Subaru was writhing in his cell after another visit by Felix and Julius and the other knights.
No matter how many times he has begged and cried and yelled. They would not believe him. They used all form of torture on him to get him to spill out information that he never possessed.
The worst was by far Felix's torture. He would boil all of his nerves and smile as he started to heal them back up only to fry them again. While yelling.
"Tell me how to fix Crusch-sama! Tell me how to cure her! SPEAK CULTIST!"
"I DON'T KNOW! PLEASE! I'M NOT A WITCH CULTIST!"
"Wrong answer, Pride." Smiling in a cruel way as he fried his nerves once again. Before doing the same line of questioning.
Then it would be Julius' turn where he would mostly just break his bones, it wasn't as bad as Felix but it'd still hurt. Starting with his hands, finger by finger. Then moving on to his toes. Then his wrists, elbows, ankles, knees, and so on.
"You have a chance to redeem yourself villain. Give me the knowledge I seek to restore my name and that of the man who looks like myself who suffers from the sleeping beauty syndrome. Do that and all of this will end."
"I SWEAR I DON'T KNOW! I'M NOT A CULTIST! PLEASE BELIEVE ME!"
For the first 3 weeks, all Subaru could do was beg and plead for them but nothing worked. He even tried killing himself but his save point would always return him to the first or second day of this hell.
His eyes completely lost their shine at this point. He had been begging for the release of death now rather than escaping out of the cell.
Every day his thought would be:
'Is this the day I finally die? I really want to die. Please kill me. Please release me. Mom, Dad. I really want to see you again.. I hope I get to see you when I die.'
But nothing happened.
-2 months later-
Time passed by either very slowly or really fast for him. Nothing has changed. He kept wanting to die a final death by any means necessary, in order to avoid this hell. He could feel his grip on sanity loosen up.
He started to pray for all the gods to release him from this but none answered. Every day he would pray for a god from Japan. No answer came.
Moving on to the deities from other civilizations.
'Zeus'
'Freya'
'Osiris'
'Ishtar'
'Please. Please. Kill me. Take me away from this hell. Please.'
No answer. Even when he started praying for the gods who resided over death and the afterlife.
'Hades'
'Hela'
'Anubis'
'Ereshkigal'
'I beg you. Release me from this torment.'
Then when that didn't work he started praying to the evil gods of every pantheon that he knew of. But no answer ever came.
-4 months later-
By now he had run out of gods to name. He had already reached his breaking point. His mind had already shattered days before.
He began laughing manically while they tortured him. Laughing manically at night without stopping as he thought of the creative ways they'd torture him the next day, only to be bored as they used the same methods.
He had started seeing their cruel smile as a happy one and thought to himself:
'I should smile like that too. They seem so happy, I want to be happy too Hahaha. I want to laugh. I want to smile. I want to dance. Ah but my feet can't move that well, how utterly sad. Oh well. I could always tell them a good joke oooh I want them to tell me a good joke too. They never tell me any good jokes.'
At night when all the fun stopped, he started resorting to praying to simply whoever he felt was listening to him. Often times he would pray to Satella, as she was always the one who comforted him, unlike the gods.
"Satella.. Hahaha.. Release me from.. This.. Boredom.. I'm dying.. well not literally.. for some fun.." He said while pausing to breathe after each word as he chuckled while he prayed.
He remembered how funny it was for him to pray and pray but no voice answered. They were playing a prank on him for sure. He didn't know when he started laughing at that.
-6 months later-
Subaru now had become unordinary calm. Nothing would faze him. When they'd come for him he would simply yawn or even pretend to doze off from the sheer boredom of it. He had experienced it all at this point.
Nothing would excite him. Even their cruel smiles had turned into frowns at this point, which did excite him for awhile. He even decided to joke with them to make them frown even more. It would be amusing for now atleast. He had called this time "Cracking open a funny one with the boys." towards his two best buds. Julius and Felix.
He'd usually ask them for jokes but they would always just say the usual lines.
"Speak cultist! Tell me the cure for Crusch-sama and nya will be out of here!" Felix spoke to him in a tired tone. He was getting really tired of this insolent archbishop who never told him the information he wanted.
"Hmmmmm~ but my good friend Ferris. I would really and I mean REALLYYYYY~ miss your presence. Besides, those cute expressions of yours never fail to amuse me. Could you do a meow for me? Maybe even a lick on the cheek? Oh hey, tell Crusch I said "How's it hanging." Hahaha, Get it? Cause I'm hanging from the ceiling!" He sighed in satisfaction as he said his joke. "Anyways, now it's your turn for a joke." Winking at him. Making Felix very angry at the mere mention of his lady and how he's treating this as nothing.
