Chapter 3: Under the bright blue sky pt1

Authors Note:

Hello again! While on vacation I got a burst of inspiration late at night and decided to write chapter 3. However, the more I wrote the more I realized just how long this chapter was ending up, and in the end, I was up til 4am with almost 3k words complete. Realizing just how much I wrote made me realize this one really needs to be a two parter, since I'd like to keep chapter length somewhat consistent. Last serious thing, since i wrote this one so late and there's more words than expected, theres a couple errors i haven't fixed yet. I'll get around to fixing them when possible, I promise. Anyways, hope you enjoy this one as well! I'll put Subaru's stats at the end of part 2 instead of this chapter.

Subaru Natsuki wakes up, sun from the thin high up bars in his cell, hitting him in the face. One and a half weeks have passed since he proclaimed his determination in front of Julius. A total of one month and 2 weeks in this cell. He's since died 2 more times, with the weak Subaru of old having long since disappeared due to his continuously doubling strength. While still optimistic, Subaru's now become a lot calmer and focused, having gained a goal and potential path forward. No longer does he plead to Julius and Felix, nor does he taunt them to amuse himself. While being tortured, apart from his screams, he's quiet, and while being questioned, he says what he does know, and attempts to find new ways to convince to the two of his innocence, become closer to them, or at least reduce the torture.

Of course, Subaru doesn't like them, especially Felix, he honestly has times he'd like to rip that cat bastard limb from limb but… he won't. At least for now, doing that is only going to cause him more problems in the future. Instead of focusing on killing or hurting Felix, he'd rather focus on escaping and training. Currently, his magic ability is his strongest, with it skyrocketing in strength.

Before, Subaru could only cast small Shamak's 10 times, and one big burst within a 10 foot area, and his gate would be left screaming out in protest afterwards. Now however, Subaru can cast Shamak in small burst without rest, his mana returning too fast to deplete. Another amazing bonus is…

"Minya." A single, floating, purple crystal forms in front of Subaru. Whilst no bigger than his fingertip, and only being able to cast it twice, nearly draining him all at once, being able to cast Minya is a massive step forward for Subaru, since he's now got a proper means of attack, rather than simply binding the enemy. Now, he has a actual chance.

That's not the only great thing to happen though. Subaru's been able to feel it in the way he moves, his talents, such as his parkour, have been gaining in strength as well. If it's now, he's confident he could outrun Julius without his spirits by using the obstacles around. This means his lackluster swordsmanship, something he lacks a talent for, has been improving as well, same for his ability to use a whip.

Following up with the final two abilities he's gained with all of this… "invisible providence." Subaru mutters to himself, as 4, jet black hands protrude from his chest. Unlike before, Subaru doesn't feel a piece of himself get ripped away, a massive relief when it comes to this ability. Currently, he can produce 4 hands, and move them up to 30 feet. Any further, and he feels as though he'll lose a piece of himself, a lot larger piece than all the other times he's previously used this ability. As for its actual physical strength, Subaru hasn't been able to test it yet. Not really any good targets around here, since he doesn't wanna risk ripping Felix's little ears off yet.

The last thing he's gained involves his gate. His gates progressed far further than he thought it would. His deaths have since fully repaired it, but rather than stopping there, Subaru's gate feels like another one's been stacked onto it, or maybe overlaps it? If he puts it into percentages like before, his gate, previously at 36% in terms of functionality, is all the way up to a full 144%. His gate having more stacked onto it came with a greater benefit than just increased magical capabilities, instead…

'This really isn't just me imagining things, right? I can totally feel it, even if I can't mess with it or see it, I can totally feel it around me.' Subaru can feel something around him in the air, and after Julius entered the room earlier, he's almost certain it's the natural mana in the atmosphere. He figured it out due to the small tug he felt on the ambient mana when Julius started interacting with the fire spirit he's contracted to, Ia. Julius seems to be trying to rekindle the contract to his spirits after having his name eaten by gluttony, but so far, it doesn't appear to be going well, mostly because of how Julius has been torturing Subaru in front of them. It seems looks like, unlike those two "friends" of his, the spirits feel sorry for Subaru and might actually listen to him.

'Spirits huh…' a small, 400 year old girl with blonde twin tails couldn't help but pop into his mind as he thought about spirits, only for him to feel a small of hurt pang in his chest as he remembered the betrayal. 'No, it's not right to call it a betrayal. Gluttony pulled us apart and pushed me into this situation' Subaru couldn't help but to sigh. 'I know that, keep telling myself that and yet…' as Subaru closed his eyes, he could feel the small but burning hot fire of anger and rage. He's kept it down, repressed it all this time, telling himself over and over that it wasn't their fault but gluttonies, but the more he thinks about it, the more he starts to rightfully blame them as well.

