Emilia's resolute eyes stared at Garfiel. Her lips were parted to speak.
But right before she could, mabeasts roared. Garfiel's eyes flicked to the edge of the clearing. Courtesan bears were pouring past the trees and onto the stone. There were around a hundred of the beasts. Each one was a threat to Sanctuary. Garfiel couldn't let that stand, so he shoved his despair from the trial out of the way and forced himself up to his feet. Emilia rose with him. The two stood side by side.
"This is, reaaaaaally bad," Emilia said, "we should get to Roswaal's cabin."
"Yeah," Garfiel said, readying himself to fight. Right before he jumped down he turned to Emilia and asked, "'R there any cultists'r is it just the bears?"
"I'll check," Emilia said as spirits bloomed into sight around her. They rushed off as the bears sprinted toward them. Garfiel put himself between them and Emilia. The mabeasts were still at the bottom of the steps, while they were at the top, so the bears couldn't attack, yet. But they would get up here, so he would have to keep them off Emilia until she could gather information.
Screams ripped from the mabeasts and they all ran to the top of the steps. There were too many for him to kill, but he didn't have to kill them, only resist them.
"AHHHHHH!" Garfiel screamed out, bashing his fist into the first mabeast, snapping its ribs apart. He launched himself into the air then kicked the beast's head from its shoulders.
As soon as he touched the ground he summoned a spike of earth to bash the next bear in the face. Then with that one stunned he focused on a third. He yelled out, running forward and impaling it with his fist.
"There are no Cultists around us," Emilia said, a brilliant light grew behind him. Her spirits flowed back toward her. Garfiel ripped his arm out of the mabeast and readied to fight more.
But fighting them all was not a good idea so he said, "We need t'get outta here."
"Yep," Emilia said, "on it."
She waved her hands and the air grew colder as a path of ice burst into existence. It rose from the trial platform and extended toward the trees. Emilia grabbed him and pulled him along as she skated along the path. Mabeasts climbed over each other to destroy it, but Emilia added new ice before the platform could topple.
Before they knew it a massive beating of wings came from above, it drowned out all the mabeasts. Emilia stopped carrying him, instead she formed a giant pillar of ice, a platform for them to stand on. She let him down, as soon as Garfiel's feet touched the ice he almost fell. Though with a bit of focus managed to stay standing.
Right above them, a massive black dragon hovered in the sky.
"Mama?" A small boy's voice rang out, it sounded hungry, "Can I eat them?"
"Nope, you're coming with this lovely lady. We're gonna go break the oni twins the Gospel talked about," a great voice responded. It was the dragon speaking.
"Gospel? Those motherfuckers," Garfiel said. They were cultists, and their book had sent them to Rem and Ram. Garfiel couldn't let that happen, he tightened his fists, his nails digging into his hands.
"But they aren't going to be allowed to interrupt this lovely lady!" The dragon yelled. Then it focused its head on them. As a new scream ripped loose from the dragon the temperature shot up. Fire descended upon them. Black flames, sickly ones.
The ice below them started to melt. Emilia ignored it and pushed a shield of ice into existence above them with her spirits. The fire bore down on them, its heat singed Garfiel's eyebrows even with the shield holding off the inferno. Emilia's face twisted in exertion as she kept the shield going.
While all of her attention was on the shield, the pillar of ice below them melted fast. Within a few seconds, they were even with the ground. Garfiel turned to make sure none of the bears could make a move for Emilia. Though there was no need, the flames had burned any who'd tried to get too close.
After a few more seconds the flames stopped.
"Alright the beasts'll handle 'em, and this lovely lady can have some fun," the dragon said in that same booming voice.
"Shit," Garfiel whispered, he would need to hold all of them off. There were still almost sixty left.
Emilia's purple eyes jumped around, "Puck, please."
The beasts descended on them. It was a twisting mass of fighting. Garfiel danced among the creatures, bashing their skulls in and skillfully dodging. Emilia did the same as long as possible, but it was easy to tell her limit was fast approaching. There were too many mabeasts, and the horde was starting to grow. More and more of them were bursting out of the trees.
After the fight had gone on for a few minutes, one of the beasts slammed their fist into Emilia's skull, throwing her to the ground. Her head cracked against the stone and blood seeped out of her wound. Garfiel would have to heal her fast. But, as he dodged a few strikes and killed a few more mabeasts he knew there was no chance for him to heal the girl.
A strike went right for him, as soon as he registered it he dodged back, his jump carrying him over Emilia's body.
"Fuck," the bear went for Emilia right away, making his attempts to protect her meaningless. As soon as the bear tried to attack her the temperature plummeted.
A powerful voice said, "Do not think you can harm my daughter."
The mabeast froze. Then its body fell to the side. As soon as it hit the ground it broke apart. Its pieces scattered, some landed right at Garfiel's feet.
"Oh that's unexpected," the dragon commented from its place in the sky, "eh Theresia, Kurgan you handle it, this is getting boring. And this lovely lady doesn't care what the gospel says about the elf. This is the fun loop. Go nuts, kill both of 'em."
Garfiel ignored her words and rushed in to help Emilia. He applied what healing magic he could as the bears were hesitant to approach. Two figures fell from the sky.
He didn't pay attention to them as they fell, he just pushed as much mana into Emilia's body as he could. Her wounds knit together fast, and a moment later her eyes snapped open. She gripped her head, no doubt suffering a massive headache.
