8 months after the events of Arc 4.5...
Countdown to Water Gate City... 3 months.
Location: Costuul, regional capital of the Dragon Kingdom of Lugnica.
Y/N POV
"Hey! Hey! Wake up, everyone!" I yelled, excited as I remembered today's date. It was December 24th, the Christmas Eve of the first year I arrived in the world of Re:Zero.
My teammates, who are asleep on the beds next to and around me, gradually woke up as they groaned. "Y/N onii-san... why are you shouting so early in the morning?" Meili said as she stretched, before plunging herself back onto Elsa's resting body.
"Well, it's Christmas, so I thought we oughta start doing some festive things!" I said as they looked at me, confused as Omega raised her hand.
"Um, Y/N, what do you mean by, it's Christmas?"
"Hah?"
Oh wait... they don't know what it is, do they? And you, Chid-chan, have you not explored my mind long enough to know what that is? Really?
"Uh, anyways, back in my hometown, we celebrated a festival of sorts called Christmas. Basically, we have a giant feast of sorts before giving everyone gifts on the day. Now, since we're here in Costuul, I was thinking we could buy each other some gifts."
"Ah..." Yae said as she rubbed away the sleepiness, and nodded in agreement. "But Y/N, aren't we kinda broke?"
"Oh, money? That won't be a problem. Imma just leave this on the tab of the Golden Beetle. Helaine won't really mind it if I told her to pay small gifts for me. Just don't buy anything too expensive, okay? If you are going to buy something expensive, tell me, because..." I said as I created a few holy coins out of thin air. "I can just always make more."
My battalion members all sighed at my currency creation, and Omega shook her head in mock disappointment.
"Well then, just so you know, everyone have please take one of those Merchant Association 'Cards'. When people ask you who to relay the money pay to, tell them Russell Fellow- Golden Beetle. This way, we can make sure the transaction doesn't go wrong. Got it?"
A few 'okays' went across the room as they began to change and get dressed, which gave me my cue to leave. I stepped into the lobby of the inn we were staying in, and the receptionist greeted me kindly. "Hello, Liberator-san. How may I be of assistance today?"
"Don't be so formal, Lilia. I'm not that famous to be honest. I only saved a few villages..."
"But you're all across the papers, you know? You also prevented the Disaster of Plagues, and drove off the poison from the Black Snake in the west just a few weeks ago! You know how impressive that was?"
"You flatter me, honestly..."
"And that's not all! Some sources also say that you were fighting alongside the Duchess Karsten in the Hunt for the White Whale, and you delivered a critical blow to the Great Mabeast! Also, look here in the paper..."
Hm? I usually don't pay attention to the newspaper much, but I'll guess I'll look at it just this once or else Lilia will keep on bugging me about it.
"Look here, it says 'My nii-chan can go fight toe to toe with my knight, Reinhard! He's definitely going to change the world for the better-"
I spat my water out.
Felt... why did you have to go and say that...
"Ey? Y/N-san, what's wrong?" Lilia looked at me as if I just got hit by a rock, but I waved it off.
"It's nothing... anyways, the girls are going shopping today, so if any of them doesn't know where to go, please find someone to accompany them first, especially the three kids.
"Okay, gotcha. To be honest, I'm actually still quite surprised that you guys aren't just a whole big family...?"
"Trust me, Lilia, if that was the case, I would be mobbed to death in multiple universes."
"EH? What's that supposed to mean?"
After departing from the inn, I activated the White Whale's flying seal and shot off into the sky, before taking a look around for the general direction I'm going to go in. After making sure that I'm heading northeast, I began my flight.
Within the bag on my back were Christmas presents for everyone in the Emilia camp. I hope they would like it, since I did some serious thinking on what to make for everyone.
For Emilia, a Puck plushie that I created from scratch using the elements.
For Ram, a nice new kitchen knife along with a snow globe.
For Otto, a special potion that I devised alongside Echidna that allows the mana to flow better in his body, which also extends the time limit on the usage of his Divine Protection.
For Garfiel, a pair of 'leg shields' that can allow him to perform kicks while also not taking that much damage in case he's fighting against an extremely strong enemy.
For Frederica, dolls with dress-up features on them (since she like that, apparently).
