I don't own Re: Zero
I'm back yet again. Chapter 5 this time. All aboard the pain train.
Thanks to all my followers and reviewers. Y'all are the best. Alright, let's do this.
Arc 2: The people that I met
"It's…so…h-hot"
Natsuki Subaru felt heat surge through him.
As the hard floor scraped against his skin, he realized that he had fallen onto the ground. The old wood, covered in splinters, tore his face, yet the sensation was muted when compared to the horrible, nauseating heat that consumed his form.
-This is really, really not good.
A retching cough spilled from his lips. With it came a torrent of crimson. It splattered on the ground, feeling oddly cold against Subaru's face as it quickly grew into a large puddle. The wooden boards were stained putrid red, and as Subaru looked on with hazy eyes he could make out chunks of bile floating in the ever growing pool.
Was all of this…really his?
A trembling hand reached out to find the heat scorching through his body. As his fingers grasped his abdomen area, he was met with sticky liquid amidst the hollowness that was once where his stomach was, now pulsating so weakly on the ground floor, oozing a smell so putrid that he could have puked more had he had the energy to do so. .
Funny how he would have done so when there was nothing left to puke with.
He understood then.
Maybe that's the reason why it felt so hot. His brain must have confused pain for heat. The massive laceration that ran through him was so deep that the only thing holding him together was a few strips of skin. He could actually see his own intestines splaying out like noodles in a soup.
Ah, he was dying.
As soon as he realized that, his consciousness began to fail him. It bled away like his innards, disappearing and leaving only numb oblivion. In its wake even the heat devouring him disappeared, and his sense of touch fell away along with it. The only thing remaining was his corpse, which for some reason still possessed a beating heart.
Right before his eyes, a black high-heeled shoe stepped down into the mash of blood and puke, small ripples extending outward in waves, like raindrops on a serene pond. A gentle hand caressed his cheek with blood-slicked fingers, angling his face upwards.
With glassy eyes, he made out a woman with black hair, a sick smile on her face.
He didn't think to make out her features beyond that. It didn't matter anymore.
"Subaru?"
He heard a voice. A voice that rang like silver bells, tearing through the suffocating silence that asundered him. He knew that voice. The fact that he could hear it, it felt like the greatest of treasures to him, the most beautiful of all things. It felt like salvation. So he—
A short scream followed
A loud thump shook the surface he was in, followed by something liquid splashing on his face. Her body fell right beside him. Her hand, pale and so delicate, fell down lifeless into the crimson stain. He reached out towards it and grasped it feverishly in his own bloodstained palm.
Her fingers softly moved to grasp his own.
"Just you wait…!"
He now saw nothing, but darkness. Yet still he clung, desperately. He clung to the last remaining vestiges of consciousness like his tiny pieces of skin clung to his two disemboweled halves, clawing at it, seizing it to buy just a little more time.
"I promise I'm going to…"
-save you
And that was how Natsuki Subaru lost his life.
Re: Zero: The Prideful Plague
Chapter 5: My Path Diverges
He trembled and gasped for breath.
The man clad in black stared at him with an empty expression. Then slowly, and in a monstrously methodical fashion, performed the head-tilt that Subaru had already seen. It took a moment for the mean-eyed boy to recognize the person, his memory for a moment being completely scrambled. Then the name came to him.
"Mr. Anderson, what…is going on?"
The man didn't answer, simply staring at Subaru with a gaze so utterly devoid of anything that the mean-eyed boy thought that he was looking at a corpse. For some reason he thought that to be incredibly funny.
Him, looking at a corpse. Shouldn't it be the other way around?
"I see," came Fomalhaut's dead voice. "I had thought to ask you the same question however…," he tapered off abruptly. To Subaru it seemed like he was interrupted by something internally. Like some kind of distraction broke into his thought process. Fomalhaut's hand spasmed once, twice. Then the man clenched his fist and violently shook his head.
"Apologies," he said quietly. "I seem to have lost my concentration for a moment. However, my question remains the same. What was it that occurred?"
His void-like eyes stared at Subaru with an unflinching attentiveness. "Your earlier declaration leads me to believe that you possess some sort of information that I do not."
Subaru looked at him with a stupefied expression. Then his eyes drifted down to the untouched fabric of his tracksuit. "My stomach…it isn't cut open?"
