They stayed there for a time, warm in each other's embrace. Neither of them wanted to let go. Neither of them wanted to relinquish the warmth they now felt. And so, still hugging, their conversation continued after many long minutes of sobbing.
"C-can you let me see Mother, I suppose?" Beatrice asked, her voice quiet as a whisper but clear and crisp in the silent library.
Subaru felt her jerk back ever-so-slightly when he took a breath to answer. A frown grew on his face in response as he thought, "That repulsive woman really would be the worst parent, huh?"
He - whether intentional or not - lowered his own voice and softened his tone as he replied, "I don't know if that's the best idea, kid. She'll try to manipulate you. She's an inhuman monster and she'll crush your heart just to see what happens."
"It's probably what ended up happening to the other me, after all…" he added, in his thoughts.
"E-even if you exaggerate, Betty understands Mother is not fully pure-hearted, I suppose," Beatrice said, her body and voice alike shaking in his embrace. "It is impossible to deny that, in fact."
"And you still wish to see her?" he asked, simultaneously exasperated and impressed by the determination it must have taken to overcome this debilitating level of anxiety.
"I do, in fact," she answered, her voice as confident and strong as she could manage.
Subaru heaved a heavy sigh, wrapping his arms further around her as he exhaled. At the close of this motion, he thought to himself, scowling out of frustration, "Maybe some confrontation and closure would help her? Would it help me if I was like this?"
After his moment of silent pondering, Subaru declared, "I have three conditions."
Her grip on the back of his shirt tightened and her breath hitched at the sudden, conviction-laced words he'd used. "And what might they be, I suppose?" Beatrice replied, trying her best to suppress the desperation and child-like excitement in her voice.
"First, I'm not fully aware of the mechanics around the contract. So you can't blame me if an audience with her is just straight up impossible," he said, idly playing with the pinked tip of her drill-like hair.
"Fine, I suppose," she said after not much thought, more concerned over his following demands.
"Second, I will be present for the meeting and reserve the right to end it at any time," he continued, still using his stern tone before adding in an additional mumbled remark, "I won't just watch silently as you dance in the palm of her hand."
She frowned slightly and remained silent for a moment before finally conceding, "I don't like it but I accept, I suppose."
"And third…" he said, more determined and serious than with either of his previous conditions.
Her body tensed as she prepared for what she assumed would be the most unreasonable request. She gripped him tighter as he finished, "Help me find my tracksuit."
Confused, she pushed herself off him lightly and regarded him with an odd look. He returned it with an offended Regulus-esque scowl, "What? Don't tell me the tracksuit is a fucking dealbreaker."
She fought down the urge to giggle for a moment before succumbing to it and entering a strange laughing fit in response to his request. She laughed and laughed until she began to cry. And then, she cried and cried before laughing some more. All the while, Subaru joined her, the combined sounds of their childish giggling and unapologetically evil cackling resonating together and echoing out into the empty, silent library.
"You really are a hopeless man, I suppose."
They walked through the hall towards Subaru's room, side by side.
The little girl was visibly tense, anxiety filling her mind as she silently trodded along beside the boy. Not only was it the first time she had left the library in two years but she would see her mother again for the first time in four hundred years. "Betty hopes that he is wrong, I suppose. Betty hopes that Mother truly cares for her, in fact. Betty doesn't know what she'll do if he's right…"
The young madman was incredibly relaxed. The catharsis of having cried until he laughed and laughed until he cried combined with the familiar feeling of his Earth clothes put his mind at ease. A slightly crazed smile was on his face as he reminisced over his various killing sprees. "I'm excited to see Capella again. I never got the chance to properly torture her before."
He glanced over to see the absolute state the little girl by his side was in. Sure, an anxious, chaotic headspace is better than a depressed, unchanging one but Subaru knew she was bound to fall apart if he didn't at least try to help.
"Hey, Betty," he said, trying, but ultimately failing, to make saying her name sound natural.
She tensed further at his sudden call, her next step faltering. She was on a direct path to the ground when she muttered something and seemingly magically regained her footing. After a short moment, she looked at him with impatient eyes and asked, "What, I suppose?"
Pretending like that didn't just happen, Subaru replied, "You call yourself Betty but what's your full name? Where are you from?"
She narrowed her eyes for a moment before turning away from him and answering, "Betty's name is Beatrice, I suppose. The people of this mansion call me a great spirit but Betty is an artificial spirit created by Mother, in fact."
