Have to give special thanks to my two beta readers, Prophellwinter and Bluewavegunner8 for checking over this chapter for me!

Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

Chapter first posted: 24/7/2022

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Patching together, patching together, recollecting the memories of days gone by.

Patching together, patching together, looking back to the past to find new ways to fly.

Patching together, patching together, flying to the future, overcoming the obstacles.

Patching together, patching together, patching together, all to restore all that was conceptible.

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"Pick up four!"

"Waaaaugh! Again?!"

Shaula wailed in disbelief as she was forced to draw four more cards. To think that just two turns ago, she was calling Uno.

Subaru smirked.

"Uhhhh, nuh-uh! I don't like that look, Master! You wouldn't! It would be bullying, yep!" Shaula desperately tried to plead with him, sensing her imminent demise.

Subaru was undeterred. "Pick up four! Uno, red!" He slammed down the second to last card in his hand, marking Shaula's doom.

"Eughhhhh! Unfair, unfair! I was supposed to win!"

"Aaannd out!" Subaru placed the last card remaining in his hand, winning the game. "Victory!"

"Rigged! Rigged!" Shaula was indignant, furiously pouting. "You were hiding cards under your sleeve!"

Slander. "Oi! Don't you go about insulting my honour just because you're a sore loser!" He shot back.

"You're mean, Master!" She crossed her arms and huffed, "Surely you should have just given me the win out of compassion because I am a beautiful and fair maiden!"

These mental gymnastics- "Excuse me?! Didn't you gloat after you made me draw eight cards?! And then didn't you boast that you would draw instead of playing your last card because you were that confident you'd win?! Karma!"

"Nuh-uh! You shouldn't have made me a liar, Master! You should have lost for the sake of my dignity, mhm!" What was this nonsense- "Aaaahh, I was undefeated for four hundred years, and you ruined it! Apologise!"

As it had turned out, Shaula was rather competitive when it came to card games. This would have been fine if it weren't for the fact that she could not take a loss in the slightest. Excuses upon excuses were made each and every time she was set back until she finally lost, but no matter what she claimed, it changed little about the end result-

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Subaru 1 - 0 Shaula

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...Wait, hold on a second-

"Have you even played in four hundred years?" He inquired.

"Still counts!"

"What?" Subaru spluttered. "I- no! That's not how that works!"

"Is too!" Shaula retorted. "My streak was longer than yours! Therefore, it's two-nil to me! Take that!"

"What do you mean two-nil?! I won!"

"Nuh-uh!" She furiously shook her head. "Your win was deducted for not letting me win, and I get two points for my four century-long win streak! I am the winner!"

"What is this bullshit?!" The dignity of Uno and card games in general was being violently trampled upon by this sore scorpion. Absolutely unreal.

"Winner winner chicken dinner!" The loser in denial exclaimed. "Look at that, Master! Looks like you are taking home the L!" She formed the otherworldly letter in her hand and proceeded to rub it in front of his face. The audacity.

While perhaps in another situation he might have taken notice of how aware of earth customs Shaula was, right now, Subaru was rather irritated.

Still though, with the amount of knowledge Shaula seemed to carry about the world he came from, she could have perhaps passed for an otherworlder herself.

"I think I'm beginning to understand why Flugel was annoyed with you!"

"Master was just mad that he couldn't ever beat me, yep!"

Delusional, fraud, sore loser, enemy of all card games, trampler upon game honour- Shaula was all of these. Her brain was likely replaced with hot air long ago.

Subaru coughed. "It is one-nil to me, thank you very much. Now, shush. We don't have enough time for another!"

"Eh?" Shaula was confused for a moment until she realis- "Ooooh, I see! Master is just scared that he'll lose again!" Nevermind. He had too much faith in the hot air that made up her brain.

Sighing, he clarified, "No, as in, we literally do not have time for another game."

Finally, she caught on to the gravity of his words. "Ah. Alright, alright, fine. So, what's happening?"

"I'll fill you in."

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"That sounds like a lot, hmm."

Having finished his explanation of the current situation, on how Louis and the 『Gluttonies』 were storming the tower and Reid's unwillingness to help, Subaru sighed as he slumped against one of the bookshelves.

He had left out the details concerning Vega due to Shaula's reaction to her last loop. He'd much prefer to deal with that problem after the number of foes to contend with in the tower was reduced.

"I have a plan which should steer us clear of Reid, but that still leaves us to deal with Lye and Roy." Subaru noted.

"And who?"

...Was Roy cursed or something? Why did no one ever seem to remember his name?

"Eh, whatever." He waved his hand dismissively. "From what I can tell, those two were waiting for us to descend to the fourth floor so they could get the jump on us, which is why we are doing exactly not that."