"Get up, Emilia, my amazin' self can't handle all of 'em alone," he said.
The girl nodded, pushing herself up, "Yeah, we have to get out of here."
Unfortunately, that wasn't going to be so easy. As a moment later the two Witch Cultists touched down from the sky.
"Focus on them right now, not runnin'," Garfiel said. They needed to be alert.
The thin one unsheathed a single long sword. Holding it in one hand they readied for combat. The other pulled out two swords and held six arms ready.
"No that's… eight arms," Garfiel whispered.
Could it be? And that dragon had said it was. Was this really Kurgan of the Eight-Arms? He should be dead, right?
Garfiel didn't have time to think of that, as right then, both swordsmen descended upon them.
Rem and Ram explained the plan to Roswaal as the minutes passed. It wasn't long before their explanations got more detailed and the night came. After a few more moments Roswaal joined in and they discussed aspects of the plan. It wasn't long before he told them some knowledge from his Gospel. Ram knew of the book so trusted his words, so Rem did by extension.
So when he told them what was coming the twin's expressions fell. He explained that they only had one day to face Lust and Gluttony's attack.
"This is going to be difficult," Ram whispered, "but not impossible."
"Sister? Is there really a way to do this?" Rem asked.
"It doesn't matter as long as there is a possibility. If there is any possibility then we must reach for it, without any hesitation. We can't get weighed down in despair," Ram said.
Ram's words lifted Roswaal's head away from his hands. While they sunk in he stood up.
I may be weak, but she is right. I need to get to Echidna, using everything I have. If I fall into paralysis, then nothing will happen. And if nothing happens, then every single sin I've committed will be meaningless.
Without words, he donned his clown regalia and applied his makeup with a bit of mana. Just as he pulled his hand away from putting his clown face on a great beating of wings blasted from outside.
Roswaal looked up at the ceiling. It couldn't be… no it couldn't. Yet even insisting it couldn't be what he thought it was, Roswaal readied his mana. The room started to shake from the force of those great wings.
"The book was wrong," he said to the twins, not wasting any time with his speech pattern, "get behind me."
The twins obeyed with haste. That was good, he couldn't be worrying about shielding them and himself if something was coming. It would be an unnecessary risk. With his weakness, Roswaal couldn't take risks like that.
"Come on out, L. Mathers! This lovely lady will make all of you love her!" The booming voice of a dragon commanded. A second of silence later a blast of black fire melted the ceiling.
Reacting within an instant Roswaal grasped the mana in his gate. He weaved it together to form a great shield of black crystal. Minya's properties worked excellently when altered into this form. He'd never used this spell, and he'd never heard of it, he wasn't sure if it even existed. Well whether it had or not, it had taken him only an instant to invent it.
The flames kept burning his shield, heating up the room. Rem and Ram clung to him as he held the barrier. As soon as Capella ran out of flames Roswaal waved his hand, altering the spell above him.
Shards of stopped time burst from the magical barrier. It had become something of a turret. Capella's dragon form melted away, and four people all fell from the sky. Capella herself. Roy Alphard. Elsa Granhiert. Meili Portroute. Elsa grabbed Meili in mid-air, using herself as a cushion for the girl. Elsa's body itself blasted apart on Roswaal's wooden floor.
Within a second Elsa reformed.
Unlike the Bowel Hunter, Capella landed untouched, as did Roy.
Roswaal didn't wait for them to gain their breath before speaking, "Die."
He commanded his mana into a beam of fire and aimed it for Capella. The woman dodged backward as she made it so she had a hole in her chest for the beam to pass through.
With his other hand, Roswaal snapped his fingers, enclosing Meili in a dome of Yin Magic. The girl screamed out. But Roswaal, full of guilt, ignored her screams and closed his hand into a fist. The girl's screams stopped. Meili was dead. Roswaal pushed past the remorse, he needed to get to Subaru.
Elsa unleashed a scream and charged for him. The woman slashed at him, he stepped back and avoided her attack.
Roswaal needed space in this fight, in his wounded condition he could not win against Elsa in hand to hand. If he wasn't wounded he could have beaten her to death without even a hint of magic. Yet that wasn't the case so he grabbed Rem and Ram and shot into the sky. Using his Yang magic he strengthened their bodies so his flight speed wouldn't hurt them. After a few moments he stopped soaring higher and hovered in the air, forming a strategy.
He needed to handle these cultists, if he did that then he could start looking for Subaru. Thanks to his Gospel Roswaal knew Subaru wasn't actually a Witch Cultist. So Subaru couldn't send another Archbishop after them. Thus these would be all the cultists they'd have to deal with when looking for Subaru.
Alright, that's what I'll… where are Theresia and Kurgan? It doesn't matter, they won't kill Emilia. He knew from his Gospel that they would avoid killing Emilia. But they had come early, maybe that part of the book was also off. Though Roswaal doubted that. This was in response to Subaru's actions most likely. It made no sense that they'd change how they treated Emilia.
Roswaal shook his head, he had to move forward with his plan either way, so he whispered, "Murak." Magical power rushed into the twins.
"You'll stay suspended in the air for now. I'll handle them," he said.
The twins nodded, as soon as he caught that he rocketed to the ground. When he landed Capella, Elsa, and Roy walked toward him. Elsa's eyes were full of utter bloodlust. She threw herself at Roswaal. In response to the Bowel Hunter's attempt, Roswaal waved his hand, cutting her to pieces with a wave of wind magic. It was far easier to deal with this fight when he was outside. Back inside he'd been more vulnerable to a strike from Capella. Which the gospel had warned were… especially dangerous.