Subaru nodded agreeably and stated, "Ah, you're a test tube baby. Got it."
She immediately turned back to look at him again and, annoyed, she shouted out, "And what does that mean, in fact?!"
He glanced over at her and waved off her complaints, suppressing his urge to smile at how their banter had already done wonders for her mood.
"Don't worry about it. It's nothing important…" he said, trailing off.
He placed a hand on his chin and began to think aloud, "Beatrice… Beatorisu… Bea… Beako! There we go, that's a good nickname."
He turned to gauge her response, the evidence of a smirk breaking through his suppression of his satisfaction. He was not, however, expecting to see a slightly sad, shocked face.
"Ah," he said, the joy quickly draining from his own mood. "I guess it's the same one your Natsuki Subaru gave you, then?"
She shook off the shock, turned to face forward, and muttered to herself, "It's fine, I suppose."
A second later, he continued, "And Beako?"
"What, in fact?" she replied, substantially less aggravated than last time.
"I'm giving you a surprise fourth condition. Can you promise to do me a favor after the meeting is over?" he asked in a rather lighthearted tone.
Sighing, she answered him with a conceding, "Fine, I suppose."
They walked into Subaru's bedroom, silent. His noble's clothes from last night and the sheets from the bed lay scattered on the floor; the futon on the couch was still untidied as well.
"This place is a mess, I suppose," Beatrice observed, slightly put-off by the uncharacteristically disordered room.
Subaru smirked and threw the noble's clothes he had been holding since the library onto the ground, saying, "The more the merrier."
Beatrice shot him a judgmental look as she noted to herself that she ought to adjust her expectations relating to Subaru going forward. Eyeing the odd combination of clothes he had worn before changing, she thought, "He truly is not the same man as before, I suppose."
As he walked over to the side of his bed, she turned her sights to him and frowned, thinking, "But he can not be That Person either, in fact. Betty has already betrayed Mother, I suppose."
While Beatrice began to follow her thoughts into yet another downward depressing spiral, Subaru picked up the black crystal off of the floor and said, "Witch, you know what I want to do. Can I do it while still being able to fulfill my second condition?"
Not missing a beat, Echidna replied in her usual tone, "You can, in fact, invite Beatrice to our Tea Party for a short time. Both of you need to hold the pendent simultaneously to do this. Since you're the one inviting her, you're the one with the power to uninvite her. However, you can not speak to her about Return by Death unless you want her to die."
"Got it. I also demand to leave at the same time as she does if I kick her out," he said, immediately closing the obvious loop hole she had tried to dance around.
He could almost hear her suppressing a smile as she replied, "Fine, fine. By the way, do you think 'You're such a bore' is a fine substitute for 'You're no fun'?"
He ignored her and turned to Beatrice, who was glancing at him with nervous eyes. He walked up to the spirit girl, holding out the necklace in the palm of his right hand and saying, "Beako, if you want to see her you'll have to grab onto this crystal at the same time as me. Are you ready?"
Her eyes flicking between the crystal and Subaru, she slowly replied, "Betty is nervous… but Betty will try to stay strong."
Beatrice cautiously reached out her right hand to grasp his, pressing the ominous black jewel so reminiscent of her mother between their palms. Together, they held the pendant, their souls aligning with its rhythm. And, after a moment, they opened their eyes to the green rolling fields of Echidna's Castle of Dreams.
The ancient artificial spirit beside Subaru gazed up at the only distinguishing landmark in the environment... and the Witch who sat there gazed back.
"Hello, Beatrice," Echidna said, both her face and tone neutral.
With just two words, the nobility and pride of the centuries old force of nature known as Beatrice blew away to reveal a nervous young girl face to face with her mother for what felt like the first time.
She instinctively grasped Subaru's arm and hid behind it, muttering to herself, "B-betty is not ready, I suppose. Betty can't see Mother like this, in fact."
Hearing this, Subaru reached down and picked up the cowering spirit girl, holding her in his arms and close to his chest. She was as light as a feather and barely put up any resistance as she stammered out, a slight blush growing on her face, "W-w-what are you doing, I suppose?!"
With a confident smile, he replied, "You're never gonna get anywhere cowering behind me like that Beako," Noticing her continued annoyance and doubt, he continued, his tone slightly more stern than before, "I promised not to let her manipulate you, remember? Frankly, you're making it too easy for her."