Fomalhaut's face changed into an ever so slightly unsure expression. "What are you…"
He tapered off yet again, this time the action being even more immediate. Once more it seemed like something internal was diverting his attention. Or rather, something appeared to be demanding his attention and greedily forcing it away from all else. Some kind of sixth sense that Subaru could not seem to grasp.
The man gritted his teeth, his arm spasming again, his palm jerking in motions as if attempting to grab a hold of something. As Subaru watched the movement, his suspicion was only reinforced. Something was wrong with this guy. Moments later the twitching subsided and Fomalhaut exhaled painfully.
"Apologies," he repeated. This time his voice sounded strained. "You…" he grasped his head, his expression twisting in agony, something within him seemingly punishing him for ignoring whatever it was that was trying to grab his attention. Subaru beheld him with a slightly disturbed expression in his eyes.
"What?" Fomalhaut snarled suddenly, his voice full of disgust. "What do you want?" His hand jerked to the pouch on his belt, flicking it open with twitching unnatural movements, a hateful look on his face.
Subaru would have been offended, except that it was obvious that Fomalhaut was not, in fact, actually speaking to him. Despite the fact that he and the japanese youth were the only occupants of the alley, Fomalhaut acted as if some other presence, an unwanted presence, was there along with them. That realization scared Subaru, and an image of the woman with black hair flashed in front of his eyes.
As the mean-eyed boy looked on, still incapable to organize his thoughts to do anything more, he saw that Fomalhaut drew a black tome out of the bag. Something about its appearance put Subaru on edge and made him want to take a step back. Despite being the type of person that generally enjoys reading, as he took in the black cover and mottled pages of this particular book, he couldn't help but feel negative emotions well up within him.
Fomalhaut seemed to be of the same opinion, as he gazed at the volume in utter revulsion.
"How disgusting," he growled quietly through clenched teeth. Opening the book, he harshly tore through a few of the pages before coming to a jarring stop. Subaru saw his eyes scrambling twice from left to right, clearly reading through something.
Then, very slowly, those same eyes looked back up at Subaru.
And somewhere, deep within those black abyssal eyes, Subaru thought he saw a hint of pity.
"Hey kid," Fomalhaut's voice had once more jumped to utter emptiness. "Would you be so gracious as to do me a quick favor and take a few steps backwards? I wish to test something."
Surprised, yet a bit wary, Subaru nevertheless did as the other had asked.
For the first four steps nothing seemed to happen,
And then Subaru felt it.
Like he had stepped out of a bubble made of shimmering unreality.
He couldn't describe it exactly, but it was almost as if the world around him had once more become grounded, and that before, while he had been talking to Fomalhaut, he had been existing within a state of disconnect. Not a visible disconnect, or a sensation that could even be felt by any of the five senses in general, but one that was nevertheless there and had been doing…something to him.
Evidently, Fomalhaut noticed something as well, because he suddenly sucked in air through his teeth. His eyes fixated on Subaru, and he stared at him with such intensity that the young man felt uncomfortable.
"So that's how it is," he finally spoke, and despite the fact that they were still the only two beings within the alley, Subaru got the distinct feeling that Fomalhaut was, once more, not speaking to him. By this point, however, Subaru had his own questions he wanted to ask.
"Mr. Anderson, what the hell is going on!" He finally managed to stammer out. "What happened? I remember…dying? I was dead and now I'm…here."
"I…don't know," came the response, "however, I may be able to give you the answers you seek if you explain to me step-by-step exactly what happened since our last meeting." He turned and began walking away briskly, prompting Subaru to follow him.
"Hey wait," he called out, trying to keep up with the older man's pace, "Where are we going?"
"To prepare," was his only answer.
Typhon skipped through the streets joyfully, humming to herself. She felt really really happy. Today had been super fun! She hadn't been at the capital for a few whole months now, and she'd missed the crowds.
The worst part was that she hadn't had any choice in not visiting either. Mal started to dislike coming to the capital for some reason after he cured Rier. And Rier hadn't even been thankful! He didn't even say anything, just closed his eyes and died!
Maybe that's why Mal didn't like to visit, because Rier was an ungrateful jerk.
Hmph.
But today had been awesome! This morning she thought she saw Tella! It was a little weird since she thought Tella was still stuck inside of Flugel's trap, but maybe she had gotten out? Well, Tella was really strong so it's not like she couldn't get out any time she wanted.
At least Typhon was pretty sure that was the case.