"Why have you come early?" Roswaal asked, he needed more information on their motives.
"To have some fun." Capella said, then turned to Roy, "Summon the Great Rabbit, let's see what happens."
Roy nodded, "Yes Mama."
"No you don't!" Roswaal shouted, shoving his hand out and combining yin and yang magic within his palm. He created a purifying blast of light. Grasping onto his Authority Roy rocketed forward and narrowly avoided Roswaal's attack, the beam of light barely burning his skin.
No. Roy looked over to Capella, "It's done, Mama."
Roswaal's eyes dropped to the ground for a second. It was done. The Great Rabbit was coming. It had only taken Roy that little opening to do it.
"Ah why the long face?" Capella asked, "Let's have some fun now, Roswaal L. Mathers, what should this lovely lady turn you into?"
Before Roswaal could attack Capella, Elsa made another break for him, newly regenerated. Roswaal waved his hand once more, capturing her in an Ul Shamac. She'd be unable to break it for a while.
With Elsa out of the way, he responded to Capella.
"Nothing you turn into will stop me from killing you," Roswaal said.
"A shame that you're such an idiot. Why does everyone think love is more than appearance? Ah, just proves you're all meatbags, now how about you and Roy have some fun. While you do that I'll go see what's happening with the villagers."
"No," Roswaal said to the woman then sent a blast of fire her way.
Before it could hit her Lust's form melted to the ground, then burst up behind him. As soon as he turned to face her she was a dragon launching herself up to Rem and Ram.
Roswaal stared up. Fuck.
Capella opened her mouth blasting fire at them. There was no way for Roswaal to save them without getting injured in the process. He couldn't help them. Subaru was more important to the plan.
Subaru was more important to the plan.
Rem isn't needed to bring back teacher.
As black fire drew closer to the twins, Roswaal gathered together fire, wind, and earth magic.
Ram isn't needed to bring back teacher, she's important but I can do it without her.
Roswaal fused them all together in his mind. Mana flowed out of him.
They're not needed. But Subaru is. SUBARU IS NEEDED!
Roswaal blasted into the sky, aiming to put himself between the twins and Capella's fire.
I need to get to teacher. Stop. STOP!
Roswaal didn't stop, he continued to soar. He had no way to prevent himself from saving the two girls he viewed as his daughters.
He flew between the fire and the girls. When he got to them he grabbed them, wrapping his body around them. Incredible pain assailed his mind as the flames burnt his back. Roswaal used his magic to protect the twins, he needed to make sure they were safe. Against his will, all his focus went to them.
As the fire burned through his clothes and started to kill him Roswaal finally diverted mana to protect himself. He barely held himself from dying.
When the fire ended he stopped focusing on protecting Rem and Ram. A short breath escaped his lungs while he fused all six colors of mana together, then launched a massive attack at Capella.
Her draconic shouting stopped as soon as it touched her. She was likely dead. Roswaal didn't focus on that though, he kept his attention on slowly descending to the ground. The pain nearly overwhelmed and destroyed his focus many times, but he held it all together. Rem and Ram were talking in his ears, but he couldn't make out their voices. As soon as he hit the ground Rem's healing magic flowed into him.
Roswaal's mind started to fade. His lucidity disappeared. Rem's magic comforted him though. Her gentle touch was nice. Rem was such a wonderful person, of course she would have healing magic. Roswaal wasn't that person. So he didn't have healing magic. Why was he such a bad person?
Right, because he needed to get to teacher.
Roswaal's consciousness escaped him soon after that.
"Ah, Natsuki Subaru, finally, we meet again," Pandora said, breathily.
Subaru stared at her. This woman, she was back. Was she involved in what had happened at Sanctuary, she was the only difference in the timeline aside from the different Bishops. But maybe she was the cause of everything changing.
"Why're you here?" Subaru asked her.
Petra piped up to say something, but Pandora spoke before she could.
"Miss Leyte is in bed, sleeping."
Her words held a weight to them.
"Wha—" Petra tried to ask before she disappeared.
"What did you do to her?" Subaru demanded.
Pandora stepped closer, "Just relax, Natsuki Subaru. She's in her room, asleep, peacefully." Her voice was low, relaxing, "If you'd like then you can check with your spirits."
Subaru did what she said, summoning a few spirits and sending them toward Petra's room. They returned to him a few moments later telling him she was in her room, asleep peacefully, exactly as Pandora had said.
Finally Subaru focused on Pandora, her form was gray like the rest of the world. But that was her only similarity with anyone else in the world. Something about her was distinct that the air around seemed frozen in her presence. As if the world itself was watching her with bated breath.
"Why have you come here?" He asked, "To be another liar? Like all the rest?"
"No. I just want to talk," Pandora said, an innocent smile, "I want you to understand me, as I understand you."
"You? Understand me?" Subaru said.
Pandora took another step closer. Subaru didn't back away in fear. He was too exhausted for that now. He knew she would betray his trust and break him, just like all the others, and he didn't care anymore.
"Don't be like that, Natsuki Subaru, to look at anyone with such eyes." Pandora shook her head, "You should be happy you know that those around you don't care, Natsuki Subaru. But you haven't used it to become happy."
"Of course I'm not happy, because everyone is lying. I know they're doing it… but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt." Subaru said.
"I haven't told you a single lie," Pandora said.
