how the man had run and fought against his inevitable capture. He had done something very surprising, and the shoes he wore weren't your cut and dry fantasy boots that every person wore, they weren't even the fancy shoes that Julius or the other knights wore. No, they were muddy and worn down for sure, but they were frighteningly similar to the track shoes that Subaru himself wore. Subaru could've sworn that he saw a symbol on the sides that he used to see in store windows back in the real world, what were they called again? Mike's? Although they weren't very popular in Japan, they were very popular in another country that exists back in Subaru's world. Maybe it wasn't the fact that the man wouldn't respond to Julius and maybe it was instead that he COULDN'T respond.

Subaru began putting the pieces together, he could be crazy and the man truly wasn't responding, but it was worth a shot.

"Julius."

"Yes?"

"Let me ask the questions."

Julius was surprised at this intervention by Subaru, but he decided to relent. he backed away from the cell and nodded his head in affirmation to Subaru.

Subaru took a deep breath. He struggled to find the right words because he hadn't spoken or practiced the language in a very long time.

"Hello?"

At first there was nothing, not the slightest movement. The cell absorbed Subaru's voice and seemed to have not even reached the man. After several moments of waiting, Subaru began to lose hope. But, just when Subaru was cursing his own stupidity for assuming something so improbable, the man moved slightly. Tilting his head as if he had been eavesdropping on a conversation and had just heard something interesting.

Subaru was instantly sure that his suspicions were right after that minimal but still acceptable response. He continued.

"Who are you?"

Julius on the other hand, was perplexed at the sudden change in speech from Subaru, but he was even more shocked by the activity in the cell.

Slowly, painfully slow, the man raised his head and regarded Subaru. Subaru was immediately hit by the aura that he gave off, a feeling of subtle bloodlust and loathing. It was a door that should have stayed closed. For the first time Subaru could see his eyes under that hood, they were eyes that Suabaru knew all too well, full of desperation and hate, tiny pricks of light in the black void.

Oh boy.

One Week Earlier

"Come on Beako!" Subaru chortled. "Do it just once for bucket-sensei!"

"I refuse in fact! Such childish games are beyond me! Go fulfill bucket-sensei's dreams with that foolish girl, I suppose!"

"That was suuper mean Beatrice." An angelic voice responded with a laugh, showcasing that she wasn't hurt at all by the vocal barb. "You should play nice you know, you'll never get better without practice."

"Look who's talking in fact! How egregious that you forget that this whole time, bucket-sensei was made specifically for you I suppose!"

The new Roswaal mansion had not been through many trials since its creation. It was an almost identical replica of the original and was built to last, but it would go through its first true test today. Suffering the antics of Subaru and co. in the afternoon.

Beatrice had hiked up her red dress and was running as fast as her little legs could carry her through the long winding corridors of the mansion. She ran like a terrible monster was chasing her. Which, in this case, there was.

Right on her tail was her spirit contractor Natsuki Subaru, an evil smile plastered on his face and a metal bucket raised over his head in his hands. Not far behind him followed Emilia, smiling and laughing at the new game they were playing, gleeful at the prospect of including Beatrice in the fun.

As for Beatrice, she was making unbearably slow progress down the hall; so much so that Subaru was slowing his pace just enough to make Beatrice think she had a chance at escaping. It reminded Subaru of when he had nightmares as a little kid and no matter how fast he seemed to move his legs he never made any forward progress.

"You'll never...Huff… Catch me...Huff… Like this! Betty is as athletic as I am...Huff… Adorable, in fact!"

"Yeah? Well if my Beako is adorable like this think of how adorable she'll be with bucket-sensei over her head!" Subaru laughed like an evil villain as he chased the adorable loli through the mansion.

"MYAHHH! NEVER, I SUPPOSE!" Beatrice screamed.

Subaru decided that play time was over, it was time to fulfill bucket-sensei's wishes. Subaru picked up the pace and Emilia followed suit, their longer legs allowing them to close the distance in an instant. He raised the bucket over her head preparing to put it over the twin drills that made up her very permanent hair-style.