Then again, she had never been quite sure what Tella really wanted. She asked Dona once, but she had gotten all grouchy and told her not to be a bother. Dona always would get grouchy when the topic of Tella came up, though Typhon didn't really know why.
Anyways, when she saw Tella today she had been talking to a floating kitty and a lady with pink hair like Milla's.
At first Typhon had wanted to go and say,"Hi," but then decided that maybe it would be a bad idea. Tella was acting a little strange after all. She seemed just a bit more air-headed and also didn't feel the same way.
Plus, Typhon thought, if she went and said Hi, Tella might eat her again and then Mal would be sad.
So she went on her way. Tella would probably figure everything out on her own. And if she didn't, then the kitty and the pink-haired girl would help her out. Typhon smiled at the thought. She was glad Tella was making new friends. Glad and very very proud of her.
After that she went out and got some Fluffys! Mal didn't usually get them, because he said they were bad for her, but what did he know? He didn't even call them right. What kind of name was "cotton candy", anyway? Yuck! Cotton probably tasted really gross, and Fluffys were delicious and sweet! She had to spend the last of her pocket change that Mal gave her last month to buy them, and she did feel a little bad about it, but Mal told her that money was like a contract so that had to mean that using it to buy good food was the correct thing to do.
Also the sweets looked so delicious, and the nice merchant even gave her an extra one because he said she reminded him of his daughter.
Though, of course, she needed to sneak away from Mal to do all of these things. She felt just a teensy bit guilty about it, but Mal had told her for a long time now that sometimes it was okay to cause just a little mischief. Though just a little, not a lot.
A lot would make her an evildoer and she didn't want to be one at all.
She snuck away after Mal came to cure all the sick and hurt people at the inn. The purple haired guy hadn't wanted to talk to her after Mal had started to help everyone, so she decided to go explore on her own. Mal probably didn't need her help anyway, he was very good at curing people after all. Plus, he had his spirit with him so he wouldn't even get cold!
So she left and decided to see if she could find anything interesting. The city was full of people; she was sure she would find someone.
Maybe she should head to the poor district? Mal always said that people who live in bad conditions often become desperate. She could probably find lots of sinners there. If Mal was right, then there would be a lot of people that did bad things there and Typhon couldn't wait to meet them. She really wanted to know if they did these things for a good reason or not.
Oh well, she would be the judge of that anyways.
And then she almost ran into someone.
Owww…she thought as she slowly stood up from the place she fell down. She lost sight of what was in front of her and had only noticed the person at the last second, causing her to stop so suddenly she tripped. Stupid capital, it was not fair that it was so big and had so much cool stuff. Everywhere she turned there were so many interesting things that her eyes didn't even know what to concentrate on, it wasn't her fault!
"Oh…I apologize, are you alright…"
Typhon looked up, and her eyes widened.
The person in front of her could only be described as the perfect knight.
He had the looks of a noble warrior, with flaming red hair and sparkling blue eyes. He was quite tall and wore well made white clothing, with a large sword in an elaborate sheath engraved with furrows from dragon claws attached to his waist. His mere presence exuded a sense of gallant elegance and purity.
It was as if his mere existence represented and affirmed all of the good and virtues of humanity.
The knight turned to her, and a small frown adorned his expression. Typhon shared his resolute eyes right back into him. Sky blue and ruby red gazes locked with each other, a sense of an unspoken recognition of power between the two. At the red-haired knight's waist, the restraints upon the sword's sheath clicked open.
The prideful witch and the virtuous saint stared at each other in the open street, tension seeming to fill the space between them.
Then Typhon smiled happily and tackled him in a hug.
"Big brother Rein, it's so awesome to see you again!"
"I see," Fomalhaut asked him thoughtfully. "So, this black haired woman was the one that…killed you?"
Subaru had decided to explain everything to him, starting from him fighting, and losing, to the three thugs that came upon him a few minutes after Fomalhaut had departed, to meeting the silver haired half-elf, to trying to help her find her lost insignia, to finally tracking down the thief to the loot house, and then dying.
Fomalhaut listened attentively, from time to time quietly requesting simple clarifications or details about the exact setting, but otherwise appeared to grasp his narrative with relative ease. In response he summarized his own experiences, though every time Subaru would ask him about how he ended up in front of him again in the same alley, Fomalhaut would dodge the question.