"Then how come you said you understand me?"
"I can see you're tired Natsuki Subaru, come sit with me," Pandora grabbed his hand and pulled him to the floor.
Subaru didn't bother to care about what she was doing. Petra was asleep. He could talk to her later and teach her then. Right now he didn't care that Pandora was here. He didn't care about the aura around her. He was too tired.
Pandora smiled as he sat on the ground. She said, "Ah, that must feel much better. I'm sure you must only want to be done at this point. To rest. The revelation that all your friends are lying can be a… difficult one. I remember the day I learned that Flugel was lying the whole time."
Subaru didn't care about her last sentence, so he only responded to her earlier words, "Yeah, they're all liars."
"They hate you," Pandora said.
"...yeah."
Petra's words remained in his mind, but Petra had been wrong. They were all liars. But there was no point in doing anything about it, there was nothing to be done until Petra woke up.
"Lay down, Natsuki Subaru, it's alright," Pandora whispered into his ear, "I will not begrudge you if you simply lay down."
Subaru didn't protest, there was no reason to. He breathed out a horrible, ragged, and broken breath then laid down.
Pandora's eyes watched him, studying him. She was thinking. He didn't care what it was about, there was nothing in her eyes to care for, that was all there was to it.
"Natsuki Subaru, I want you to trust me," Pandora said.
That got his attention, Subaru looked up at her, finally focusing on her colorless face. She was staring down at him, leaning over him.
"Pandora… do you hate me?"
"No," she shook her head, "what reason would I have to hate you, Natsuki Subaru?"
Subaru wasn't disappointed that she was lying. He hadn't gotten his hopes up in the slightest.
"You're lying," Subaru said.
"Wrong again, Natsuki Subaru."
"Then if you really don't hate me you just don't know enough about me. You haven't seen the depths of me, of Natsuki Subaru," he said.
"For the third time, you're wrong Natsuki Subaru, I know everything there is to know about you. Every part of your heart, of your mindset, all of it."
"Stop lying," he said, voice weak. Why did they all have to lie? He was exhausted. He just wanted to be done.
"Natsuki Subaru, let me tell you all I know about you," Pandora said.
"Mmm… go ahead," he whispered.
"Natsuki Subaru, you don't believe anyone. They're all liars to you. You hate it when they lie. Because you know that you are the most hate-worthy thing to ever exist. That's what you are, it's that simple to you. You hate yourself just as much as them. You're so hateable that when they pretend to care for you you can't stand it. You shut down, you force them away. That's what you do. But still, deep down you want to care for them. You want to trust them, you're just not sure it's possible. Yet still, even now, you're holding onto some people. I believe that girl and that ground dragon outside are the people you're holding onto. You still trust them. Petra because she's young and doesn't understand. And the ground dragon because she's seen all the depths of your worst parts, and still she cares about you." Pandora said all that without even thinking.
"How…" Subaru's voice cracked, "h-how do you know all of that?"
"I know more. I know everything about you. I understand you."
"You… do… don't you?" Subaru asked.
"Of course I do. And I have some unfortunate news for you, Natsuki Subaru," she said, "You still care about them. You want to trust them, so deep down, so far down, so hidden. You've crushed that part of yourself. You were right too. No one cares for you, Natsuki Subaru. I know your struggle."
"You know," tears came to Subaru's eyes, "you know what it's like… don't you?"
Pandora smiled, and said, "Of course I do." Her eyes glowed a brilliant blue.
"But what about Petra?" He asked.
"I'm sorry, but she doesn't truly care."
Subaru stared up at her, "You're wrong."
Pandora's smile left her face, "I wish I was, Natsuki Subaru."
"You're wrong. You are," he defended his ideals weakly. He didn't have the energy to defend them fully anymore. That desire was gone. So far gone. Long drowned.
Subaru just wanted to let his eyes close, and never again wake up.
"I see," Pandora whispered, "I'm sorry Natsuki Subaru, I'll leave you to it. I understand."
Her wondrous platinum hair swayed in a non-existent wind above him. Then she stood up and walked deeper into the mansion. He didn't care where she was going. The pressing feeling in his chest had taken him. He didn't have the energy to fight the waters anymore. He would let himself drown now.
Pandora walked away from Natsuki Subaru.
I see. This is our first interaction. I'll just have to use a bit more motivation.
The Witch stepped on the carpet with soft feet. No sound left her. It wasn't long before she stood next to a door. It was a random door, one of the many in this large mansion. The door was not in its natural state. Which was wrong. The door should be in its natural state. So Pandora reached over and grabbed the handle.
She pushed open the door to reveal a large library. Echidna's library.
"Ah, Beatrice," Pandora said.
Beatrice's eyes snapped toward her, "You, El Miny-"
Pandora crossed the distance between them in an instant, "Shhhhh, you've been deceived."
Beatrice froze. Pandora pushed her Authority further.
"Your memories deceive you."
Pandora cut out a massive chunk of memory, every bit of hope from Beatrice's mind disappeared.
"Natsuki Subaru has deceived you."
Pandora added a few impressions into Beatrice's mind. The lack of any willingness to trust Natsuki Subaru being one of them.
"Echidna has deceived you."
Pandora destroyed any hint of an old contract between Beatrice and Echidna. The girl was free to do whatever she pleased.
When she'd finished her work on the spirit Pandora whispered, "Happy travels, Miss Beatrice."
Then she stepped out of the Forbidden Library. Once in the hallway, she said to herself, "Beautiful, my goal is nearly complete."
