READ FIRST BEFORE THE CHAPTER ITSELF, THANK YOU
A/N: So, writer-san here... I am sorry that I pissed half of my viewers off with my constant updates of the announcement page, making you all falsely hope for a new chapter for Death and Beyond and Shattered and Beyond. The only reason I could come up was that I was dumb as hell as it was the number one thing no one should do since the false hope and everything. I accept every inch of your hatred as I was naive back then and I have no legitimate reason for my actions. Now as for why it took so damn long to release a new chapter that is short as hell. And its another dumbass reason. I was so detached with the plot that I got lost with it, along with how the story goes. Looking back at it, the plot I made was a little meh as it was the usual "oh no, Subaru is in danger, the witch cult is up their asses again, LoOkS lIkE tHeY hAvE tO lOoP sEvErAl TiMeS". Then I noticed the flaws of the story. The characters, in my opinion, was generic as hell, no development at all, and same goes for the entire plot line. It was tough for me to continue this as I already laid the ground work, and if I do things from scratch again, I don't know the possible results. So I left this on haitus as I debated with myself if I should continue this series. But here I am now, giving it one more shot. As a writer, I do not ask for your forgiveness since what I did was stupid as hell. But I do hope to rectify my mistakes. So here a new "chapter". Do not expect that I'll be posting on a regular basis. Once again, here's the long awaited chapter that may be shit.
'I am useless, in fact…' These were the thoughts of Beatrice ever since she had remembered her beloved contractor. As of this recent, Subaru was in a coma-like state. Currently she is cursed, along with Emlia, by the jealous witch.
They had failed once, or more appropriately they had DIED once, along with Subaru as they saw the havoc the witch cult had done. She was traumatized. Sure she did want death before, but now, experiencing it, she doesn't want it to happen again. She heard her contractor weeping when she had died, but it was only a faint noise.
"-Beako!" She heard her contractor in her final moments, back then in the mansion as it was attacked by the bowel hunter and Meili.
"Why, I suppose…" Beatrice started to shed tears once more. "Why did you choose to save Betty that day…" She wept.
"Betty couldn't save you in fact… So why did you save Betty!?" She let her tears flow down as the dam had broken. She couldn't comprehend why he did that, all for her. Freeing her from her former contract, being there to fill the gap in her empty heart after centuries of being alone in that damned library.
He was supposed to spoil her, he was supposed to compliment her everyday of the year, he was supposed to feed her favorite sweets. He was supposed to fill the gap in her lonely heart. Oh how things had turned to worse on that fateful day. The day when she had accused him of being a witch cultist.
And on that day, things went to hell. Not only for the poor boy whose fate was sealed upon him, but also to the people who cherished him. The people who had loved and cared for him. And what did he get after saving all of them before? He only got their backs turned against him as he was telling the truth.
Moments after the half-elf opened the book and fell into a sleep-like state, Beatrice left the room so she could have some time for herself. The little spirit went through 15 books that her contractor had in his name, leaving her traumatized with everything she saw. It was unlikely that Emilia would fare any better than her.
In any case, she just left the room to avoid being involved with the half-elf's dilemma and trauma. She pity her though, that is a given.
"Beatrice-sama!" The knights greeted as she passes them by.
"Have you seen Emilia-sama anywhere?" Julius asked the little spirit, breaking her train of thoughts.
"Hmph, insolence I suppose." She whispered to herself in annoyance.
"The brat is in that room. Do not disturb her I suppose, just guard the door." She told them, " Do not enter in fact, let the brat have some time for herself I suppose."
The knights were kind of, puzzled to say the least, with Beatrice's response. But nonetheless, they heed her words and guarded the door. She went to the green room where her contractor was in.
She opens the door and enters the room, to be greeted by Wilhelm who was guarding Subaru this entire time.
"Beatrice-sama." He greeted her.
"I just want some time with my contractor, alone in fact." She did not bother to notice the sword demon.
Wilhelm agreed to leave them alone for now and went outside to guard the door. After all, they momentarily lost a beloved person in their lives, currently in a coma-like state for an unknown period of time. He'd rather not intervene with the little spirit's dilemma due to her current state, all he felt for her was pity and sympathy. Other than that, he had to keep his own morale up.
When Wilhelm closed the door, she just went beside her contractor's slumbering body. Still unresponsive, wishing that she could get a head pat now, missing that smile her contractor gives to her.
She proceeded to caress his hands trying to hum to herself a tune played to her by Subaru. Even though she found it irritating at first when he began such humming when they were about to sleep, as she thought she was being treated like a child which she was, she found it calming in the end. She really needed to calm herself down after the terrifying things she saw from those damned books.
"Betty was unaware of the pain you must have carried, I suppose." She uttered as she proceeded to reminisce on the times she had with her contractor, with some flashbacking to the darker side of the smiles he gave. As if it was a broken tape playing in her head, she cannot truly forget what she had witnessed in those books.
"You must have felt alone…" She uttered, remembering what she witnessed. The countless ways he had died from his own eyes. The morning star, the witch cult… "And even Bubby in fact…"
She couldn't really comprehend the things she saw. Death upon death. Pain after pain. How could he manage to smile like that? How could he possibly carry the burden of dying and brush it off as he continues to live on after his death?