'I wonder if anyone innocent has ended up like me because of the way they did things…' Subaru can't help but occasionally think. 'Reinhard, he stood around and did nothing despite knowing the truth. Emilia, as usual stayed in the back, letting others handle things instead of stepping forward herself. Beako, too quick to jump to accusing someone, pushing them away before they even get the chance to properly speak. Felix… quick to accuse, quick to hurt, never taking a moment to consider what might happen if he's wrong. He constantly pushed and pushed, not even giving anyone else a real chance to talk, and basically embodies the phrase "guilty until proven innocent." Along with that… he's just plain evil.'

"I think I might end up a bit racist toward cat beast people now…" Subaru jokes to himself, out loud this time. His habit of talking to himself has increased compared to before, since there's really no one but himself to talk to here most of the time. Speaking of someone to talk to…

'Hmm, is it Felix this time?' Feeling the slightly unique mana coming down the hallway to his cell, Subaru's able to tell Felix is on his way to Subaru's cell. Taking some deep breaths to brace himself, Subaru stares at the door, a determined glint in his eyes,

clang the door swing's open with force, showing a tired looking Felix on the other side. Slowly walking up to him, Subaru notices how Felix looks a little bit paler compared to usual. In a cold, yet somewhat quiet and subdued voice, Felix says "Subaru-Kyun… Felis is tired of waiting and coming in here day after day. Tell Felis how to cure Crusch-Sama already. If you don't…" Felix cold, slightly glazed eyes looks down at Subaru's chest, as he says "Felis doesn't know what he's going to do…"

The tone in which he said that was enough to send a massive chill down Subaru's spine. Subaru isn't sure of what's going on outside the cell, as he hasn't been using his authority on anyone but Rem in fear of somehow being found out, but from the looks of things, it's a lot worse for Crusch than he initially thought. Feeling a slight amount of sadness at Crusch's possible state, Subaru sighs lightly, and in a serious voice, for once devoid of hostility, tells Felix while being careful to avoid saying her name directly

"I don't have the cure for her, Felix. I really, truly don't. So, seriously, instead of sitting here, day after day, wasting time torturing me, you should try an-" Felix cuts in, screaming at the top of his lungs "WE DID TRY! FELIS HAS TRIED OVER AND OVER TO HEAL HIS LADY! BUT IT NEVER, EVER WORKS. EMILIA-SAMA TRIED GOING TO THE SAGE, BUT COULDN'T EVEN STEP FOOT IN THE TOWER! THERE'S NOTHING BUT YOU! SO JUST TELL MY HOW TO CURE MY LADY!" By this point, Felix had tears streaming down his face as he clutches his ears with his hands. Subaru couldn't help but feel a bit disgusted by that.

"Pl-ease… I'll do anything just… save Felis lady…" collapsing to the ground in a heap of hiccups and tears, Felix begins to earnestly beg Subaru. Seeing this, Subaru couldn't help but feel just a little bit of pity… pity for himself, for having to watch the man he hates third only to Gluttony and Betelgeuse disgustingly beg him for help as he breaks down crying in front of Subaru.

While Subaru believes he's come quite far since his little determined outburst towards Julius, he still can't help but to open his mouth "what makes you think a disgusting person like you crying and begging me for help would actually move me to do anything? Not that I can. I've told you over and over, I've got no cure for your lady, so suck your tears back up and take them somewhere else, since at this rate, I really might just rip those gross eyes of yours out." Hostility and Indifference dripped from every word, at a level it surprised even Subaru himself. 'Seems my hate for him has overpowered anything I might've felt towards Crusch' Subaru thinks to himself, feeling a burning hate overtaking where his sadness for her situation was once stored in his heart.

Subaru watches as Felix begins to slowly get up from the floor, tears no longer flowing. Unlike what Subaru expected, Felix doesn't move towards him, instead choosing to silently leave the cell. Confused, Subaru can only wait, the faint possibility of them letting him go bringing an extra drop of hope to his mind, but that's quickly extinguished. Instead, he waits for Julius to come in, but… even as night falls, he never does. 'Hmm… this could be a chance, or a trap. Maybe both. I'm not confident I can outrun Julius completely yet if he's around, but if something happened and he's not… can I do it?'

CLANG A loud noise can be heard throughout the halls as Subaru snaps the chains after reinforcing himself with magic. The chains quickly fall to the floor with another clatter, as Subaru rubs his sore and slightly reshaped wrist, having not been let out of the restraints for nearly 2 months now.