Garfiel and Emilia barely held back the two swordsmen. Each cut landed by the thin cultist never closed, never clotted. Garfiel had five cuts in him by now. He couldn't waste the time to try and heal them. He had to keep fighting.
By now he and Emilia had figured out the best strategy. They were fighting mostly back to back, Emilia going up against the thin one, while Garfiel went up against the one with eight arms. Garfiel knew so painfully well that he would lose. At least until the swordsmen stopped moving.
"Wha…?" Garfiel asked when they suddenly, out of nowhere stopped.
"What happened?" Emilia asked.
"Same thin' I'm wonderin', they just stopped," Garfiel said.
"Maybe there was someone telling them what to do, and Roswaal and the others handled them," Emilia said, trying to provide a solution.
"That could be it," Garfiel agreed with her idea.
With a careful eye on the two fighters, Garfiel held his hand up to his still bleeding cuts. The weird thing was, they weren't even big cuts. He had no idea why they hadn't clotted on their own thanks to his Divine Protection. Still, it didn't matter, he held his hand to them and pushed healing energy into himself.
The wounds didn't heal.
"Th'fuck?" Garfiel didn't know what to make of it. He could heal destroyed organs if he had the mana. There's no reason he shouldn't have been able to heal these, absolutely no reason.
"Garfiel what's wrong?"
"I should be able to heal these," Garfiel gestured to his wounds.
"Let me try," she said.
He nodded and let her use her spirit arts to try and heal the wounds. She wasn't able to try for longer than a minute before animal screams sounded from the edge of the forest. He looked up, focusing on the sound of gnashing and ripping.
At that forest edge were red eyes. So many red eyes.
Red eyes attached to white bodies. Fur the same color as snow. Little red glyphs that hung over their backs. And horns that protruded from their foreheads.
"Emilia we need to run," Garfiel whispered.
"What is…" Emilia froze when she saw it, "oh."
The rabbits started hopping toward him, "Yep, go!" Garfiel shouted. There were so many, all moving as one, they all focused on him and Emilia.
The two started sprinting. The clicking of teeth and chirping followed them, as the entire horde of rabbits broke into a run.
"What the fuck do we do?" Garfiel shouted as they ran. His bleeding got worse and worse. Garfiel cast a quick glance behind him. The rabbits overran the thin cultist and the eight-armed cultist, giving them enough time to run.
"Roswaal might be able to deal with them," Emilia said through heavy breaths.
"We gotta find him," Garfiel said.
Emilia sent her spirits off to find the man and the oni sisters. Garfiel pushed himself forward even as blood poured from his body from all the cuts. After another second the cuts all stopped bleeding. Then closed.
Garfiel didn't question it, if something was offering him help right now, with the Great fucking Rabbit chasing him, then he wouldn't reject it.
The two of them engaged in a mad dash. Garfiel wanted to lead the rabbits away from Sanctuary, but he knew he had no way to lead them away. This wasn't the time to try and be an idiot. This was the Great Rabbit. He couldn't make any mistakes.
"Did you find Roswaal yet?" Garfiel asked as they sprinted through the forest.
"Yeah, he's this way," Emilia said, taking the lead.
With a last glance over his shoulder, Garfiel saw it. The Great Rabbit. Carnage and blood followed them. Every animal that the rabbits had gotten their hands on had been ripped limb from limb, devoured until only their bones remained. A forest of skeletons and blood lay behind Garfiel. His gaze shot back to his path, and he ran with all his might.
Roswaal's eyes snapped open. Ram had shaken him awake. She was looking into his eyes, "Roswaal-sama," she said, "you need to wake up. Emilia-sama and Garf are facing down two swordsmen alone."
Pain coursed through his nerves, Roswaal didn't know if he could even stand. Thankfully Rem's healing magic was dulling some of the pain. He flicked his eyes to the girl. Her horn stuck out of her forehead, and her hands, surrounded by blue light, rested on his back. Solidifying his resolve Roswaal put his hands flat on the ground and pushed himself up to his feet. Burns covered his face and his clown makeup was gone. It had melted away in the fire.
The burns were enough of a reminder of how weak he was, so he didn't put on any new makeup. He would need to destroy Kurgan and lay Theresia to rest if he was to track down Subaru.
"Are you alright, Roswaal-sama?" Rem's words this time. Her and Ram's eyes were full of concern and gratitude.
"Yes, I'm fine," he said. Breathing in he held the pain off. He kept his face completely still, just like he'd always done.
"Ros!" Ram's voice shot into his ears. Her emotions were running high. Something had happened.
He already knew, "It's the Great Rabbit, isn't it?"
Ram nodded.
I'm too weak. Teacher. Subaru. He called out for them in his mind, but he needed to keep those cries down. He pushed past his mood, he pushed past all of it.
"Are Emilia and Garfiel coming to us?" Roswaal asked Ram.
"Yes, they are," Ram answered.
"Good, I'll need to bait the Rabbit if I'm to do anything useful in this weakened state," he said.
So the group waited, and waited, until Emilia and Garfiel sprinted toward them, the Great Rabbit on their heels. Its bodies, innumerable bodies, chased them, harrowed them, pursued them. Roswaal readied his mana. He searched for an easy spell that he could use to defeat them. But none existed. Not with his current level of injury. And he didn't have the mana to use Al Shamac. Even at his most rested he wouldn't have been able to pull it off. There was simply no way to do this easily.