Using his knowledge from both his first and second loops, Subaru had gathered a general idea of Louis's plan. Her brothers intended on waiting for him to make the first move: when he reached the fourth floor, they would try to take him out in a single sneak attack, and if that failed, Lye would finish him off and 'eat' him.

Unfortunately, he lacked the knowledge as to whether or not Shaula defeated Roy. However, considering that he was able to best Lye in a battle, albeit mainly due to Lye toying with his food, he hedged his bets on Shaula being able to defeat Roy.

Granted, this was all based on the assumption that Lye and Roy would pick the same targets as they did in the first loop. It wasn't completely baseless though; Subaru had some evidence to back that presumption up. Before Lye sent him flying across the room, he remembered an odd comment that Roy had made about Lye apparently 'winning his dish'. Did the two make a bet or something, perhaps? It was unclear. Granted, it was flimsy evidence, but it was better than nothing. Subaru had to assume and prepare for these match-ups accordingly after all.

There was also still the issue of Reid. While Reid was by far the most dangerous individual within the 『Pleiades Watchtower』, Subaru wasn't as concerned as one might suspect. Judging by the fact that Reid hadn't ascended the stairs already, it was safe to assume that either the 『Gluttonies』 were keeping him busy at present or that Volcanica had once again served as a distraction to ward off the 『Sword Saint』. Admittingly, he had very little of a plan as to how to deal with Reid if Volcanica could no longer hold him off, but it made little sense to worry himself now when the issue of the 『Gluttonies』 was more pressing.

"So," Shaula hummed, drawing his attention, "we are waiting for the two people to come up here, and then we trash 'em, mhm!"

"Pretty much," He shrugged, "Lye's likely to go after me, however..."

Subaru trailed off. How exactly was he to deal with Lye? Sure, he had defeated the Sin Archbishop in the first loop, but that was only by using the natural terrain to his advantage. With no balcony to throw Lye off of, how would he best the 『Gourmet』?

"Who's that again?" Called out Shaula, clueless.

"You are really not great with 『Names』, are you?" Subaru sighed.

"Mmm," She pondered, "I only bother to remember the 『Names』 of people I like, really know, mhm!"

Ouch. That hurt.

"...So why do you never call me Subaru?"

"Eh?" Shaula seemed baffled. "But didn't Master always want me to call him as Master and nothing else?"

Once more, she still only saw him as this Flugel. It-

No. Subaru had made a decision. Thinking about this would do him no good. He'd just lock the matter away in a new 『Chain』 if he had to. It was a problem for another time, a time after he's dealt with all the external issues the tower presents.

Still though-

"It would be nice to be called Subaru for once." He mumbled.

"That did happen, didn't it?" Subaru turned his head to see Shaula deep in thought, wondering out loud. "Master did ask that of me, I think? Mmm..."

But before he could ask what she meant, the scorpion suddenly yelled. "Agh! No! How could this be!?"

"Huh?!"

Was she oka-

"Why have I been referring to him as Reid this whole time?! We definitely are not close! Nuh-uh!"

-Oh. Well, that wasn't exactly convincing

While it stung a tad that she referred to Reid by 『Name』 and not him, this was certainly something to tease her about later.

"Anyway," He clapped his hands, directing the conversation back on track, "The two are going to come up the stairs at some point - can't imagine they'd be too willing to stay down there forever - so I'll need you to watch over the stairs for me. Yell for me when you first spot them, got it?"

Shaula nodded. "Yep! Just leave it all to me, mhm!"

And with that, she instantly sprinted away towards the exit of the library, leaving Subaru alone.

"So," He mused aloud, "I'm going to be all alone, horribly out of my league, and fighting - no, stalling - a Sin Archbishop until Shaula manages to defeat the other one, this time with no hope of flinging him off the tower." He dryly chuckled, "In other words, I'm screwed."

His odds were not looking good. However-

"Or at least, I would be screwed if I didn't have you lot to help me figure all of this out. Planning is half the battle, right? So-"

"-It's time to bring in the planning committee!"

And with his declaration, the many people that dwelled in Subaru's soul manifested themselves.

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『"Weeeellllllll, this is a surprise."』

"Eh, is it? Honestly, this just seemed like the natural thing to do, really."

Subaru rubbed the back of his head as his glazed eye scanned the audience around him.

『"I agree. It would be wise for us to come to an agreement as to how we shall proceed from here on out."』

He hadn't heard some of their voices in a while, and some it seemed would not be heard for a while longer. How long had it been since the last time he'd had to call upon them all for a plan? Pristella maybe? It was hard to say.

"Eh? What do you mean we? Not like you can really affect the world around you anymore, Julius."

Among the crowd was a knight adorned in white garbs and crowned with purple hair. The 『Finest Knight』 they had called him back then. Julius Juukulius, one of the people who had accompanied 『Natsuki Subaru』 to the 『Pleiades Watchtower』.