"I caught you!"

"That's what you think, I suppose! Murak!" Beatrice flung her hand out at Subaru and Emilia.

"WHA!?"

Just when Subaru thought that they had caught her, Beatrice chanted and he suddenly felt weightless. He looked in shock as suddenly it was he who had the tables turned on him. His body no longer shackled by gravity, he flew weightless and could only watch as Beatrice scampered her way down the hall.

"Aww no fair!" Emilia complained. "Using magic is cheating, you know it's bad to cheat Beatrice."

"Beatrice! You know we have limited mana! You can't go using it so freely!" He scolded.

Beatrice ignored their protests and continued down the hall as if they weren't suspended in midair and still chasing her.

"Subaru. You should tell Beatrice that it's not nice to use magic in a friendly game of tag, especially when it concerns bucket-sensei."

Floating right beside Subaru was Emilia, her arms crossed and her slender legs flying through the air right with her. She was nodding her head as if agreeing with herself on the ethics of playing tag, which made Subaru wonder what exactly were the ethics of tag?

" Oh Emilia-tan, only you would be the angel that worries about fair play."

Emilia's face turned into a pout, which was quite the sight in zero gravity, or so Subaru thought.

"You're making fun of me again. Seriously, I wish you would take me more seriously sometimes."

Subaru gave out a nervous laugh as he watched their quarry disappear around the corner. He was going to make a comment about finally seeing an angel fly, but before he could respond the effects of the spell ended; and Subaru fell, very ungracefully, and hit the ground face first.

"Ow! I swear when I see that loligranny again I'll make sure she gets an extra long bucket-sensei session." Subaru rubbed his head where he landed.

Emilia fell in a much more elegant manner, landing and taking stride as her legs hit the ground. It reminded Subaru of some idols he saw on television as a child. How they would gracefully dance and every movement was precise and flawless, the sight was enough to take Subaru's breath away and leave his cheeks hot.

"EMT." He whispered.

"Heheh. Come on, on your feet. One two three."

Emilia lended a hand to Subaru who got himself up after much difficulty. With that they walked towards the corner that Beatrice disappeared around, hoping to recapture the trail. The sunlight gleaming through the windows and giving the mansion a warm feeling.

Subaru let out a sigh of content. "This place is so peaceful."

"Yes it is." Emilia agreed with an equally content smile. "I feel like the last couple months have been a nice change of pace compared to what was before. Much more lively and yet tame at the same time."

Subaru recalled the events of the sanctuary, and how he had almost died, to them at least. It was true, there hadn't been any blood thirsty assassins trying to open his guts, no terrifying mabeasts trying to eat him, or witches trying to establish one sided contracts with him. He was happy that he could share some quality time with Emilia and Beatrice, finally. Yet he had an odd feeling, like these times might come to a end soon and the peace he had worked so hard to get might be shattered for some time. After all, there was still the royal selection going on, and Subaru would be damned before he didn't try his absolute hardest to put Emilia on the throne.

There would be more enemies to come and more battles to fight. Hopefully there wouldn't be any deaths to suffer, but Subaru knew that his circumstances most likely wouldn't allow that. Still, it was helpful to be optimistic.

"Subaru? Are you alright?"

Subaru had been lost in thought and realized that he was starting to look worried again.

"No I'm fine Emilia-tan. Just lost in thought about what happened leading up to this is all."

"Well there's no need to worry about those things anymore, I feel like the hard part is passed for the most part."

Subaru gave a wry smile at that response. Truly, they were much better off than they were before. With the freeing of the Sanctuary and the additions of Otto and Garfiel to their camp, their strength and position within the selection had been increased drastically. But the selection still seemed so far off, even though it was actually occurring at this moment.

Enough thinking about that. Play now, worry later.

They rounded the corner and saw a slightly cracked open door. Someone had been sloppy in covering their tracks.