For Petra, a beautiful dress that she can wear for any important occasions / or just whenever she wants to.
For Roswaal, ahem. A picture of Echidna making an ahe-
CUT
RETAKE
For Roswaal, a picture of Echidna smiling in her castle of dreams, which I copied from the dream realm onto a real piece of paper. This took a long time, Ros-chi, so you better appreciate it! Don't be salty just because you won't see tongue action again!
For Subaru, it was actually the hardest gift to decide. I debated on many different things, like a Emilia body pillow to a Yin Magic meteor. However, I went with something that I knew he would truly and genuinely like: I gave him figurines of Emilia and Rem: and...
A large box of instant ramen!
This is going to get him so hard he's going to be so confused when he gets them. Also, I'm currently not carrying them with me. I found a teleporting meteor that allows us to send items to somewhere whenever I wanted to, as long as I have another piece and the user on the other side agrees to it.
After an hour or so of flight, I landed in front of the Miload Mansion, I contacted Echidna through my mental link, and a pop sounded as I saw the box of food drop in front of me. Quickly dumping all the presents from my bag into the box and then resealing it, I knocked on the door loudly with the hardest yet the most polite knocks I could muster.
"HELLO! Delivery service!" I yelled loudly as a crash sounded from indoors, and I heard Ram talking to Subaru. Using Nect on a Ryuzu clone who I stationed in the mansion, I listened in on their conversation from outside the door.
"Barusu, there's a weird man outside the door."
"Huh? What do you mean, weird?"
"Well, for starters, he knocked on the door very loudly, and yelled something like 'delivery service!' before leaving."
"Delivery service? Man, they must be joking." Subaru said as he began to go for the door to take a look, and I severed the Nect link as I flew up to sit on top of a nearby tree to observe, hiding myself among the leaves.
As Subaru opened the door and expected the box, he saw the logo I imprinted onto the box, and seemed puzzled. "Liberator's delivery service? Why does it feel familiar for some reasons?"
How do you still not know me from the newspapers... unless you don't read them?
"EEEEEHHHH? Instant noodles? Is this some cruel joke... wait..." Subaru said, surprised before seeing my letter. "Y/N! I know you're there somewhere! Don't try to play Santa and actually greet your friend!"
Sorry, Subaru, but I cannot see you just yet. However, Imma play another trick on you.
I folded a paper airplane real quick with the words Merry Christmas written on them, and threw it towards Subaru at the entrance. "Sayonara, then."
I took off towards the sky once more, returning to the city of Costuul.
I landed on top of the clocktower in Costuul, fiddling the pen between my fingers as I watched the sun in the sky. Twelve bells signalled the start of noon, and I took my bag out from behind my back to check everything I prepared for my teammates.
I got two things for every single one of my teammates. A combat-related gift and a casual kind of gift. I mean, in a world like this, you definitely have to fulfill wishes from two sides of the same coin, right?
First, I took out the two wickedly sharp knives that Elsa had, the 'White Blade' and the 'Black Blade'. I renamed them Bonecrusher and Gorecutter due to their usage, and enhanced the edges to make them able to contain certain substances such as poison or magical add-ons. For the casual gift, a cotton doll knitting kit since it was one of her hobbies.
For Meili I personally carved out a nice, short pair of daggers that were dubbed 'Fangs of the Rabbits' by myself. During my extermination of the Great Rabbit, I managed to 'de-tooth' almost every single one I killed, so now I have a bunch of those in stock. The teeth were also durable, so I thought of using them to make a weapon. It turns out that I was able to succeed. Anyways, I gave her some figurines of everyone in the Battalion, and people from the Emilia Camp as well. She wasn't exactly pleasant when I found out her 'childish' hobby, and she set quite a few mabeasts on me that day. I also couldn't kill any of them while running away, since... ya.
For Colette and Palmyra I both prepared them some baked goods that I purchased from a local bakery. I gave Colette a mental calming bracelet to match her Beast Protection meteor, which also helps her control her new power later. I made a pyroxene crystal staff for Palmyra with the help of Omega to have her channel her magic better.