Julius chuckled slightly, 『"Even so, I do believe that you had called us here seeking our council. Surely, as you would say, this would be a team effort."』

Subaru just rolled his eyes in response.

『"Typical. I return to see Barusu once again try to shirk his duties."』

Another voice entered the conversation, one he naturally recognised, as he did all the others.

"You really never do lay off it, do you, Ram?"

『"Hah."』 Ram snorted, 『"If Ram did, Barusu would become less than garbage."』

"Oi!"

『"Betty's Subaru is not less than garbage, in fact!"』

『Natsuki Subaru's』 spirit had come to his defence before he could think up a suitable rebuttal.

Ram shrugged. 『"At this rate, Barusu might become that, considering how he throws himself to the dogs. Thankfully as he stands, he remains only at the level of garbage."』

"Gee, thanks, Ram, for the vote of confidence." Subaru sarcastically remarked. Despite her words, he could sniff out traces of legitimate concern in her remark, perhaps the only concern he'd ever get from Ram as she would never voice them directly.

『"So, I believe that we should get started with the naaaaaaaature of this meeting, yes?"』

And so the flow of conversation transferred from the maid to her Master. It was rare for Roswaal to visit him, the 『Court Mage』 often only manifesting when Subaru had needed advice.

『"Yes. We really should reaaaaaally converse before it's too late."』

The half-elf royal candidate clapped her hands together upon her agreement. Emilia.

"Who says converse in this day and age?"

That wasn't a habit of his own. Perhaps it could have been if Natsuki Subaru came first, but he did not. He didn't like trying to copy 『Natsuki Subaru』; it felt wrong, yet among the presence of these people, those who held expectations of him, he felt almost pressured to replicate his behaviour, even despite his selfish desire to act as just Natsuki Subaru.

『Natsuki Subaru』 most likely would not appreciate his usurper trying to mimic and taint every trait he had after all.

How strange it was that he would struggle to act as himself. Behaviours and mannerisms this other him had developed proved unnatural to copy. Was it perhaps because he felt dirty in playing a masquerade? Yet even still, the mask was to be plastered on when confronted with old faces.

『"Stay focused, in fact!"』

"Ack! Sorry..."

Right. Subaru was here to cook up a plan to overcome Lye in battle, among other things. There was little time for banter or getting distracted.

Thus, Subaru summarised the situation. "As you all probably know, Louis Arneb, Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult, has, pretty much, declared war on me and sent her crazy brothers to attack the tower. Worse yet, she's done something to turn Reid against me. So right now, I'm kinda low on options. Lye's probably going to go after me again, and well, it's not exactly a balanced match-up..."

He trailed off. Honestly, when putting it into words the situation seemed nearly hopeless. Two Archbishops attacking simultaneously with only Shaula to help him was not a great scenario. But information had proved that circumstances were still manageable. If 『Natsuki Subaru』 had managed to come out of an encounter with both 『Greed』 and 『Wrath』 appearing at once with only an injury to show for it, then Subaru could possibly achieve the same.

But first, someone proposed the obvious question. 『"If you are so worried about having to fight by yourself, then why not just fight with Shaula?"』 Emilia inquired, tilting her head.

While this would have been nice, really nice even, he knew that neither Lye nor Roy would allow something that convenient to happen. Though someone would answer in his place first.

『"Unfortunately, I do not think that the 『Gluttonies』 would allow such a thing."』 Julius responded, a thoughtful look on his face. 『"Judging by their behaviour during Subaru's first attempt, the two seemed eager to ensure that he and Shaula remained split up."』

『"Indeeeeeeed. That is quite the predicament."』

Both Julius and Roswaal had understood the unlikelihood of such a situation. While Subaru wouldn't be blindsided by an attack to send him flying across the room this time, he has no doubt in Lye's ability to force him into a one versus one battle, so to speak.

"And in the unlikely chance that they are unable to split us up, I'd probably just prevent Shaula from being able to fight to the fullest, huh."

What good would having Shaula fight Roy do if she would have to constantly cover for him against Lye? Lye would also just fight harder if Shaula was present, making the obvious answer also the worst one. Therefore-

"That's why we'll have to take Lye down in the 『Taygeta Library』."

In order to survive and overcome the 『Gourmet』, he would have to damage the integrity of the library for their fight.

『"Betty does not like this idea very much, I suppose."』

"I know," Subaru said in a sullen voice. The idea that the library might get wrecked during their fight just filled him with guilt, guilt that in some part he felt was misplaced but guilt nonetheless. "But there isn't really any other option here. Man, I hope the librarian of this place doesn't wake up to throw me down the stairs for disrespecting their library."

『"Subaru..."』

"Right, sorry."