"How long must this go on? Speak at once archbishop. Tell me what I wish to know and I will put an end to this. You have my word." Julius spoke to him.
"Tell ya what Juli. Breaking my fingers but forgetting the nails is very rude, you know? Hey wait, I just had a million yen idea. When we have our friendly time each day, why don't you try breaking off some of my finger nails too? Long nails are pretty annoying when you try to eat or do other stuff, if you catch my drift. Help a best friend out, Jules." He said to Julius which made Julius' eyebrows tick in irritation.
Then at night, whenever they'd leave him alone. He'd be so bored that he started to imagine his old friends again. Remembering a Beatrice who condemned him. An Emilia who yelled out "Stop villain!" to him. And a Reinhard who stood by and watched as everything happened, knowing he told the truth.
He wished they'd speak something else, anything else. But they would always only say those lines.
After hearing those lines so many times, he started enacting the ways they would react to his jokes. Just like Julius and Felix, maybe it would finally bring him some entertainment?
-8 months later-
"N-N-No...Th-that's n-not possible.. BY THE DIVINE DRAGON! THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE! WHAT HAVE I DONE?!" Julius yelled out as tears started dropping from his eyes when the memories returned to him of a certain man he'd been torturing. He immediately ran all the way to the cell where he was at.
"S-Subaru.. I-I am truly, truly, truly sorry for what I have done. No apology will ever be enough for my actions." Julius spoke to Subaru in a heavily sad tone as the tears never kept coming out of his eye sockets. Felix was nearby and had his head to the ground as he kept muttering "Ferris is sorry. Ferris is sorry. Ferris is sorry."
"Oh, Juli! My good friend! Oi. Why do you look so gloomy? That's no fun, come now. Wait, unless? This is a new game? Ohhh you truly are a good friend Jules! You noticed I was so, SOOOO bored that you decided to change your demeanor. I like the tears too! So entertaining! Hey where's Felix at? I wanna see some new entertainment from him too." Subaru said happily. He was finally having something new to entertain him.
Julius simply hung his head in utter shame at what he had done to Subaru. He couldn't even speak anymore. Another knight came by with a heavy look on himself as well.
'I am a mockery to all those who call themselves a knight. I am the 'Finest' of scoundrels rather than knights. To reduce one who has done extraordinary things to this state.. My lack of virtues will forever haunt me.'
"N-Natsuki-dono, please exit this cell. W-we could never be sorry enough for this. But please. Get out of this cell, you are a free man. We should all be lucky to get in a cell like that after all of this comes to light.." One of the knights who were with Julius spoke towards Subaru. Although the last words were in a hushed tone to himself.
Subaru thought they were playing a new prank on him. What was it called again? Emotional torture? It was highly entertaining for them to think of that but he decided to not play it and stay in his cell to see if they could bring it to him, instead of him walking into it. That would definitely make it more entertaining.
"Hmmmmm~ I do love good pranks but how about no? No offence guys, but I feel like there is a prank going on here and I don't wanna be no fool, you get what I mean?" Subaru told them. Which made them all frown deeply at what they had done. They realized they could do nothing to get him out other than pleading with him. They couldn't force themselves to grab him and get him out either. The guilt was far too much.
"What have we done..." Julius spoke in a heavy tone as immense guilt began to invade him even worse than before. He rested his hands on his face as he began to cry.
-At the Pleiades Watchtower-
As the Emilia camp, which consisted of Emilia, Beatrice, Ram, Garf, Meili and Rem alongside Reinhard killed the Gluttonies at the Pleiades watchtower. Immediately felt like they had done something incredibly wrong. The guilt they felt was too much, especially for Emilia, Beatrice and Reinhard. A moment later and their mind instantly was flooded with memories of a certain boy they all knew.
Rem woke up just before the memories of a certain boy returned.
"Huh? Where am I?" Rem asked. Looking over her surroundings, she noticed her sister and everyone else had a look of deep guilt on their faces. Ram's guilty look disappeared when she saw Rem. Ram quickly went over to hug her sister.
"Sister? Where am I? And why do you all look like you did something horrible?"
Rem took a look around and noticed a lack of a certain hero she admired.
"Oh sister, sister. Where is Subaru-kun? Where is Rem's hero? I want to greet him too!" Rem asked in an excited tone.
Everyone fell down to their knees in horror as they remembered who that name belonged to.
They remembered the fate of the raven haired boy
"N-no...NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" Beatrice yelled with tears continuously flowing down her face before she fainted.
Emilia couldn't even speak. Her mind kept replaying memories of Subaru, until the moment she called him a villain.