Despite Subaru avoiding mentioning certain details, such as the promise he made to Satella, things had eventually started to become clearer to both regarding their situation. Subaru's death—to be honest he still had trouble even processing it, seemed to happen at precisely the same time of…whatever had happened to Fomalhaut. Not only that both had immediately appeared in front of each other at the point where they had separated before.
At first Subaru had wanted to denounce it as a coincidence, but Fomalhaut Anderson did not believe in coincidence.
They continued speaking this way until their conversation was interrupted when Subaru, completely engrossed in his own tale, stumbled right into another individual, who had been quickly making her way down the alley.
Subaru let out an "oof" and stumbled backwards.
"Hah," came a haughty tone "How shameful. It appears that no matter the time of day there are always drunken dregs of society, just waiting to assault others with their lecherous ways. Please wait as I call the guards over."
"Isn't that a bit harsh!" Subaru screeched indignantly, getting up to look at the person who had just so casually accused him of sexual harassment—
—and his eyes immediately bugged out in delighted surprise.
"No way, maid outfits exist in this world too?"
The pink haired girl he had bumped into glanced at him with a disdainful expression on her elegant face, her red eyes looking down on him in more than one way. She continued glaring down on him even as Fomalhaut grasped his arm and hauled him to his feet, making him taller than she was.
"How awful, to think I would be forced to endure such filthy trials during my task. Truly horrendous." the pink haired girl stated.
"Oi oi, who are you calling filthy?" Subaru went all sharp. "I'll have you know that I make sure to take a shower every day, and keep my room tidy!"
The girl shook her head in mock pity.
"It's sad to see that the capital's standards have degenerated so much that even slovenly drunks are considered to be clean. Ram is thankful that her master has chosen to build his mansion away from the city."
Subaru deadpanned at the girl.
"Regardless," she continued, "Sir Drunk, please get out of the way. I am very busy searching for something. You may also continue searching as well if that's what you're doing. The closest garbage dump is that way." She pointed at the direction Subaru came from previously.
Then she bowed and made to brush past the flabbergasted boy. As she walked by, her eyes met Fomalhaut's own. The girl paused for a minute, and narrowed her eyes, carefully assessing the dark haired man's appearance. To Subaru it almost seemed like there was a faint glimmer of familiarity in her gaze.
"Is there something that you require of me?" Fomalhaut broke the silence. His gaze held familiarity toward the girl as well, though his was much clearer, despite being somehow hidden behind emptiness.
The girl, Ram, bowed her head in a gesture of respect that was executed impeccably, yet still felt insincere. In a way, Subaru thought, it was almost worse than the open mockery he received.
"I'm deeply sorry sir," she said. "For a minute I thought that you seemed familiar, yet I do not believe that I recognize you."
The man with the empty gaze nodded in acceptance to her words. "Perhaps you have seen me at some point in your life, but have forgotten it since?"
The pink haired girl inclined her head in polite acquiescence.
"I suppose that means that your impression was not worth remembering." She cut him down mercilessly.
Fomalhaut chuckled mirthlessly. "I suppose it wasn't." He paused. "If that is the case, then I shall endeavor to do better next time."
She curtsied in an elegant fashion. "See that you do so, and do please get out of Ram's way, as unlike the undesirables of society, she has somewhere to be." Without a single other glance, the pink haired girl trotted in between the two boys with an air of impunity, and left the alley, leaving the two behind.
Subaru watched her leave. The mean-eyed boy had a passing impulse to ask her if she had seen Satella and ask her for help. To reach out to her and implore her to explain to him what was going on.
Yet just as he was about to do so…
'A gentle hand caresses his cheek with blood slicked fingers, angling his face upwards.'
'A woman with black hair.'
'A sick smile.'
He shuddered. The pink haired girl disappeared into the crowds of the main street. Reluctantly, Subaru turned around, and jogged to catch up with his companion, who had resumed walking.
For a moment there was serenity between them. Then;
"So uh, you seemed like you knew who that maid was?" Subaru ventured cautiously, not wanting to possibly upset the other. After his weird lapse with "The Tumor" Subaru wasn't going to take any chances.
Fomalhaut chuckled lowly, shaking his head.
"It's more like you can say that she knows me…" he stated. "Though perhaps not the same me that you know." His expression darkened slightly and he clenched and immediately unclenched his fist. Then, suddenly and very uncharacteristically, he shrugged
"Or maybe she really just forgot. These things happen, you know." He addressed Subaru. "Maybe her mind deceived her." He suddenly went rigid, as if struck by something, and then slowly angled his head to look in the direction that the pink haired maid had disappeared to.