『"While I can not say that I am comfortable with using the library as a fighting space, it may prove to help in fighting 『Gluttony』."』 Julius sighed, 『"『Gluttony』 appears to prefer fighting in spacious locations-"』

『"Meaning Barusu may have an advantage."』 Ram finished.

The knight and the maid were on the same page, yet Subaru was not. "I'd have an advantage?"

『"Correct. 『Gluttony』 would be the one having to chase you through the naturally occurring labyrinth, giving you the opportunity to escape and evade him."』

『"In other words, 『Gluttony』 will not know where Subaru is, in fact. Allowing Subaru to stall for time.』

"So, all I got to do is just keep on running, huh?"

Well, that sounded doable. Subaru was a pretty good runner in his youth, and he was no slouch now either. The only question though was if he could hold off Lye for long enough. In the first loop, Shaula never came to his aid, meaning he'd likely have to fight for just as long, if not longer for this loop. Unless-

Unless Roy had defeated Shaula in that first loop? No, no no that's-

『"Betty finds that highly unlikely, in fact."』

"Huh?" Subaru blinked in surprise. "How did you know what I was thinking?"

Beatrice huffed, 『"Betty always knows what her contractor is thinking. Subaru should praise her more, in fact!"』

"That's a little unnerving, honestly..."

『"My, my, Subaaaaaruuuu."』 Roswaal smirked, 『"Are you worried that we might you caaaaaaaaatch you thinking something inappropriate?"』

Subaru spluttered, thrown off balance by the clown's comment. "That's not- knock it off Ros!"

『"Whatever could you meeeeaaaaan?"』

『"I don't really know what you two are on about, but I think Shaula should be able to handle 『Gluttony』 on her own."』Emilia noted, 『"She's reeeaaally strong."』

"Yeah." Subaru nodded, mentally slapping himself for doubting her. "I'll just have to hold out until then."

While Subaru didn't have any qualms about shamelessly waiting for Shaula to save him from Lye - his manly pride had been in ruins ever since 『Shaula Taxi』 was established - the idea of doing nothing but running like a coward didn't sit well with him. Subaru was a good runner, no doubt about that, but surely there was something a little more he could do? He supposed that he could always use his trusty Guiltywhip, but trying to wield it in an enclosed space might prove difficult. He didn't know what other options he had - if any - for offence- wait.

"Wait, that's right! 『Invisible Providence』!"

The authority of 『Sloth』 could prevent Lye from getting too close, and he would never see it coming. Literally.

But there was always a chance that he'd missed the fine print as to when he could use the authority. Best to be safe. Thus, he summoned the ghostly hand to be sure.

"『Invisible Providence』!"

Sure enough, the hand responded to his call outside the 『Shadow Garden』.

"Good to know that isn't region-locked..." Subaru muttered, clutching his head; An intense but brief headache swept across his mind for a second as he summoned the authority. While 『Invisible Providence』 had a drawback, its versatile nature and unseen properties would prove very valuable.

-Which is why he was bewildered to see them all stare at what should be the invisible hand.

『"It resembles 『Sloth's』 hands very closely."』 Julius murmured.

"Eh?!" Subaru stared at him, wide-eyed. "How can you see it?! Isn't it meant to be invisible to you guys?"

『"Weeelll, we kin~da see everything you see, Brother."』

"Gah!" The unexpected voice provoked Subaru to turn around abruptly. "Where'd you come from?!"

Showing up out of nowhere was Meili, who was absent-mindedly swinging her legs on a wooden chair. The same wooden chair that Subaru had woken from upon starting each loop.

『"I don't kno~w,"』 She shrugged. 『"but even if we can see the spoo~ky hand, Lye proba~bly won't be able to.』

"Only probably? That doesn't fill me with confidence."

Of course, this was all based upon the assumption that 『Invisible Providence』 was truly invisible. Besides himself, he knew that Petelgeuse from the 『Shadow Garden』 could see the hand, and he never summoned the authority in front of Louis.

Subaru sighed. "Guess it'll have to just be a leap of faith then."

There wasn't much else he could do about the nature of 『Invisible Providence』 at the moment. He would just have to pray that the ghostly hand would deliver.

And as Subaru dematerialised the authority, someone inquired about a bizarre detail in one of his past loops.

『"By the wa~y, what happened to those birdies?"』

It took him a moment to understand what the mabeast tamer was referring to. "The doves? Wait, oh yeah! The doves!"

It had almost slipped his mind with all the stuff that had occurred in the past two loops, but in his failed attempt to call forth what he now knew to be 『Invisible Providence』 against Lye, Subaru had instead summoned a flock of white birds. Perhaps he could call them again?

So he did his best to replicate the sensation he mistakenly reached out to before, a sensation that, by all accounts, he wouldn't have discovered without that misassumption.

