Chapter 13: Heroes

Subaru walked along the halls trying to process what Emilia just told him. "Subaru, if you're going to choose, please choose her." That stung a bit at first, but she explained her reasoning. She explained that he was better off loving Rem over her since she was focused on other things. Subaru still claimed he would stand by her side till the end. However, he couldn't deny that part of him loved Rem over Emilia. Ever since the day that he had died due to Rem's mistake, he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Normally, when someone kills you, well you die, but you would hate them. Subaru thought more about his relationship with Rem after that day. Rem had tried to kill him, she had succeeded in other lives, but she always stood by him after that night against the mabeast. That was a terrifying night.

Subaru had almost lost one of the children, even though she turned out to be the mabeast tamer, he still felt he had to help her. He almost lost Rem. She sacrificed herself so that he could live. That was when he saw her demonic form come to reality. He had only seen her go that berserk once before that night.

Another memory flashed as he walked through the halls. He remembered the night that Rem chased him out to the clearing. How angry she was, the tears in her eyes now scarred him as he grew to love her. He swore that night that he would never make her cry out of pain again. Rem didn't deserve that.

That was when he thought back to recent history. He thought back to when Rem awoke to see him kissing Ram in his previous loop. The tears on her face were exactly what he never wanted to see again. She didn't deserve that, she didn't deserve him. And yet, Emilia told him that Rem was speaking just the other day about how she would stand by his side forever.

"If only you knew the truth Rem." Subaru spoke to himself.

"If Rem knew what now?" An all too familiar voice came from around the corner. Here came Rem skipping along like a school girl. Her smile lit the halls so bright it made the sun envious. Her bright blue eyes shamed both the ocean and the sky for not being blue enough. Rem.

"Oh, uh, nothing Rem. I was just thinking aloud."

"What truth doesn't Rem know?" She asked curiously. It didn't appear she was angry, just curious.

"I… I can't tell you. I'm sorry. I wish I could, but I can't."

"Is it bad?"

"No, not bad really. It's more of, bad things will happen if I do."

Rem thought for a moment. "You sound like someone is holding something against you. That or you've been cursed."

"Cursed. Yeah, that's one way to put it."

"You know?"

"I've learned a bit about it from Betty."

Once again, she thought. She wanted to find a way to help because it was obviously weighing on him. "There's usually a way around a curse that doesn't break it's rule." Rem grabbed his hand and took him to back her room. After they entered, she shut the door and sat down on the bed. "Ok, I want you to tell Rem about the curse so I can see what it is."

This was a big risk. In another life, he had killed Emilia by trying to tell it to her. "Rem, I don't know if I can. I've seen this hurt someone before."

"Subaru. Rem is a demon and demons are strong. Rem can take it." He knew she was bluffing.

"O-Okay. Rem, I love you."

Rem blushed. "I-I knew that Subaru."

"I know. I just wanted to tell you in case this goes wrong." He took a deep breath. "Rem, I can return by-" He could feel the hands of the witch grab at him. His heart became weak and his breathing shallow.

"Subaru!" Rem jumped up and helped him lay down. She put his head on the pillow and gently pressed on his chest. "You're okay. Rem is here. Rem is fine." That was all she needed to confirm her hypothesis. "You are indeed cursed. By what? Rem doesn't know."

"Wi..tch" Subaru wheezed.

Now it all made sense why had she smelled the witch on him before. It was this curse. "That explains the smell." She pinched her nose. The foul odor of envy canvased the room and lingered heavily. When she first met him, she thought it may have been a curse or worse, that he was a cultist, but now she knew the cause.

Subaru tried to sit up. "Sorry Rem. I can't… I will not lose anyone else because of this."

"You lost someone?" She asked innocently enough.

He shook his head side to side meaning he couldn't tell her the answer. Rem sat helplessly for a moment. "How about we leave this for another time, breakfast is getting cold."

"Alright." Subaru stood and sauntered out the room behind Rem.

She noticed his lack of pace and grabbed his hand. "Come on! Rem spent a lot of time on breakfast today." She pulled him along to the dining room.

Breakfast was uneventful as normal. Emilia had come down and sat next to Subaru while playing with Puck. Betty had taken her place in Subaru's lap as per usual. Roswaal just laughed and joked about his "harem".

"I don't have a harem Roswaal. They're all my friends." His face said something that only Roswaal noticed.

"Very well. By the way Subaru. I would like to speak with you in private a moment."

Ram and Rem took that as their cue to begin clearing dishes as they walked out the room. The two men entered Roswaal's personal office and shut the door.

"So, what did you want to speak to me about?"

"Take a seat." Roswaal pointed to the chair across from him. "We need to have a man to man discussion."

Subaru had a bad feeling that he knew where this was going but did as he was told. "This is about the girls, isn't it?

"Precisely. You see Subaru, I've noticed how they act around you. I see how Rem follows you like a loyal puppy and Emilia clings to you most days like she does with Puck. I can also see that Ram will eye you every once in a while before blushing. It's obvious that Betty likes you, just not quite the same manner as the others."

"Yea, they all seem to hang around me." He chuckled nervously.

"Okay, I want you to start from the beginning." Roswaal smirked and folded his hands.

"The beginning?" Subaru took a breath. "Which beginning? Rem or Emilia?"

"Well, I know your beginning with Emilia for the most part. You protected her from the Bowel Hunter and returned her medallion. With Rem… I know about the mabeast attack, but not much surrounding it."

"Okay. I enlisted Rem's help in taking out the mabeast that night in the village."