"Yes," the empty-eyed man almost whispered, "Yes, surely…" He looked back to where the girl with pink hair had gone. "Surely she must be diseased..."
It was then that Subaru felt something. It was an unexplainable feeling, in the sense that he couldn't understand how he knew it, but in that moment he understood that he had to distract Fomalhaut somehow. That if he didn't do something right now then that pink haired girl, Ram—
'-She will die'
He had to divert his attention. He had to. He had to do it now.
"I don't know, she looked pretty healthy to me." He rubbed the back of his head, chuckling sheepishly. Inside he was desperately trying to understand what had just occurred. Fomalhaut seemed, well maybe not particularly friendly, but nice enough, if a bit downtrodden.
So why was it…why was it that Subaru was suddenly so utterly terrified for Ram's sake. Why was it that his intuition was screaming at him, warning him that something horrific was about to occur. He didn't know, but he had to do something.
"I mean, did you hear how badly she put me down?" he continued, "I clean my clothes daily and she still insulted me. Sick people don't insult others you know."
Fomalhaut paused, then unexpectedly smiled softly. "Yeah, yeah maybe you're right." He looked at Subaru with…was that gratitude?
"Thanks kid. You really are something." Those words were filled with undeniable sincerity, and Subaru found himself suddenly reassured. Not for himself, but for both Ram and Fomalhaut's sakes. For a minute the two walked in comfortable silence, each thinking their own thoughts.
"Oh, we're here," Fomalhaut said suddenly. Subaru blinked and realized that they now stood in front of a small two story house. It was similar to the ones around, if a bit more run down. Some of the brickwork appeared to be partly eroded, and in some areas, pieces of it had even crumbled away, being patched and propped up by wooden planks. Above the door, a creaky and slanting sign read only two words.
"The Clinic," Subaru read out loud in a questioning tone. Turning to Fomalhaut, who had approached the door and was knocking on it with his fist, he couldn't help but feel confused.
"Why are we here, we have to go and stop that lady. She'll kill everyone at the loot house!"
"We have time," Fomalhaut cut him off. "You mentioned that you and that 'Satella' girl," he said the name Satella with an incommunicable amount of skepticism in his voice, "...wandered around aimlessly for hours before coming to the loot house. I'd say we still have a solid half an hour to spare and we could still make it plenty in time."
Subaru opened his mouth, then closed it, realizing that Fomalhaut had a point. He and Satella had indeed spent quite a while on their search, considering all the breaks and pauses they took along the way. Helping Plum, the conversation on the bridge, and all the times they took the wrong turn had definitely taken up most of the day.
The black clad man turned away and continued knocking on the door with increased annoyance.
"Open up, you damn Faker!" He yelled out, banging his fist against the door.
Subaru thought he heard hurried footsteps coming from within, and a feminine voice yelled something out with irritation. Turning to Fomahaut, the mean-eyed boy opened his mouth to ask about the identity of the mysterious person inside of the "The Clinic."
Fomalhaut nodded at the door, as if sensing his unspoken question. "You remember, how I said I was searching for Typhon with an associate of mine? Well, you're about to meet her."
He sighed deeply, and adopted the expression of a man readying to deal with an overly dramatic child.
"I should warn you, she's a bit of a goofball."
"What did you call me Mal?!" came an enraged scream from the inside. The next moment the door swung open, and Subaru saw the person that Fomalhaut had referred to as a "goofball."
It was a girl. She had warm amber eyes and green hair arranged in a ponytail. Subaru couldn't help but notice that her ears were pointed like Satella's. Did that mean she was a half-elf as well? Or perhaps a full elf? Dressed in an elegant hunter's uniform, with a small dagger attached to her hip and an orange rose adorned on her shoulder, she was a true beauty.
Though that beauty was slightly marred by the angry expression on her face.
"Did you just call me a goofball!?" She screeched. Suddenly grabbing her heart, she put her other arm to her brow and pretended to faint. "How could you be so cruel to me? And here I thought you cared…" and she began to make exaggerated sobbing noises.
Fomalhaut gave the girl the most deadpan stare Subaru had ever seen, then he turned and gestured at the green haired elf.
"Subaru, meet Shion."
End.
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