But-

"Nothing?"

No birds came the moment he called.

『"Barusu,"』Ram chided, 『"you should at least wait for the birds to arrive before arriving at the conclusion of nothing."』

He sighed, "Yeah but would have thought they'd just like, show up, you know? Like how the hand did."

『"The doves reside in a physical location with the 『Pleiades Watchtower』.』" The 『Finest Knight』 reminded, 『"Naturally, they will require some time to reach us."』

And, as if on cue from Julius's words, there the doves arrived, pouring out from the centre of the library and into the maze of bookshelves that lay beyond it. They all flocked around Subaru, some even perching on his head and shoulders directly.

Oddly, not one of them made a single sound other than the flapping of their wings. All were just silently staring at him as if they were awaiting orders, or directions, or something. If it wasn't for the fact that they were only birds, he'd probably be more creeped out instead of confused.

"Uhhh, guys?"

『"That's so adorable!"』 Emilia squealed, completely enamoured with the display, 『"You look sooooo cute there, Subaru!"』

"Eh?!"

『"Those birds are trying to steal Betty's contractor, in fact!"』 Beatrice pouted, waving her arms in an attempt to scare the birds away. 『"Shoo, shoo!"』

Her attempt failed. The doves completely ignored her presence, leading to chuckles among all who were watching. Stomping her feet in childish annoyance, Beatrice tried to grab Subaru's hand to drag him away from the birds.

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...Only for her hand to phase through his.

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"...Eh?"

Did he see that right?

What just- why? Why did that happen? Beatrice was in the library with him, right? So why couldn't she grab his hand?

No. No, Subaru was seeing things. He was clearly seeing things, obviously seeing things. When was the last time he'd slept well? He couldn't remember. It was probably just that, right? Just him seeing things. Surely if he reached out, his hand would be able to grasp hers? It wasn't as if they weren't real, were they? Yes, they were real. Of course, they were.

And yet, as he tried to do so, his arm trembled. Trembled at the potential that he was wrong - that he was under some sort of delusion, but that was illogical. She was real. He knew it. He just- he just had to make sure.

So his arm stretched out to make contact-

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...Only for his hand to phase through hers.

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"No. No no no no no no no..."

Why. Why why why why why why why why why! Why was this happening?! They were real, right?! They were real! They-

『"Subaru?"』 Emilia's ethereal voice rang out.

...Ethereal, not as silver bells as 『Natsuki Subaru』 had said.

"Emilia!" Subaru whipped his head around desperately, his eyes crazed. "You're real, right?!"

『"Eh? I don't-"』

"Please just tell me you are real! Something, anything! You, all of you!" He frantically looked around at all of 『Natsuki Subaru's』 friends; Emilia, looking at him with concern, Beatrice, her face wide-eyed in confusion, Ram, staring at him without saying a word, Julius, frowning at his pitiful display, Roswaal, his face plastered with an unreadable creepy smile and Meili, simply smiling at him. "You all are real, right?! Right?!"

『"Subaru..."』

"Please just tell me! I need to know if you are-!"

He tried to lock his hands around Emilia's for reassurance, but stopped as his breath hitched-

-For his hands phased through.

"No. No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no!" Subaru clawed himself, causing the doves to scatter as his hands yanked on strands of white hair. He tore them out, a slothful act of defiance as if the pain brought by it would render everything else false. "Why why why why why!"

『"Whyyyyy?"』 Subaru snapped his head around to stare at Roswaal as the 『Court Mage』 questioned.

"Yes! Tell me why! Tell me why I can't touch you, any of you! You are all real! You have to be for 『Natsuki Subaru』 to bring you all back! So why!"

He just needed a reason. Maybe it was just a mistake! Maybe they were real, but he couldn't touch them because he wasn't worthy to?! Something, anything! He'd take anything!

『"Why? But you alreaaaaaaady know the reason why? Do you not? Subaru?"』

Roswaal's cryptic response did little to soothe his worries, and- "No! I don't know why? Why?! I'll take any answer! Just give me an answer!"

...But truthfully, he knew why. Buried deep below the grounds of denial and delusion, he knew why. However, that truth was buried for a reason, for he could not accept it. He refused to hear it.

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But Natsuki Subaru could not hide from reality forever.

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『"Silly Bro~ther,"』 Came Meili's voice, absent-mindedly humming as if she couldn't care less. Naturally, however, as for her and the rest of them, they all already knew. It was just reality. A reality that Subaru had refused to accept. But a reality that had to be spoken and unshackled from the repressed depths of his mind nonetheless.

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『"Did you forget that you mur~dered us all?"』

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No.

No no no no no.

It wasn't true it wasn't true it wasn't true it wasn't true it wasn't true it wasn't true it wasn't true it wasn't true it wasn't true! It wasn't it wasn't it wasn't! They were all here! There were all talking to him! They were all still-

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They were gone.