Emilia pointed at the door.

"Subaru, look."

"I see it."

Subaru's face changed from his brooding look to the trademark grin that usually appeared when he was up to no good. He tiptoed towards the door and gently pushed it open, Emilia directly in tow. The inside was an empty guest room with a bed on the far side. It hadn't been used or was being used so the layout was relatively spartan, a mirror and dresser, with a desk close to the bed and a closet on wall adjacent to the entrance door.

Subaru thought about where Beatrice could be hiding. There were only two possible hiding spots to consider, under the bed, or in the closet. While in Subaru's opinion it would be better for someone to hide under the bed due to its convenience and allowing the person hiding to have full awareness of whats going on in the room; he knew that Beatrice would never willingly get on her hands and knees, no matter how terrified she was of bucket-sensei. That left only one option.

He quietly stepped over to the closet door and held his ear over the wood. If he listened closely, he could just make out the faint sound of breathing. His grin widened even more and he signaled for Emilia to cover the door so there would be no escape for the adorable spirit. When she finished taking position he held up his hands and did a silent countdown: Three, two, one…

"RARRRRR!"

"WAHHHHHH! NOO I SUPPOSE!"

"MOUNT EVEREST!"

Beatrice, panicking, flung out her open palm, and a wave of energy hit Subaru and flung him back, slamming him into the floor with a very painful thud.

---

"This is what you get, I suppose." She harrumphed with crossed arms. "Attempting to use Betty for your tomfoolery is just ridiculous, in fact."

Subaru was in the kitchen icing his bruises. Although Emilia and Beatrice offered to heal his injuries, he declined; saying that there was no point in using magic for something so trivial. Emilia headed towards her own room to continue studying for the royal selection, and Beatrice was now keeping Subaru company while everyone else was busy.

"Ahh Beako, ever loving as always."

"Hmmph. I'm always loving, I suppose. A fact you should be grateful for."

"Mhmmm." Subaru nodded his head in agreement. "You're right, I think I need to show a little more appreciation to this cute little face."

"Yes, in fact. You should… Wait, what are you doing I suppose? Gaahhhh!"

Subaru, upon hearing these words set down his ice pack and promptly scooped up Beatrice. He hugged her tight and spun around in the kitchen.

"Ahh Beako! This is better than any healing magic. In fact, the only thing that could top this is if I were getting a hug from Emilia-tan."

"Stop! Unhand me at once, I suppose!"

Although she complained, she didn't actually do anything to suggest that she minded being hugged like this. As if Subaru needed anymore proof that Beatrice was a class A tsundere.

After several minutes of shouting and spinning, he set her down and went back to icing his battle wounds, so to speak. Beatrice dusted off her dress and sat down on a chair in a position that seemed all too familiar. Then Subaru remembered, he would often find Beatrice sitting like that whenever he would go into the Forbidden Library, complete with a book open in front of her at all times. The sight made him wonder if she actually missed the Forbidden Library sometimes, after all, it was her home for so long before the fire burned everything down.

"What, I suppose?"

Beatrice knew he was in deep thought. While it may have seemed like their relationship hadn't changed all that much in the past several months since they formed a contract, they actually had grown very close in that time, and Beatrice had developed the skill to be able to read his moods and other changes in behavior. It's not like they were hard to detect though, he lacked any real poker face to begin with.

"Nothing, I just realized that I haven't seen you with a book in so long. I was wondering if you sometimes missed the library. I know that library was more of a prison than anything! But I know you like to read a lot, so maybe we could make another one or something like that."

Beatrice gave Subaru a pitying look. "Only you could make something that's supposed to sound sentimental and comforting sound so disgusting in fact."

"Yeah, that sounded better in my head to be honest."

Honestly it wasn't one of Subaru's finer moments. What he had intended was to remind her of the good times and try to come up with a better alternative. Instead it came off as only to remind her of the loneliness that she had endured for all those centuries. He cursed his inability to be elegant with his words. Next time he would have Garfiel teach him some words that would help him in the political landscape.