Does this mean he's immortal? Just what is the limit to this power he has? Who had given him this power? And is there a way to cure or bypass the safety mechanism of this power so that he could tell them everything? Too many questions, and very few are answered.
She felt the pain of dying, although there were several deaths that had been stuck in her mind. His death to the bowel hunter in the mansion when Beatrice refuses to leave with him, where she initially had saved him, only to die in the library in front of her. She witnesses how desperate he was to die at that time. She saw that he even took the sharp piece of the broken kettle and did not rethink his decision to kill himself right in front of her.
It traumatized the Beatrice of that timeline, and the Beatrice of the present who had witnessed such a thing. She couldn't believe what she saw. But it was a given due to the previous deaths he had experienced. There was another time where she did manage to protect him from the danger of that timeline, which was Ram, but he decided to restart his life anyways.
It felt conflicting to her when she witnessed it. Did she do a good job? Did she really fulfill the contract they had back then? Or did she fail that same contract?
"Why…?" She asked between her sobbing, "Why did you still save Betty, even though Betty had failed you several times in fact." She asked him, expecting an answer. But said answer did not come, all she got was silence from the sleeping boy.
"Tell Betty why!" She demanded, lightly punching his side trying her best to get the answer she wanted now. She was not given a definite answer on who the person was that her mother mentioned, but this time, she wanted an answer. Not coming from anyone else this time, no. She wanted to hear him say his reasons.
It pained him to see Beatrice from the Castle of Dreams. It pained him that he could not give her the answer she wanted from him. He wanted to break his way out of the witches' tea party. But he couldn't. He was trapped there until they fulfilled the end of their agreement with Satella.
"Sorry, Beatrice…" he uttered, hoping she would hear it, "Sorry for making you wait for the answer you wanted." All he got was a sympathetic look from most of the witches, Satella hugging him as he was on the verge of tears.
He didn't want her to feel this kind of pain. He just wanted them to learn how it hurts to be forgotten, not the pain of dying and returning to life again. He has a bit of remorse left within him that is tying him to still care for those who had betrayed him, scratching the knights out of the equation. It is mostly the Emilia camp he cares for.
As if she heard him, she yelled back. "Just please…! Tell Betty why… Please answer Betty's question… Please don't make Betty wait that long…" But her cries for answers were only heard by those in the castle of dreams.
Meanwhile, Shaula was still overseeing the protection of the tower from the inside out, since she was not allowed anywhere near her master for safety reasons. Yes she could kill them all just to be with him, but it would do no good for her as soon as he wakes up to a bunch of corpses around him. She just sighed at the thought of not being near home.
"I hope master wakes up soon, yeah." She uttered to herself. On the good side, he's here now, after so many years.
"I'll show master how much I missed him, yeah!" She said as she now thinks of many possible ways to make him feel proud of her, and maybe convince him to stay after so many years of not being with her.
It was just another day for Shaula, just gazing out, witnessing the desert dunes once more. Fantasizing about her master being proud and caring. Unbeknownst to her however, the cultists positioned themselves out of sight from the tower.
Beatrice continued to be with her contractor, trying her best not to cry that much after everything that had happened so far. The death they had, and her contractor's books of the dead.
'What…Happened in the other books…' She thought to herself. One could get a book of the dead, as long as they died. Yet Subaru had an entire shelf just for him. Filled from end to end, cover to the next cover. All inscribed with "Subaru Natsuki".
'What did you go through…I wonder?' She thought as her grip tightened ever further, clenching her fist as she held her contractor's hand. If she had the strength Emilia did, it was enough to break his hand's bones.
Tears started to trail down her face as her heart couldn't handle it all as she continued to dwell in the things she saw. The hell that she saw with her own two eyes. The many blood she saw, the betrayals, the pain she had to witness.
"You went through so much…" She whispered through his ear, caressing his hair. "And Betty was useless in all of them, in fact…" Several droplets stained the floor, dampening the area where they landed.
She felt sadness, hatred and fear. The very same things she felt when this all had happened. But now knowing the things her contractor went through, she couldn't help but let the tears fall. Realizing the horrid things that no one should go through, yet her contractor was the one able to experience death and live again.
Her tears continued to trickle down as she released everything she had in her chest and her mind. The sadness from seeing several times he died, in more cruel ways than one. Hatred for herself and everyone else for failing to prevent any of those tragedies that fell upon her contractor. And finally fear. The fear of losing her contractor and last hope to family.
Her screams of agony and grief were heard just by the door, only for Wilhelm to hear. The old man could only feel pity for the little spirit within the room. She weeped on as she finally broke from her composure that she held for so long.
"Betty was so useless…!" She gritted her teeth and hit the floor with all the strength she could muster. Putting all the rage with each hit she did to the point her fist was already turning red from all the hits she did. Yet she didn't let the pain get to her as she was too focused with the emotions that were surging from her.
She cursed herself under her breath, over and over again. Her inner demons were clawing at her, no beckon of peace was reachable to her as she continued to sink even further.
"In Betty's eyes…" She uttered one more time, catching her breath from the weeping she did.
"Betty was useless."