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Surrounding him was little more than the doves he had summoned, for they were the only real beings that he had called to his presence.

"No no no no no!" Subaru screamed.

He didn't kill them! It didn't count it didn't count it didn't count! They were just- they were just... They were just waiting! Waiting for 『Natsuki Subaru』 to revive and turn back the clock, and then there they would be! It didn't count, for they would return once his purpose was complete! That's how it worked! Right?! It-

But while one half of his mind desperately clung to the side of delusion, false narratives and denial, the other forced him to recall reality as it played memories of their last moments - from both his and their perspectives.

Of Meili, who watched the body of Natsuki Subaru wrap his hands around her neck while she desperately tried to struggle for her life, clawing at her attacker's hands and wrists, only for them to strangle her to death.

Of Beatrice, who saw her contractor fall into a delirious state after reading Meili's 『Book of the Dead』 and in her confusion, failed to realise his hands wrapping around her neck and snapping it.

Of Ram, who cursed at what she thought to be a mockery of the Natsuki Subaru she knew and tackled him to the ground, only to miss the order of Shaula firing 『Hell's Snipe』.

Of Emilia, who saw the monster that Natsuki Subaru was becoming and tried to save him from himself by telling him of his past, only to fall in vain before her words could fully reach him.

Of Julius, who sought to avenge his fallen friends and comrades and to avenge Natsuki Subaru from whatever vile monster had usurped his mind, only to be subjected to blast upon blast of 『Hell's Snipe』 by the one the boy ordered to kill him.

Of Roswaal, who gave up on life after seeing the twisted version of Natsuki Subaru arrive to come to collect his memories and willingly let the 『Crimson Scorpion』 blast a needle of light through his head.

Of more, so many more, countless more, who all saw their tales end just so the weaver could collect more threads for his patchwork.

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All of them dead. Murdered because of him.

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"No, no no no no no! Stop it stop it stop it!"

He wouldn't believe it- no. He couldn't believe it. He desperately tried to wrap chains around it, to lock it all away so he could continue down the only path forward Natsuki Subaru had left. But that other half of him refused to let his slothful denial continue to delude and strengthen the explosion of the ticking time bomb that was his psyche. The two halves pulled and pulled on the frayed ropes of his mind-

-Only for the unexpected arrival of tranquillity.

Their battle was put to a ceasefire as a melody rang out across the library.

A melody he had not heard in years.

"The birds... are singing?"

The doves were singing. All of them sang the exact same tune and melody, almost as if they had all collectively learnt to do so from mimicry.

Some part of him wanted to ask how they could sing, for doves should not be able to, but a far greater part of him simply wished to enjoy the song.

It wasn't a well-known tune - in fact, Subaru doubted it was known at all, for it was a simple lullaby made up by the woman he respected most in the world. And yet, it was a song that the doves of the 『Sage's』 Watchtower knew the tune to.

Perhaps there were countless questions to be asked regarding their knowledge of the song, and perhaps, he'd never know why. But as the birds continued to chime, none of it mattered as Subaru found himself reciting the lyrics of the lullaby made to soothe his nerves from long ago.

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"As the raindrops fall, upon the midnight sky,

We all look down, as the raindrops splash down up high,

But it won't do much good, to focus on all that is dreary,

So instead look up high, and enjoy the night sky.

For the stars are shining down on you, Natsuki Suba-ru,

And the constellations are, cheering for you as we speak,

So look past the thunderstorm, and all the hardship it brings,

For the skies will soon clear, and all will be right again."

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...

As the song ended, for a brief moment, nothing else mattered. Not the attack upon the tower by the 『Gluttonies』nor the two halves of his mind trying to steer him in one direction. For Subaru was swept up in a wave of nostalgia.

He chuckled, "It has been quite a few years since I've needed that to be sung to me. I moved past the whole crying during thunderstorm stuff when I was a kid."

The birds cooed in response, some once again perched on top of his body.

"Hey, don't look at me like that! I was a kid, okay? It's normal for kids to cry over dumb things, alright?"

The birds cooed back in response once more. It didn't fail to escape him that he was talking to birds here, but Subaru did not care.

"...Hope you are doing alright, Mum and Dad. I know it's been a while since we've last seen each other, but... maybe we'll be able to see each other again once I've finished with everything over here."

Subaru couldn't know if he could return home or not; there was no real way of knowing. All that he did know was that he missed them.

If he could have known what would happen before he set out to the convenience store that day, then he wouldn't have left them without a word.

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...He really missed them.

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"Still though," He shook his head, pulling himself together, "thanks you lot for that. Was about to tear myself crazy, but I'm calm now." Subaru sincerely thanked. "Who taught you that? Flugel?"