I had help from Lilia to find a clothes shop, and found a nice pair of shoes and a jacket for Yae, and I enhanced her kunais, which gave them a few Yang Magic buffs. I took my time to learn some magic theory between Arcs 2 and 3, and Echidna has been helping me improve as well. Might as well get a Ph. D. in it since I'm here anyways.
Also, Sphinx's gift was a pair of warm mittens and some nice shoes. I also got her a hairpin just so she doesn't think I'm giving her too less gifts. I'm not exactly an expert at spoiling children, but Echidna had no argument against it, so I guess it's fine? As for her combat-side gift, I made a 'Lunar Pearl' with the help of Echidna, as a catalyst to cast her magic faster.
Now that the gifts are set, I flew back into the town, and visited the inn's lobby, where many people were drinking and eating together. I sat down at a nearby table, and a good friend of mine in the town slid into the seat next to me.
"Yo, Pratis. How's life?"
"Good! And you? More busy 'Liberator' businesses recently?"
"Nah, we're taking a short holiday break."
"Holiday break? I don't remember having any holidays though..."
"It's a tradition from my faraway hometown. We celebrated a festival there to give each other gifts. By the way, I also got one for you." I said as I took out a nice box of pastries I picked up from another town on the way back.
"My goodness... this is the pastries from the Claudrea Café in Picoutatte! When did you have the time to go do this?"
"Well, flying does make movement easier, you know..."
"Ah, I know you're amazing alright. Thanks again, bro! By the way, you should check out that new apple cider they're selling. It's so damn good." Pratis said as he ran off to join his merchant friends, who seemed to have a nice scoop on a new sale. I met Pratis after saving his cart from being robbed, and I kinda followed him all the way here to Costuul, and we eventually began to hang out and talk as friends.
"Y/N! We're back!" Sphinx said as she flew over and latched herself onto me, and I hugged her back.
"I guess we should all go and open our presents now, should we?"
Timeskippu*
After the busy night of fun and games, we eventually went to bed, but my night was apparently not over yet.
No, I'm not losing my virginity...
"Y/N, are you ready?"
"Open the gate, Chid-chan."
A bright white flash blinded my eyes as I entered the Castle of Dreams, where the giant grass plain that I knew so well faced me once more. Echidna was already in her seat, with a larger table this time. The Six Witches of Sin sat in their respective seats, with me settling down between Echidna and Minerva.
There was one empty seat between Typhon and Daphne, and I gave Echidna a look.
"She didn't come, Chid-chan?"
"Well, what do you expect? She can break into my Castle of Dreams if she actually wanted to, but it's not like I can pull her out of her Shadow Garden. Such an unfair situation, don't you think?"
I had actually told Echidna to send an invitation to Satella, since she could come to all her old friends and have a nice time. Unfortunately, it seems that her alternate personality was getting the better of her these days, since she's quite reclusive.
"I guess we have to start without her, then." I said as I snapped my fingers, and the Christmas dinner I had on the list I gave Echidna a while ago materialized itself on the table. This is what's good about the Castle of Dreams. You do what you want here, and all you need is your imagination. Such a nice place indeed.
"Can I pwease start eating, H/N H/N?" Daphne asked me as she started drooling at the smell of the amazing food. I can see her leaning towards the turkey already.
A/N: H/N stands for Half-name. As Daphne calls Echidna Dona Dona, Typhon Tyu-Tyu, Carmilla Mila Mila and so on. H/N H/N will be what Daphne calls them, and N/N will be what Typhon calls Y/N.
"Hold up, Daphne-chan, I have to give everyone their silverware and plates first." I said as I materialized the things I needed, and we began dining in the pocket dimension those souls called home.
Daphne definitely did not hesitate to begin barfing down food, and I immediately told her to eat a little slowly so that she doesn't choke herself (but maybe she has a wider esophagus). I had to monitor her using an Imperceptible Extension while eating my own food.
Sekhmet was lying on to chairs, too lazy to sit upright in the first place. Typhon was taking her sweet time to feed her mother figure, who was opening her mouth as a natural response to Typhon's delicate spoon feeding. I made a good decision putting those two next to each other.
Just when I was about to check on everyone else, the blonde-haired witch next to me grabbed my hand, to my surprise. "Y/N! This food is actually so good! Did you make all of this?"
"Well, Minerva-tan, it was indeed me but only from imagination, you know..."