Reinhard openly wept and held his head to the ground. "I am truly a monster..."
Ram was shocked beyond belief. She remembered how Emilia and Beatrice had told her of a strange boy who kept claiming to be Emilia's knight and Beatrice's contractor. Then he turned out to be the Sin Archbishop of Pride.
Garfiel clenched his fist until they started to bleed while tears came out of his eyes.
Meili didn't know how to feel. One the one hand, the one who killed her sister is suffering. On the other hand, he had always been kind to her.
"WE MUST GO BACK! HURRY BACK TO PRIESTELLA! TAKE US BACK NOW!" Emilia yelled out as she carried Beatrice. Ram immediately grabbed a heavily confused Rem to lead her to the carriage.
-Priestella-
Traveling took about 3 days for the Emilia camp. No one would speak a word, their entire focus is getting to Priestella. Even when Rem asked none of them could speak a sentence to her. Eventually Rem had enough on the second night and demanded an answer.
Ram had to be the unfortunate person to tell her which made Rem so enraged that she almost killed Beatrice and Emilia. The only thing that stopped her hand was Ram reminding her that she should kill everyone else in the world that forgot about him.
Rem would say that she was sorely tempted to do that but she decided to let their fate be decided by Subaru. For her part, even if Subaru forgave them, she would never NEVER forgive them for this. She even yelled at Beatrice for even daring to call her hero a witch cultist, when he's the one who did the most damage to them. Then yelled at Emilia for daring to call the best hero Rem knew a "villain". Then she yelled at Reinhard, for having the power to tell lies but not acting out on it.
Her throat was sore from yelling at them for so long.
She shunned her sister after that. Making Ram feel even worse than before.
As they reached Priestella's jail, they saw a broken looking Felix and a heavily devastated looking Julius sitting on a bench outside the jail. They had been on the way to the jail when their memories flooded to them, making them extremely guilty to the point of not being able to move. It was as if they lost their will to live.
"Julius? Felix? We're here for Subaru, do you know where he is?" Reinhard asked them with guilt being very obvious in his voice.
As Julius saw the Emilia camp. He nearly took out his sword to end himself.
"Forgive Ferris. Forgive Ferris. Forgive Ferris. Ferris is sorry. Ferris is sorry. Ferris is sorry." Felix kept muttering
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO SUBARU-KUN?!" Rem yelled out in an angry tone.
"Felix, please gather yourself.. Let us take them to him.. Then they can decide our fate.." Julius said in a heavy tone. Which made Felix open his tearful eyes and nod at this. It was the one moment where Felix felt sane since his memories of Subaru were restored to him. He could only wonder how his lady Crusch reacted to the news. He remembered Wilhelm visiting 3 days ago, but he disappeared shortly after that visit. He hadn't stepped foot inside Crusch's estate in Priestella ever since his memories returned to him.
Entering the jail and walking through the cells, the smell gradually became worse and worse as they walked.
Julius and Felix eventually lead them to a cell that smelled worse than death. They nearly fainted from how bad it smelled. Blood stained every corner. Several rotted right hands that were chopped laid strewn around the cell.
At the center of that cell lay a figure with white hair. He looked as pale as a ghost yet one of his arms were black, and he was very skinny.
He was muttering to himself about what jokes to tell his best friends Felix and Julius when they came next. Or maybe they were saving up a good joke for him. The past 3 days had been very boring for him, aside from when the knights came by to convince him to leave. He wondered what prank they were setting up.
Rem and Emilia brought their hands to their faces when they saw his state. Beatrice said nothing but openly wept. She fell down to her knees in horror at what she had done to her contractor. She lost the will to live. This was her fault.
"S-S-Subaru..." Emilia said. Her eyes were wet with all the tears her body could muster. The guilt ate at her entire being and threatened to consume her. This was her fault.
"Subaru-kun.." When Rem saw her hero, she wanted to blind her eyes. She desperately wished she could go back in time and take his hand. This was her fault.
Reinhard wished he could draw the dragon sword and end the monstrosity that is himself. He could have prevented all of this were it not for his inaction. He knew Subaru told the truth and he left him to be condemned to this horrible fate. This was his fault.
Garfiel was a mess. Even Ram. Her expression was filled with heavy regret when she saw what happened to Barusu. She could not form any word towards him out of guilt.
Meili was not present. She decided to stay in the carriage as she was too young to witness a thing such as this.
"Huh? Beako? Emilia-tan? What are you doing here?" Subaru asked them in a curious tone. Before looking at certain blue haired oni. A look of genuine surprise adorned his face.
"R-Rem.."
"Yes Subaru-kun it's your Rem. Please come with me." Rem asked him tearfully.