"How did you know they were going to attack that night?" Roswaal questioned.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you. I just… know things."

The head of the house sat in thought a moment. He thought back to his time with Echidna and how she spoke of her fellow witch Satella. "I do believe that I know what you mean."

"Huh?"

"You see, back when I was younger, and when I met Betty, I met the Witch of Greed, Echidna. She was very kind to me and taught me many things. One such thing was her sister Satella. Satella has great power and can influence others. She mentioned her ability to go after the heart…"

That got Subaru's attention. "H-Heart?"

"Yes. Echidna told me that one such curse allowed for one to return to a certain point in time after they have died. However, she said that such curse was incredibly powerful and could not be broken by this world."

Subaru's world came crashing down then and there. "So there really is no hope." He mumbled, but Roswaal heard him.

"Wait… You?" He dared not speak further.

Subaru just nodded. That was all he could do.

"That is very unfortunate. Hold on, allow me to clear another suspicion. Echidna told me that Satella's power was so great she could open dimensional gates. Would that explain..?"

"I believe so. Before I came here, I was at a shop near my home. I blinked and I was here." Subaru then remembered something. "Oh yeah. Betty said that she would look into finding my home."

"I'm glad to see that you two have gotten along so well."

Subaru stood to leave.

"When you go home, who will you take with you?"

"Huh?"

"I understand your other dilemma. You don't know which to choose, Rem or Emilia. If I may offer a suggestion, think about your time here. Which one appears to reciprocate your feelings more, which one makes you feel worthy of their love. When you learn to see what's around you, you'll find your answer."

Subaru stood in thought a moment. 'Well, that helps… I think.' "Thank you Roswaal."

"No problem, my boy."

He left the strange lord to himself and began to wander the halls to his room. It didn't take long for him to feel a pair of eyes following him. When he would turn a corner, exactly five seconds later, he would feel it again.

Subaru thought for a moment 'Learn to see your surroundings…' He continued to the next hall when he felt eyes on him. 'You wanna play a game? Well let's play.' Subaru turned another corner and hid behind a large cabinet before the eyes could follow. He waited there until he heard footsteps approaching. As the steps passed, a head of bright blue hair passed with them. He had the culprit. It was Rem.

'Ah, so that's who was following me.' He chuckled silently before stepping behind her. His steps mimicked hers to keep the sound down as he followed her to the next corner.

Rem stopped and peered around the corner to find her target. "Where could he have gone?"

"Right here." Subaru whispered in her ear.

"AH!" Rem jumped as she did not expect his voice to be behind her. She turned to see the sly face of her target standing not a foot behind her. "How, how did you get behind Rem!?"

He just kept laughing. "First, you tell me why you were following me."

She blushed at his question. "Rem heard you and Lord Roswaal talking about the curse."

"Oh, so you were spying on me?" He took a step closer making her step back.

"No, no, it's not like that." She put up her hands to defend herself. "Rem was worried about you. I'm sorry Subaru."

The joke had gone on long enough. He wrapped his arms lovingly around Rem. "It's okay, I'm not mad." He swayed side to side with her as she melted in his arms. He was her hero and she loved him.

Then, Rem remembered her own question. "How did you get behind Rem?"

"Simple, I hid behind that cabinet before the 5 seconds was up." Rem blushed when he mentioned the time frame she used.

"I, uh…"

"It's okay Rem. I found it amusing once I knew it was you. If it was Ram, I probably would run." He chuckled to try and lighten the mood.

Rem's dejected face didn't change. "And if it was Lady Emilia?"

There it was. Even though she hid it very well, he heard a bit of jealousy in her voice. "Well, if it was Emilia, I probably would have been able to hide from her a lot longer." He still rocked with her in his arms. "Why? Worried Emilia was trying to keep me to herself?"

"N-No." She sighed. "Yes."

"Rem, come with me."

"Okay."

They walked together through the halls until Subaru told her to stop. They were at some random door in a long blank hallway. He knocked on the door since now he had her permission to enter. The door opened to reveal Betty sitting on her stool with the book on dimensions in her hand.

"Hey Betty. How's the search coming?" Subaru asked as he led Rem in behind him.

Beatrice looked up and smiled. "It's going well, I only have about 30 or so more worlds to comb through." Then she noticed that she had another visitor. "Oh, the blue one is here, I suppose."

Rem, who had been looking around in amazement heard what Betty said and snapped to attention. "Hello Lady Beatrice."

"Betty, be nice to Rem. If it was Ram, I wouldn't be so pushy with it, but please be nice to Rem."

"Okay. She can stay, I suppose." Betty placed the open book down on her table. "So, why have you come to visit Betty?"

What? I can't just come here because I missed you?" Subaru walked over to the loli and placed her on his shoulders. "I miss my little friend."

"Betty is not little!" She shouted and bopped Subaru on the head to get him to put her down.

Rem suppressed a giggled with her hand. 'I wonder if Rem will get to see that with our kids.' She quickly shook her head. 'No, he loves Emilia more.'

"You okay Rem?" Subaru asked as he put Betty down.

"Rem is fine, thank you." She smiled.

"Okay. Betty, do you mind if I share our research with Rem?"

"What do you mean 'our' research? Betty's been doing all the work." She griped back.

"I'm sorry Betty, but Ram keeps me busy all day so I can't come see you as much as I'd like."

"It's fine if you tell her, I suppose." Betty sat back down and opened her book.

Rem stood confused a moment. "Subaru?"

"Rem, Betty is helping me go home."