"Get near me," Roswaal said when Emilia and Garfiel arrived. The two obeyed him, ducking in near him, with Rem and Ram.
Snapping his fingers Roswaal summoned a circle of wind and fire around them, to keep the rabbits from getting at them.
Roswaal waited on the rabbit, letting it throw itself at him again and again.
"Roswaal what're you doin'?" Garfiel asked.
"I need time to come up with a plan," Roswaal said.
Garfiel nodded. Then he turned away.
In that instant a great light rose behind them. It was a completely different color from Roswaal's flames. Roswaal turned to it. Rising into the sky was a massive purple light. A massive black hole then appeared in the center of the Sanctuary, somewhere at the Ryuzu Meyers testing facility. It would consume the Sanctuary in its explosion.
An Al Minya. A spell that Roswaal barely even had the mana to cast in his best state.
But he couldn't just give up. He had to stop it from killing the people he had with him. He had to do something to resist. He may have been weak but he had to get to teacher.
"Everyone grab onto me, that spell will try to suck you in, I'll try to hold it off and rewrite as much of the coming blast as I can," he said.
The others all complied without complaint, grabbing onto him. He used his Yin magic to hold them steady by amplifying gravity's hold on them.
Beatrice. He whispered to himself. The girl he considered as his sister was dead. She'd killed herself to escape her misery. Roswaal didn't let himself cry for her, even though he wanted to.
The pulling effect of the blast sucked in some of the rabbits. This was an incredible spell even with its normal amount of mana. Beatrice had likely used all the mana she'd gathered over the last four centuries to make this spell. The Great Rabbit would no doubt be destroyed. But Roswaal and the others living was the real problem.
Though for now, they rode out the first part of the spell, the black hole effect. Next was the blast. Which would come soon. The great explosion that would change the entire Sanctuary. Roswaal knew it was coming.
Yet knowing was not the same as experiencing. A second later, the spell inverted, from a singularity to an explosion. The shockwave came violently, then the wave of crystals. All of it was deafening. When the blast hit them Roswaal held a shield of yin and yang magic up to try and hold it back. He was successful, but it was strenuous. He had to hold it back and rewrite whatever mana from her spell he could to fuel his own shield.
"Agh!" He groaned from the pressure and tried to keep it up.
"Sanctuary, it's gettin' destroyed," Garfiel whispered. His skin changed into that of a tiger's hide, "I'm gonna kill whoever did this!" He roared with all the fury of a tiger.
In his anger the man's intelligence melted away, leaving only a beast. That beast jumped away trying to get past the shield. Emilia grabbed onto him in some attempt to keep him from going outside.
But horribly… Garfiel was stronger. In his anger he ripped Emilia away from Roswaal. Though he didn't break her grip.
The two went flying out of the shield. Rem and Ram screamed out. Rem's horn poked from her head and wind magic blasted around, all of it coming from Ram. The two twins bent down in anguish as they knew the two were dead.
After a few more moments the deafening sound of Beatrice's blast faded. They were through it.
Roswaal, Rem, and Ram all stared outside of their little circle of untouched grass. Purple glass was all that surrounded them. The great pine trees had become crystalline structures.
Rem and Ram walked over to where Garfiel and Emilia's transformed bodies lay dead, glass sculptures. It had gone bad so fast. Roswaal really was weak. And out of mana.
This was it.
The oni sisters kneeled down over their bodies and collapsed themselves, their own forms stretched to the limit from their anguished outburst. Roswaal stared at Emilia. On her neck lay an untouched green crystal. It hadn't been changed by the blast of magic in the slightest. Its deep green glowed even in the moonlight. It grew brighter by the second.
The temperature started to drop. Roswaal was out of mana. He couldn't escape or even warm himself.
Rem and Ram shivered, grasping at themselves to try and stay warm.
"Teacher, show me the way…" Roswaal whispered when he fell to his knees. Emilia's green crystal glowed brighter and brighter. Small cracks formed across its surface. The sound of each one was clear in Roswaal's ears.
Every single crack of that crystal was just another nail in the coffin of his desire.
"Roswaal-sama," both said, their voices quivering in the cold.
"It's almost here, nothing left to do. All that's left is to hope he resets," Roswaal said.
Every sin he'd ever committed rested on the single hope that Subaru reset. For the first time in decades, tears leaked down Roswaal's face. Emilia's crystal grew brighter and brighter. Roswaal felt the enmity, the hatred, the utter fury of the being within. The crystal's light blinded him for a moment. A great shattering sound pierced all his thoughts. When he could look past the light, the crystal was gone.
From its shattered pieces rose a great beast of glaciation which marked the end of all things.
Roswaal raised his hands, readying to fight.
The Beast of the End stared down at him.
"Roswaal. Rem. Ram."
"Puck," Roswaal said, his tongue freezing as snow poured into his mouth. Frost rushed up Roswaal's body. Every part of him started to freeze.
"Rem. Ram. You are not at fault. You may die."
The twins tried to speak and resist, but it was meaningless. As soon as Puck's eyes landed on them they collapsed into piles of shattered ice crystals.
Puck's eyes turned back to Roswaal.
His glaciation grew worse, yet the ice didn't touch his internal organs. It only cracked his skin and muscle, slowly.
"You on the other hand, Roswaal. You let Garfiel tear my daughter away. Die slowly, while you beg for Echidna to return."
Roswaal tried to fight. He needed to reach teacher.