Beatrice was going to object but then pouted instead, saying, "Just because you're right doesn't mean you should say it, I suppose…"
He poked her puffed up cheek and began to walk up the hillock. The girl was going out of her way to look anywhere but at her mother, forcing her to stare at Subaru.
"You know, we came all this way to talk to your mom but you've ended up just staring at me instead. Not that I mind of course, you're adorable Beako," he said, teasing her to help cut through the stranglehold Beatrice's anxiety held on her mind.
"If you're going to treat me like this then let me go, in fact!" she declared, squirming around in his arms for a second but not with any substantial amount of force.
"Sorry, sorry," he said, not really meaning it.
They arrived at the top of the mound and stood under the shade of the parasol. He lowered his voice and said to the little girl in his grasp, "We're here Beako. Take as much time as you need. When you're ready, just turn your head."
She gave him a slow, short nod and they remained in silence for a long moment. Both of the chairs opposite of their host remained empty and there was seemingly no intention on part of the guests to occupy them.
Subaru turned his attention to the Witch whilst he waited for Beako to prepare herself. Echidna was sitting there with a less than satisfied look. Her teacup was half-empty at this point and she seemed incredibly bored. Noticing Subaru's gaze, her lips curved into a smile.
"Even if we have all day for this, a tender young maiden such as myself doesn't like to sit alone at a table in silence. I feel like I'm being, how do you say it, 'stood up' as it were," Echidna said, again sounding excited at being able to employ the use of yet another foreign phrase.
At the sound of her voice, Subaru felt Beatrice flinch and her grasp on him tighten. After a few seconds, she finally turned her head to look at Echidna. She seemed confused as she said, "Mother?"
Still neutral, Echidna answered her unspoken inquiry, "I will answer any and all of your questions so long as you don't acknowledge that which you are currently questioning."
"The hell does that mean?" Subaru interjected, mostly to himself. He'd been able to gather a fairly comprehensive understanding of this particular family dynamic in his short time spent in the two non-humans' company but this particular interaction was something he neither expected nor understood.
The spirit took a moment to think before saying, "I understand, I suppose."
"I guess I can ask her about it later. It better not be something important," he thought to himself, restraining his urge to find out before the pair interacted.
"M-mother… who was That Person, I suppose? Why did you leave Betty's gospel blank, in fact? Betty is so, so sorry for breaking our promise but... why did you leave Betty alone all that time?" Beatrice said, her eyes finally meeting her mother's as she asked her last question.
Echidna closed her eyes but maintained her smile as she replied, "Ah, I do wonder as well who That Person is."
Subaru felt the grip on him loosen as the entirety of the girl's body went limp and she muttered, "Wh-what?"
"That Person was an experiment, you see. I was curious as to who you'd pick to bring you salvation," Echidna explained, still neutral and uncaring in her tone. "Of course, choosing no one for four centuries was an option but it certainly was not your only one."
Subaru felt a wet feeling on his arm as tears began to fall from Beatrice's face. She struggled to say, "N-no… that's not…" but was cut off as the Witch continued.
"As for the gospel, it was blank because you lacked a true goal. You simply wanted to be told what to do but the experiment was to test your self determination. So, I left it blank."
Subaru could feel Beatrice trembling in his arms. "I don't like where this is going," he thought, gritting his teeth at the exchange.
"I hold no ill will towards you for breaking our promise. I was the one who advised Natsuki Subaru to force you to break it, after all. Although, I have to say I am-"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" shouted Subaru, interrupting the white haired woman right as she was about to finish her sentence.
The Witch opened her eyes and looked up at the young man, her plastered-on smile still firm on her face. He, on the other hand, was filled with rage as he spat at her, Echidna's eerie calmness towards and borderline pride in her emotional abuse and manipulation of her daughter only serving to aggravate him more, "One hell of a mother you are!"
Subaru tightened his grasp on the young girl in his arms as she turned her head to sob into his chest, her body still limp and her mind still clearly in shock. His eyes never left Echidna's as he said, "Beako, I uninvite you from the Tea Party. As per your promise Witch, I will be leaving with her."
The white haired woman sighed and gave a conceding wave, "Yes, yes you are free to go."
A portal opened below them and they fell out of the Castle of Dreams. The Witch of Greed was alone once more.
"Ah, what a troublesome man you are... Well, at least this way, you're now guaranteed to satisfy me, Natsuki Subaru."