"Huh? R-Really? You really mean that, Rem?" Subaru asked her in a curious but hopeful tone.
"I promise no one would ever hurt or even dare to lay a finger on you Subaru-kun. Come with me. Take my hand just like you asked me to take yours. We could go to Kararagi like you said, remember?" She offered her right hand to him, in the exact way he did to her back in the Capital.
Subaru looked at her hand. A look of genuine hope flashed at his face, he couldn't even remember the last time he felt something like that. He realized this is not possible. His unanswered prayers were always a prank by the gods. A good joke he thought.
"Hmmm~ pass. Must be my imagination acting up again, you know? Although let me just say you look really good in that Rem. It's been a while since I saw you up here." He knocked on his head as he said that.
She opened her mouth to speak but she had no strength for it. This is what they had done to her hero.
"S-S-Subaru.. I-I-I.. sorry.. I'm sorry.. I'm so so so so so so sorry.." Beatrice kept muttering apology after apology. There was no sign of her usual verbal tick.
'You should have let me burn in that mansion Subaru, I suppose. A great spirit to do this to her own contractor.. I wonder.. If I die right now while thinking of you would you forgive me, Subaru? Say, Subaru. Would I ever meet you again when you d..' She couldn't finish her train of thought as she felt herself losing consciousness.
"Please come with us. Even if you hate me. Even if you want to kill me in the worst way possible. I won't stop you... But please come back with us.. with me.. let us heal you. You don't have to stay in this place anymore.. Please Subaru.." Emilia spoke to him. She hated her own voice.
"What's up with my imagination today? Emilia-tan usually acts all heroic and the sorts, you know? Where's the "Stop villain!" sentence. I've yet to hear it." Subaru said in an amused tone. Which made Emilia's legs shake until she couldn't stand anymore.
'I did this to him. I deserve to be called a half-devil. I wish Puck never unfroze me..'
Falling down on her knees. She lamented what she had done to her knight. The man whom she finally could admit that she loved was reduced to this. She hated herself even more than the world hated her appearance. An expression of pure anguish on her face.
"Wait, is that Reinhard? Buddy what are you doing? I could barely even see you with how dark this room is! Oh, wait, I guess it's because I'm blind in the eye that's closer to your side? Eh well, it's no biggie. Anyways, what's up Red?"
Reinhard struggled to open his mouth to speak. He wanted to say any form of apology that he could think of. Subaru noticed that and he got surprised.
"Are you finally going to speak this time instead of being silent in my imagination? I do miss your voice, you know?" He said the last words in a fake hurt tone.
His words struck at Reinhard's heart.
'I wish I had never been born. Grandmother would be alive. Mother would not be in a coma. Grandfather would be happy. Father would be overjoyed. Subaru.. Would not become like this.. I am a blight on the world and everyone in it.'
Reinhard couldn't reply after that. He couldn't even lift his gaze to meet Subaru's. His eyes were permanently stuck to the ground. Tears wetting the dirty ground.
Subaru thought this was all some sort of a new emotional torture from Julius and Felix. Smiling as he finally figured out their prank.
"Oi! Felix! Juli! Come out you guys!" Subaru called out, confusing everyone. A moment later a tearful Julius brought a broken muttering Feilx with him towards the cell.
Suddenly they heard clapping.
"I gotta say." He said in an unemotional tone. Making them all listen in attention to him as they thought he was out of his madness.
"You've really outdone yourselves this time you two."
His tone formed into a cheerful and happy one. "You really are my best friends! To go to such lengths just to emotionally torture me is just hmm what's the expression? Chef's kiss? Yes that's it! I was very VERYYYY~ close to falling for it."
Every word made them sink more and more into despair.
"Bravo! Although, I gotta ask. How'd you get Rem into my imagination? That's a neat trick, though I guess it's just pure creativity from you two."
Which made Rem clench her fists in anger and frustration at what they had done to him. She wanted to kill the ones directly involved in his torture as soon as she could recover from this pain she felt inside her. She wanted to inflict the same amount of pain they inflicted on her hero. She needed to think of a way to restore him too after that.
Subaru saw Emilia's incredibly sad expression, which confused him but didn't deter him. He thought it was just yet another prank. This was truly an entertaining joke.
He smiled happily at them and gave them a good heartfelt chuckle. They finally did it!
"Hahahahaha! You finally did it! You finally gave me a good joke for once. I am thoroughly entertained!"
Author's note.
Subaru has the best of friends.
This was mostly an experiment at re:forgotten. I might do a serious one some day or maybe continue this one.
For now it's back to Extinguished Star though.
Hope you enjoyed it!