After all, Garfiel had taught Subaru everything that Subaru knew in terms of proper knight etiquette. He should also have a few choice words for these kinds of occasions. Yes good old Garfiel, who frequently chewed up the mansion stair bannisters and tended to shout random idioms that made no sense… Actually, now that he thought about it, maybe Otto was a better option in this case.

Speaking of which, where were those two? The mansion seemed unusually quiet today, Subaru knew that Roswaal was busy, finally, being a proactive backer for Emilia in the Royal Selection, Emilia was studying, Ram, Petra, and Frederica were performing house work if he recalled correctly. However, he knew nothing of the whereabouts of those two at this moment.

Beatrice in the meantime, knew that Subaru meant nothing bad and actually had the opposite intent with his awkward recollection of the past.

"A library, I suppose? I guess if Subaru makes me one then Betty will use it in fact. But I have standards for the book that shall be acquired for this library in fact."

Subaru upon hearing this, smiled, it helped to have something to look forward to. Kept one moving forward after all. Upon having this thought however, the warm atmosphere was cut through suddenly and sharply.

"Well well Barusu, I thought that you would be in your room being useless baggage, but it's even worse than I thought. Here you are in the kitchen leeching from Roswaal-sama. Don't you have any shame? That food can be put to better use, like in the garbage."

The one who had no mercy towards the pleasant mood in the room was Ram. A petite, red eyed girl clad in a maid outfit with one eye covered by her mid-length, peach colored hair. The only thing worse than her work ethic was the deadly verbal lashings that she tended to dish out to Subaru and everyone-else… Actually, Subaru could only count on one hand the amount of times she treated anyone else like she did him, and he was pretty sure it was only Otto.

Subaru feigned a hurt look. "Hey that's mean! And do you see any food in my hands or me stuffing my face! No, here I am minding my business icing my war wounds and you come over and accuse me of a crime I didn't commit! Besides, I live here! Use some deductive reasoning!"

"Hah! Ram's deductive reasoning skills are unmatched. Besides, it doesn't take much to deduce what Barusu is doing. A dog could do it."

The nerve of this girl. I should get Otto to hang around her more often, if only to make me feel like I'm not the only victim here.

Subaru applied the ice pack to the other side of his head. It was pointless to try to match verbal abuse with Ram, it was probably the one thing she does best. Still, what was she doing here? There was still work to do, the day was barely halfway over. This most likely meant she was there to tell him something.

"So what is it you want to tell me? I'm sure that you aren't here to fraternize with us… Unless? Oh does this mean you're finally warming up to me?!"

Ram snorted at this childish but very Subaruistic response.

"Don't flatter yourself. Ram doesn't know why anyone would feel anything but the most freezing possible feelings towards Barusu."

Ram followed that up with a response that Subaru found to be very intriguing.

"Yes, yes, Barusu is correct in that I am here on business related matters. There is a guest here that has requested your presence."

"A guest? My presence?"

Subaru found that odd as typically guests were here to deal with the Margrave or pay their respects to Emilia. She was, after all, still a Royal Candidate. Although there were few that did so, some merchants would come through from time to time to attempt to get in Emilia's good graces. Should she become the new ruler then they would have already established a solid relationship through trade and diplomacy, believing that they could swoop in and use the influence they garnered as the "king's merchants" to take over the country's merchant guilds and put themselves at the top. Such thinking was extremely proactive and business savvy, but Subaru had his doubts that such methods would work. It just so happened that no matter who you were, you were always in Emilia's good graces. And it didn't help that Emilia had very little experience in the art of the deal or was even aware of what the merchants were trying to do.

Alas, very few people wanted to talk to Subaru, but today seemed a different story.

Ram, upon finishing her message, promptly spun around and proceeded to exit the kitchen. Merciless in her delivery and her punctuality apparently. Subaru got up and ran after her.

"Hey, wait up! You can't just deliver a message like that and then leave like nothing happened!"