"Pathetic," Puck said, "that someone as powerful as you couldn't even stick with it. You couldn't become the being Echidna was. You're not cut out for it. You claim to focus all of yourself on one single desire, but you couldn't even do that. As soon as you saw Beatrice's spell you should have flown away. That's what Echidna would have done. But you're weak. You can't keep a hold on that single desire."
Hatred rushed through Roswaal and he forced his frozen tongue to work, "Says the father who let his daughter die."
Puck's eyes grew even more hateful and he said, "Go fuck yourself, Roswaal. You can't criticize me on fatherhood. Lia may be dead, but at least she did not share the fate of your children. With these memories returned it's so easy to figure out what you do to them. Disgusting. You wanted to see Echidna so badly you murdered twelve of your own children just to end up being frozen to death by me."
"You—"
"I forbid you from speaking, Roswaal."
The clown's mouth froze over.
"I'm just going to torment you with all of your failures now. So let's talk about each and every one of them. I have time. I'll destroy the world when this is done anyway."
Subaru continued to stare up at the ceiling. He didn't care to stand, it wouldn't matter. Petra was asleep. There was nothing for him to do until she woke up. The only purpose he had was teaching Petra to hate him, then kill him.
Nothing else mattered. A deep despair consumed his mind. His thoughts were slow, why make them fast? What would that accomplish?
"Stand up, Natsuki Subaru," Pandora said.
"Why?"
"This mansion will come under attack soon. I can sense the Witch's Cult's movements, but cannot order them to do anything," she said.
Subaru's eyes snapped to her. The colors she'd gained a few moments ago started to fade. Subaru didn't get up, she was just lying to try and terrify him. He didn't care for any Witch games anymore. He'd been there, done that.
Patrasche burst through the door. Before he knew it she raced up to him and rolled him onto his stomach with her snout. Subaru met her eyes, they were urging him to stand, but he couldn't manifest the energy.
"What happened, Patrasche?" Subaru asked. He let his cheek rest against the carpet, not moving.
"I'm warning you, Natsuki Subaru, you must get everyone out of here, now," Pandora said.
Subaru tried to push himself up, but he couldn't manage anything. The strength of his muscles had been sapped by constant loops, constant suffering, constant pain. He could barely even keep his eyes open. His eyelids were so… heavy.
Somewhere around him, a wall exploded. Patrasche's jaws wrapped around his abdomen, and gently she lifted him up.
Words burst out around him. They were angry, coming from a place he didn't care to see. Patrasche sprinted down the hallway, trying to escape.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST IGNORE ME! DON'T INFRINGE UPON MY RIGHT TO MAKE FRIENDLY CONVERSATION!"
Oh, it's Regulus. Regulus is here too. A peal of deep wheezing laughter rose from within him. It came out a sob, not a laugh. Regulus was here too. Really? Was this situation not already comically difficult?
WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SO HARD? Why couldn't he just have the Great Rabbit, Garfiel, Elsa, and Meili to deal with? Tears fell down his face as that horrible laugh kept rising from his lungs.
Patrasche threw herself into that same sprint as she dashed around a corner. She desperately evaded the calamity in the form of the Sin Archbishop of Greed.
"Hey Ros, your mansion is getting destroyed again," Subaru whispered, falling into another fit of mad giggling, "this place is destined for destruction, eh?"
Regulus screamed again and again as he tore through the walls.
"Subaru!" Petra screamed out. Subaru's eyes snapped open. Frederica, in her beast form, was running alongside Patrasche and him. Petra rode on her back.
"Oh hey Petra, brace yourself, okay," Subaru said as his horrible determination awoke once more. Spirits rose up around him.
Petra nodded. Subaru stretched his arm out, aiming toward Regulus.
That reawakened resolve pulled mana from the air and through his body, then it pushed him to say, "Ul Minya."
A massive purple circle grew around Regulus, who was still standing behind them in the hallway.
"What's this attack on my rights?"
Subaru ignored the man and got Patrasche to release him, landing on his feet his eyes scanned all the doors in the hallway.
"Shit of course Beatrice wouldn't help," Subaru whispered. Right as he said that, he felt a rhythm. Right there, Subaru's eyes locked onto a door.
Subaru bolted over to it, "Alright, everyone get ready." He cast a glance over to Regulus. The Sin Archbishop waved his hand, the Ul Minya disintegrated beneath the weight of his Stillness of an Object's time.
"Everyone ready?" Subaru looked around. They all nodded.
"Alright, three, two, one," he said, Regulus wound up his arm, getting ready to throw. Subaru finished with, "GO!"
He slammed the door open as Regulus released his throw. Splinters stopped in time rained down on them, destroying every part of the mansion around them as they jumped through the door. Subaru grabbed onto Petra as the splinters destroyed Frederica's body.
Subaru didn't let it stop him, she hadn't possessed color anyway. He tried to pull Patrasche through the door, but the dragon had used her body to shield him. Projectiles sailed through her, murdering the dragon.
He screamed as he landed on the ground. It was lost to the blaring gale. He and Petra touched down in a crater of glass. Everything around him was the same glass. Icy wind assailed him.
"Subaru! Subaru… Subaru I-hk-I'm c-c-cold," Petra shivered. Subaru's eyes jumped around, he had to protect Petra, she needed to kill him.