They cooed again in response. Subaru wasn't exactly fluent in bird, but if he had to guess, they were confirming his guess.

"Well, I guess Flugel might not be as bad as I thought." Go figure.

And in this wave of new calm, he subconsciously formed a new 『Chain』 to prevent himself from falling apart at the seams like that again.

Were the people he saw in his clouded eye real? For the sake of his sanity, they had to be. 『Chain Six』.

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Denial had won to keep himself sane. For ignorance is bliss.

...He was truly slothful, wasn't he.

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"Master!"

A cry reverberated across the library, alerting Subaru to action. It was time.

"They're coming!"

"On the way!" Subaru yelled back, hoping Shaula could hear him.

The time for planning was at an end. Subaru could only hope that what he had devised would be enough to stall for enough time against Lye Batenkaitos.

But as he ran and the white birds flew behind him, his cape fluttering in his wake, a different voice called out to him.

『"Barusu."』

He turned around, and standing behind him was Ram. He had questions, but he knew that now was not the time to ask them.

『"For Rem's sake, kindly kick Lye's ass."』

He grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "You got it, Ram!"

And as he turned around to race towards the exit of the library, he almost could have sworn that he caught a glimpse of an approving smile on Ram's face.

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"And that is basically the plan. Got it?"

"Mhm, Shaula is very good at following orders, Master!"

"Good, because there they are..."

The figures of Lye Batenkaitos and Roy Alphard could be seen at the bottom of the staircase, slowly walking up it. From what he could tell, they were in no apparent rush to reach them. After all, the only way out was the staircase, so neither he nor Shaula had anywhere to flee if they so wished.

"Master?" Subaru hummed as Shaula poked him, "What's with the birds?"

The white birds still continued to crowd around Subaru. There was only space for three to perch, one on each shoulder and another on his head, but the rest flew around him, seemingly awaiting orders.

"Honestly, I'm not too sure. Man, it's like I've become some sort of bird whisperer or bird god?" The first claim could have been true, though the second was outlandish. Surely a bird god would look like, well, a bird.

"Mmm, I've never seen so many before, yep!" She remarked. "Master only had one bird, mhm!"

"Eh? You mean that the amount of birds has increased?"

"Yep! From one to twenty-eight. Are you pulling them from a magic hat or something?"

"That number is... oddly specific."

Subaru was no expert on birds but an increase of only twenty-seven birds over the span of four centuries seemed unnatural. But these were birds he was talking about. It honestly didn't matter that much.

"By the way, Master, have you noticed?"

"Hm?" Subaru blinked, "Noticed what?"

"Jeez! You didn't notice at all!" Shaula pouted in disapproval. "The sand goggles!"

She gestured to her neck where orange-tinted lens goggles rested. Well, that was new.

"Looks neat. Though uh, why?" Subaru asked. He didn't particularly care as to where she got the goggles from, though it just struck him as a strange idea to fish around for cosmetics during a time like this.

She chuckled, "Well, duh! If we are about to fight, then I need to look my best, so it's even cooler during the action scenes, mhm! I've gotten a complete makeover, yep!"

...She called getting a new pair of goggles a makeover? Good grief.

Ill-timed fashion choices aside, Subaru was once again having to question if Shaula was either choosing to not take anything seriously or if she was actually unable of doing so. ...It was a little worrying that he couldn't actually tell.

"You need an outfit change as well, Master, mhm! There's like some sort of temperature nullifier ring on the fifth floor that would look really good on you if we could get i-"

"Is this seriously the time?!"

"You two seem in high spirits ~tsu."

The voice startled him slightly, mainly because he hadn't expected it to be so close already, yet on the opposite side of the spiral staircase was the two brothers of 『Gluttony』.

"...What's with the birds, Brother?" Lye raised an eyebrow at the flock. Subaru didn't get a chance to answer though, as Shaula soon responded.

"Eh eh? Did you guys power walk or something when we weren't looking?"

"Gyahahaha!" Roy cackled, "Power walk? That's new ~tsu. No, we just had gotten so bored, so bored, so bored, so bored, so bored of waiting ~tsu! So bored of waiting to appease our 『Gluttony』! We are starving, starving, because of you, False Brother."

The 『Bizarre Eating』 glared at him from across the room. The distance didn't do much to make him feel safe; one 『Leaper』 would be all it would take for Roy to reach him. Such an annoying power that was.

"A~h, tell us, Brother, why did you wait up here?" Lye asked, "Our sister told you that we were coming, and yet you stayed up here like a coward!" Lye growled at him, though less out of hatred and more out of... annoyance? "Our hero wouldn't have done that ~tsu."

"Eh?"