" Of course I can. I just did." She retorted.

Having caught up with Ram, Subaru fell in beside her in stride, with Beatrice taking up the rear struggling to catch up. The silent walk was broken up by her heavy breathing and panting from running so much. Once she caught up she attempted to look dignified, or as dignified as a loli who looks like they're gonna collapse can look.

"It's rude to just run… Huff… Off like that, I suppose." She spoke through quick breaths, she was not a runner that was for sure.

"Heheh, sorry, sorry about that Beako. So Ram, can I ask who this visitor is by any chance?"

"You asking and me answering are two different things."

"Come on, please Ram-Ram." Subaru affectionately called her the nickname he had assigned to her when they first met.

Ram gave him an icy stare, but relented. "He met Emilia-sama in the capital some time ago. Now show your gratitude by doing all of the housework for the next week."

" For answering a question?! Your price is steep!"

"You should be grateful for that too, because I gave you the associate discount."

Subaru threw up his hands in exasperation.

"How expensive is it without the discount!"

"You could live the rest of your life earning money and still never afford it."

Beatrice interjected with a superior tone in her voice. "Such insolence I suppose, Betty's Subaru will be well known throughout the world. King's will beg to have the chance to stand in our glorious presence in fact. That should be enough compensation for your menial information."

Subaru was shocked at this sudden outburst from Beatrice. Certainly she got extremely proud sometimes, but this was a first. Ram took her jab in stride though.

"Are you sure you're feeling ok Beatrice-sama. Surely I can have Petra or Frederica come over to take your temperature."

[Beatrice: Wh-what? I'm not sick, I suppose.]

"I know it's difficult for children to stay healthy this time of year. It's important we do a check-up every now and then."

"I'm not sick I suppose!"

"I'll have one come over later today." Ram's voice was stoic compared to the quickly deteriorating Beatrice.

"I told you I'm not sick in fact! Quit making up stories I suppose!"

Beatrice was getting annoyed at the way Ram completely ignored her and shifted the attack to her childish build. But, such was the prowess of Ram.

Subaru sighed at all the conflict going on around him. "Hey guys no more fighting. See? We're here."

Actually Subaru had no idea if they were there or not, but he'd rather not sit through 5 more minutes of the two going back and forth. It was really exhausting to watch.

The room they entered was a room made specially for meetings. With two long couches facing each other so the concerned parties could parlay in relative comfort. A table sat between them allowing for easy access to any refreshments that might be available, although it sat bare for now. Subaru scanned the room and when he saw who the guest was, his mood instantly was replaced with annoyance and a little bit of caution.

"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in."

The youth sitting on the couch was a young man who wore the white garb of an Imperial Knight. With somewhat long purple hair and intense yellow eyes, he radiated an air of nobility and aristocracy that Subaru found irritating. The man's name was Julius Juukulius, Knight to another rival Royal Candidate Anastasia Hoshin.

"Heh. It's Good to see you too Subaru. Although I would like to chat with you about menial things, I'm afraid I can't today." Julius got straight to the point, bypassing their usual round of banter. This was unusual, typically he would have some irritating retort to what ever Subaru had to say.

Subaru's head was trying to wrap itself around all that was going on. Why was Julius of all people here? Why wasn't he with Anastasia? Did he come alone? But when Subaru saw Julius' eyes, he knew that there was going to be a lot of trouble coming their way.

Julius locked gazes with Subaru, his eyes full of desperation. "I need your help."

Author's Note: So yeah. That's my first fanfic guys, like ever lol. If you guys have any suggestions, comments, or concerns then just shoot them my way. And if you guys have any interactions between characters that you think would be cool to see then let me know and I'll see if I can fit them into the next fan fic. I hope that I can turn this into an ongoing series cause I have a whole arc planned, but it'll still take some time to fill in the small conversations and details, hence why if you guys have any small conversations or things you'd like me to add I'd be happy to. But yeah I hoped you enjoyed.