"It's alright, grab onto me," he said. Petra did so and held on to his back. From there Subaru hoisted himself to the top of the crater. It was like an incredibly steep hill and his fingers ached from the cold and exertion. After a few seconds, he lifted himself and Petra up over the edge. As he lifted his hand from the crystalline ground, the skin of his fingers tore off. His blood dripped to the ground. Subaru stared down at his fingers, surprise running through him.
"Subaru…" Petra was nearly drowned out by the wind, "it's so… s-s-s-so cold."
A snowflake landed on Subaru's nose.
"No…" Subaru whispered.
He looked up.
The Beast of the End loomed over him. Its eyes bore down on him.
"Why is the c-c-c-at so big," Petra said before she broke down in tears. Horrible tears, pained tears.
"Shhhh," a great voice came, "it's okay girl, this wasn't your fault, now sleep along with my daughter."
Petra's crying stopped. Tears welled up in Subaru's eyes. They turned to ice. A cracking sounded in his ears. Shards of ice tumbled down off his back. The pieces of Petra Leyte lay around him. Subaru's hands jumped around and grabbed a piece of Petra. It was a side of her face. Her eye seemed so full of pain. It was probably exactly the same as the moment she died. He grabbed onto another piece, this one was most of the other side of her face.
"No, you can't be dead. Please don't be dead, Petra. You were supposed to kill me."
Subaru pushed the two pieces of her face together. For a horrible moment, he met Petra's eyes. A scream of pain ripped from his lips. His screaming only increased when Petra's head fell apart, turning into even smaller pieces. A bit of frost ran up his limbs, he ignored it and yelled until his vocal cords started to tear.
"Shut up," Puck said.
Subaru stopped screaming and tried to put the tiny pieces of Petra's head together again.
She needs to kill me. I can't die unless Petra kills me. She needs to kill me. That's the only way. Petra please live. Live. LIVE! Subaru shoved the pieces of the girl's head together. Cutting open little gashes in his hands. His blood froze as soon as the air touched it.
This sensation. It was exactly like when he tried to reform Echidna's amulet. But this wasn't the same. Echidna couldn't be trusted. Subaru could have trusted Petra to kill him.
PLEASE LIVE! Subaru screamed out in his mind while he tried to put her back together.
"Pathetic," Puck said.
Subaru's determination, which had been so strong, started to fall apart.
"She won't live, Subaru. There's nothing you can do," the cat's voice was melancholic, but it wasn't directed toward Petra.
I can do something though… I can try… His perseverance tried to latch onto anything it could.
But Puck was right… there was nothing left for it to grasp.
It was over.
"Look at me, Subaru," Puck said. With an empty mind, Subaru obeyed.
Puck leaned down, meeting Subaru's eyes.
"You have failed my daughter."
Subaru tried to speak, but Puck cut him off again, with that same booming voice.
"She trusted you, Subaru," snow blasted past the great spirit when he spoke.
"No. She didn't, she hated me."
Puck stared down at him, then let loose a laugh full of pain.
"Please. My daughter cared for you. She shouldn't have, you shattered her trust. You dragged it out and destroyed it. This is all your fault. My daughter was happy until you failed her!"
Subaru held his hands up to his ears, trying to block out Puck's words. No, Emilia hadn't cared about him. She hadn't. She'd hated him.
"She just wanted to torture me. That's the only reason."
"Pathetic. To think Lia cared about someone like you. I can't believe it. It's you who tricked her, not the other way around!"
Something in Subaru finally broke, "NO! EMILIA WAS LYING THE WHOLE TIME!"
Puck's rage radiated out in the form of freezing wind and billowing snow.
"No. It was you who lied. It was you who failed. You broke Lia's trust."
Subaru screamed out. Why was he screaming? Why? Had he been wrong?
"IT WAS YOU WHO LEFT PUCK! YOU WEREN'T THERE WHEN SHE NEEDED YOU!"
"That was not my choice. That was Lia's hearts not agreeing with each other. If there was any real threat to Lia I would have protected her, as long as it was within my power. Unfortunately, your failure made my sister kill my daughter. Die for what you've done, Natsuki Subaru. Die slowly as punishment while I end the world."
Subaru screamed again, but his voice was lost to the deafening sound. He didn't care about Puck anymore. He only cared about what he'd said about Emilia.
Did people care about Natsuki Subaru? Had Emilia truly cared for him? And if Emilia cared… did others?
NO! They didn't care. They didn't. He needed to stop hoping. Please go away. I can't hope anymore, please don't give me any.
Puck's enmity came in full force as the ice in Subaru's eyes blinded him. The pain was meaningless to him.
He focused instead on trying to hold down that hope. They were liars. All of them were such malicious liars.
But what if they weren't? Had he really been so wrong this whole time?
NO! He was not wrong. Not wrong.
Natsuki Subaru was a horrible hateful entity.
Who was the one who'd decided that?
Capella Emerada Lugunica? How could he trust her?
Echidna? How could he trust her?
Was it Natsuki Subaru who'd decided he was so hateworthy? Natsuki Subaru, the most untrustworthy worst person, had declared himself those things.
How could he trust himself?
Yes, he couldn't trust himself. And the others couldn't trust him, so they hated him. That's what it was, right? RIGHT?
Pain ran through him from his freezing wounds, he ignored them.
Someone, give me an answer. Someone. Who am I supposed to reach for now?
Subaru's body tilted over, he would explode when he hit the ground, he just knew it. He was about to die.
Anyone. I need an answer. I need my answer. WHERE IS MY ANSWER?
Natsuki Subaru hit the ground and exploded. Dying without an answer.