"Really? Because those things can wash away my anger, even if it's just for a little bit... anyways, these taste way better than Echidna's dull cookies at our usual tea parties!"
"You really are criticizing my hard work, aren't you..." Echidna pouted. "Then again, Minerva, I didn't expect you to be this big of a gourmet. Your speed of eating right now is on par with Daphne's."
"Huh? Really?" Minerva suddenly stopped, and as if she realized something. "Hold up, didn't you say last time that you had to actually make them in the real world to be able to bring them here?"
That was a fact. I did indeed make those foods that I imagined, and it seems to be a requirement before I could materialize anything in the Castle of Dreams. Then again, I didn't make them all in one day, so...
"To be able to make this much food... have you burned yourself somewhere? Did you cut yourself while peeling the potatoes or anything like that?!"
Minerva continued to worry as she sent a healing punches my way, and now I have one of her fists stuck to my face. "Minerva-tan, you shouldn't worry yourself so much. Also, if your healing punches aren't doing something, they could really hurt, you know..."
"Ah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
"Don't be, we should be enjoying this time, after all. Speaking of enjoying, is something wrong, Carmilla-tan?" I said as I glanced towards the Witch of Lust, who sat shyly in her seat, her utensils not moved yet.
"Uh...um..." She mumbled slightly, unsure of what to say. "I am not exactly fond... of hot food... since it reminds me of my death of burning..."
"Sorry about that. I do have some desserts, if you like." I said as I walked over to Carmilla, and Echidna gave me a warning look possibly due to her authority, but waved it off after realizing that I was immune to it. I then whipped up a mango pudding for Carmilla, and she began slowly trying it.
"It's...good..."
"I know, right? Mangoes are surprisingly delicious. Anyways, smile a little more, okay?"
"I...see... I will..."
As I sat back into my seat, Echidna immediately grabbed my face and shoved a spoonful of food in front of it.
"Say ah..."
"Ah...?"
I complied with her demand as she shoved it down my throat, causing me to choke a little.
"Hey, Chid-chan, what was that for?"
"It's called payback for not tending to your contractor first." Echidna pouted, retuning to her original position.
"But technically, we're all of his contractors, by extension..." Minerva added.
"Well, I am the first Witch he contracted with, after all."
"Dona, are you perhaps jealous?" Typhon asked, an innocent smirk plastered across her face.
"You guys...!"
And thus began a heated discussion that I definitely did not want to take part of.
"Hey, Y/N, are you really going in there?" Minerva asked me as I stared at the dark portal Echidna just opened, which was enough to block out the light of the Castle of Dreams.
"I can't exactly just let that recluse rot away in there, can I? She is a poor soul who took in an incompatible Witch Factor, after all."
"Just... be careful in there." Minerva said as she sent one last healing punch my way, and I nodded before I leaped into the dark portal, and landed in my destination.
A leakage of green mist covered my the area underneath my legs, and I blew the fog away a little, revealing the Witch of Envy, huddling in a corner.
"Love him... love him... love him...love him...love him...love him..."
"Hello? Satella? Are you awake or are you sleeptalking?"
"You..." Satella turned around, surprised at my sudden appearance.
"How... why... you are not the one..."
"Why I'm here? Well, it is Christmas, so here's a present for you." I said as I set the bag of contents down, surprising her.
"What... is... Christmas... You are not the one. BEGONE! Get out-"
"I'm not here to speak to you, alternate personality-san. Scindo."
I said as I sent out a piece of the Deceit Witch Factor, and it penetrated through her chest as she suddenly hang still for a while, and I sighed.
"Well, if even that doesn't work, I guess I have to take my leave. The amount of miasma here is too dense even to my liking, so I guess I'll see you- woah?"
I was dragged back to the tea party by Echidna so suddenly, and the gateway closed before the Witch of Envy was secluded once more.
? POV
Scindo... implant complete.
"Huh?" Satella suddenly regained her consciousness, astonished that her alternate personality faded away for the moment.
What just happened?
She noticed the bag at her feet, and took out two pictures:
A picture of her alongside the other Witches of Sin,
and, a picture of Natsuki Subaru, smiling.
"Thank you... Liberator..."
"...Warlock, of Deceit."