"Gyahahaha! Our Brother's just upset that he lost our bet ~tsu." Roy smirked, almost relishing in Lye's irritation. "He really thought you were going to come to us ~tsu, but we knew better, better, better! Ah~ah! We shall feast and dine ravenously today! Gluttonous drinking ~tsu! 『Gluttony』 ~tsu!"

Lost the bet? But didn't Lye win their bet or something? He didn't know what it was exactly, but something here felt off.

"Blech." Lye spat. "It doesn't matter, won't matter, probably won't matter, might matter, somewhat matter, but we'll manage. We don't like being proven wrong ~tsu, so forgive us if we take it out on you."

Lye readied himself, adopting a stance. Whatever lingering doubts that still lurked in his mind were forced out. It was time.

"Shaula! You take on the one here. I'll handle the other one!"

"Yes, sir!" She mock saluted, "Shaula will demolish them, Master!"

"Ahawaha~, well that seems like our cue ~tsu." Lye licked his lips. "We wonder how tender your dish will be! 『Leaper』!"

『Gourmet』 vanished into thin air, 『Bizarre Eating』 following soon after which signified Subaru's time to flee back into the library.

He heard footsteps behind him, indicating that the 『Gluttonies』 had wished to fight the two separately, as he had suspected. So far, all was going to plan. All that was left for him to do was to stall for time.

But as he left the central open space of the 『Taygeta Library』 and began to dash through the maze of bookshelves past it, he caught something in his peripheral vision. Something that made him stop and turn around.

The footsteps had stopped also, allowing him to get a good look at his pursuer.

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...That was not Lye Batenkaitos.

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"You?"

"Gyahahaha! You seem surprised, False Brother ~tsu! Almost as if you were confident that it would be our Brother. It is curious ~tsu. But you see, we won a bet ~tsu. And a bet won means we won your dish this time, Natsuki Subaru."

His plan to stall that revolved around Lye toying with his opponents to 'bring out their flavour' was falling apart at the seams. For this wasn't one who would play with their food and leave openings to exploit.

Because it wasn't Lye Batenkaitos who he was facing this time.

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But Roy Alphard and the 『Bizarre Eating』 was not going to pull any punches in getting his meal.

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Well this chapter certainly had a bit of everything didn't it?

This chapter was a little intimidating to write honestly because I wasn't sure that I could get people like Emilia or Julius characterised that well. It made writing the middle section of the chapter a bit slow but eventually I felt like I got into the hang of it. This is also the reason why I didn't include Anastasia here as I didn't have too good a clue as to how to write her and felt trying to do that process with 3 characters instead of 2 would be a bit much, so I just opted to put Roswaal in instead who I felt more confident in writing. I will definitely try to include Anastasia into another 'memory people' scene though in the future.

I mentioned it before in my end notes for chapter 4 but like, I seriously don't think I've seen a single fic really feature the strange birds that were in the tower so that was one of the miscellaneous things I wanted to expand upon. Plus, it gives Subaru a bit more versatility as this bird whisperer even if it will require some creative use to get mileage out of them.

The song that Subaru sings was something I knew I wanted to include since the start of the fic yet I didn't actually know what the lyrics would be so I kind of just improved there and tried singing it into a melody till it worked. I plan to do something with this song quite a bit further down the line so that's something e.

Giving Shaula sand goggles isn't at all something important to the plot lmao. I just saw like a beta design of Shaula which had them and thought it was just an amazing fit so boom.

And finally, it's gonna be Roy time. From day one I knew I wanted for there to be two seperate distinct fights against Lye and Roy and well, next chapter should be a fun one as I'll get to write the Roy fight which i've been waiting to do. I feel like while Lye is definetly the more powerful opponent, I actually think Roy would be a harder fight for Subaru because Lye doesn't really go all out against weaker opponents. Roy though, Roy's hungry and that's going to require a very different approach for Subaru to either overcome or outlast. I'll have more to say in regards to this next chapter however so look forward to that.

And that's pretty much it! Once again, big thanks to my beta readers Prophellwinter and Bluewavegunner8 for reading this chapter in advance. The coming chapters are some that i've been waiting awhile to write and hopefully they will be received well when I get to them so look forward to that! As always, please feel free to drop comments down below because that serotonin rush upon receiving them fuels my veins. Thanks for reading!

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It's comment replying time e

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Deathenglegamers1144 - Chapter 9

Like the chapter, Subaru is conflict about why does Shaula have Uno deck card LMAO

Uno def best past time for the tower crew 400 years ago

Kukyo - Chapter 9

Something tells me that Shaula always wins at Uno. Lol

Shaula could be a professional card gamer, who knows?

...But her game expertise isn't enough to beat Subaru

OreosAreYummy - Chapter 9

Looking forward to next one, glad this got updated

Glad to hear it! Don't intend on discontinuing this fic anytime soon!

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That's everything, thanks for reading!