Picking up what's left of the chains, Subaru thinks to himself 'could these work as a whip?.. who knows, let's just take them anyways.' Carrying the chains with him, Subaru moves towards the door. As he pulls and pushes, he confirms it's indeed locked. Thinking to himself, Subaru puts his hand against the keyhole and braces himself. "This is going to take a bit out of me… "Minya." A small purple crystal fires into the keyhole from his hand. Inside the door, he hears a snap, as the stopper seems to break, along with the internals of the handle. Pushing the door, Subaru watches in trepidation as it slowly slides open, revealing the hallway outside. The hallway itself is rather bland, made of grey stone bricks with doors intermittently placed further down the hallway. The only truly noticeable marks in the hallway are the bloodstains here and there, along with severed limbs laying about. Some of those look like hi… 'best not to think about it' thinks Subaru, pushing the thought out of his mind.

As he looks around, panic begins to surge into Subaru's chest at the thought of what may happen if he's caught out of his cell, threatening him to turn back, but instead he steels himself, and pushes forward, first putting one foot outside the cell, then another.

'I need to quickly make it out of here. So, for starters…' "Cor Leonis." Subaru whispers, bringing up a minimap on his mind filled with various dots. Beginning his walk while avoiding the guards, Subaru can't help but feel anxious. What if his ability malfunctions or has a restriction he doesn't know about? What if he has no choice but to fight? Is he strong enough to not die in a single blow? All these thoughts surged through his mind, distracting him from the very map hes so worried about. In the next moment, he's forced back to reality as he comes face to face with a face he wasn't expecting to see here..

"Ah." A gasp can only escape Subaru's mouth as he finds himself face to face with an Oni Maid. One of two, one he thought he wouldn't be seeing for quite a while, one he's, in his current state, incredibly afraid of… "Ram" Subaru murmurs, his whole body tense. "Cultist." Ram spits out in disgust, her whole body oozing hatred "This works out, since I was coming to pay you a visit anyways. That cross dressing failure said he was done with you, so I figured I'd come find out how to awaken my little sister. Though it pains me to rely on a bug even lower than dirt such as yourself, If you have the answer, then tell me, and I might grant you a bit of my never ending benevolence. But if you don't…" Ram raises a hand in Subaru's direction "I might need to use a bit of force." He can feel the mana in her body gathering towards it, probably in preparation for a Fura spell. So, Subaru does the only logical thing and… "SHAMAK!" Hits her square in the face with a Shamak, smacks her right in the stomach with the chains, using them as a makeshift whip, then runs by her while shouting "Sorry!"

Ram can only widen her eyes in the extreme suddenness of it all. As far as she's aware, this cultist was supposed to be weak even before being tortured, yet even after being tortured for nearly 2 months, he's casting magic and able to hit hard enough for her to feel pain? In fact, wasn't his gate confirmed to be broken by that annoying cat? In such a situation she had no choice but to be caught off guard. However, though she's been caught off guard this time… "El Fura!" Ram's still a combat experienced individual.

Subaru, feeling the flow of mana from her hand, uses his parkour abilities, now increase 6X over, in conjecture with invisible providence, to grab onto the ceiling and run along the wall, preemptively dodging the attack that lands at the other end of the hallway. However, while he managed to dodge one, 4 more normal Fura spells come flying towards Subaru. The first he ducks under, the second a roll, the third he barely manages to jump over, as the forth flies straight for his head.

Panic washes over Subaru as his perception of time seemingly slows, his death beginning to set upon him. Used to death and slightly resigned to it by now, Subaru starts to except it, until a voice he felt like he heard ages ago at this point flashes by in his mind for a brief second. ''Love yourself more.'' As that one sentence came back to him, Subaru could feel his mana beginning to move. His gate screams out in protest as Subaru finds himself screaming out at the last second "-VITA!" causing the wind to instantly split down the middle due to the increased weight, just barely skimming his arms, leaving faint scrapes.

With immense pain overtaking Subaru at the cost of using a Minya, Shamak, and Vita all within seconds of each other begins to overtake Subaru, he sees Ram get all the way to her feet, seemingly slight shocked. Urging his feet to move, Subaru takes the last couple steps needed to escape the hallway just in time to hear the whistling of more wind from behind. Turning around and realizing the hallway has a door that slams shut from the ceiling, seemingly in case of emergencies, Subaru mumbles "invisible providence…" then grabs the door, and slams it down as he hears Ram's quick footsteps approaching the hallways end.

Exhausted, Subaru collapses to the ground, taking a short while to catch his breath as he listens to Ram pounding away at the door, trying to break it down…

Authors Note:

Hello again! Hope you enjoyed this one. Not much else to say here, I'll hand you Subaru's stats now.