Chapter 18: Every Time You Leave

Rem and Subaru walked along to the room that was home to Beatrice and her great library. The plan that was set was that Rem and Subaru would go first into the portal. Once making sure that everything was stable, Beatrice would follow them. They would stay for a week or two then come back. From what Betty found out, the time difference wasn't off at all. In fact, they were almost in sync with each other.

The two walked in the library holding hands and a rucksack each. Rem's blue bag matched her hair and Subaru had his brown one that Roswaal provided. "You ready?" Subaru asked as the doors opened.

"Hai." Rem beamed and followed him in.

Once inside, they saw everyone from the manor was there to send them off. Roswaal, Emilia, Ram, and Puck were there to say goodbye. Even though it was only for about a week, it was still a send off.

Rem almost teared up as her sister stepped forward and took her hands. "Rem, please be careful on the other side. Despite what he says, they might not be as acceptable of demons as he is." She shot a glare to him. "And you, take care of her. If I hear you did anything wrong to her..."

Subaru placed a hand on Ram's head. "Then I have nothing to worry about. Don't worry Ram, we'll be just fine."

Ram hugged her sister and stepped back. Beatrice then came around the bookshelf. "Everything is ready. I was able to craft the doorway into this closet here." The loli pointed back to the closet behind the spiral staircase. There sat a purple spiraling vortex that was the portal to Subaru's home. "Whenever you're ready."

The two looked at each other. "Alright. Here we go." Subaru took Rem's hand and followed Betty to the portal. "Are you sure this is safe?"

"About as safe as I could make it. I will join you shortly once I can finish a few things up here. The portal's exit should be close to your home given the location you provided." Betty grinned as Subaru patted her head.

Rem stared ahead into the void that paired this world with her future home. "Let's go." Subaru nodded and stepped forward with her. Their bodies became enveloped in purple light and disappeared. Then, disaster struck.

The doorway shook and screeched as the purple light grew brighter and brighter, soon no one could see. A loud crack echoed through the room and the light dimmed to reveal that it had vanished completely. The plan was that Beatrice would join them in the other world after a day so she could establish a way back, but now the portal's gone.

Ram sprinted to the doorway and tried to jump through before it completely vanished, but she was too late. The portal was gone. She then turned to the spirit. "What happened? Bring them back."

Betty stared at the doorway as a silent tear leaked from her eye. "I-I don't know. The power was stable when I checked it. This shouldn't have happened." She turned to see an enraged pink demon staring at her. "I'm sorry Ram."

The pink demon growled and sprinted at the spirit who made no move to defend herself. Ram's rampage (see what I did there) was stopped by Roswaal who held her back. "Now is not the time for this." Together, Ram and Roswaal left the room leaving Betty with Emilia and Puck.

Emilia stared at the portal's remnants with her mouth open. The man she had come to love, and one of her best friends just vanished from this world with no guarantee that they made it to the intended destination. Her violet eyes began to water as the realization hit her full force. "No." Puck turned to her and hugged her neck. "He can't be gone."

The purple light faded and their vision cleared. They were standing in the middle of a street in the late evening. No one was around and the snow glistened in the sun. Rem shivered since she was only wearing her summer clothes. "It's cold."

Subaru took off his track jacket and wrapped her in it. "Here, this should warm you up a little bit." Rem's cheeks went red as she blushed. Her face was warm and in turn her body warmed. He looked around and found where they were. "We're about 3 blocks from my home." Pulling out the once useless cellphone from his pocket, he opened it to find he had service and a little bit of battery left. "I can get us somewhere." With the press of a few buttons, the dial tone rang a second before a voice picked up.

"He-Hello?" A voice came from the other side.

"Mother? It's me, Subaru."

"Is this some kind of joke?" the voice returned sharp and stern.

"No mother, it's really me." He could understand why she was skeptical.

Since she couldn't hear the other side of the conversation, Rem was confused. "Is that your mother Subaru?"

Apparently, Subaru's mother heard Rem say her son's name. "Wait, Subaru?"

"It's me Mom. We're not far from the house, but Rem is cold so I don't want her to walk through this. Can you and Dad come get us?"

"S-Sure, baby. We'll be right there." He told her the location and hung up. Subaru placed the phone back in his pocket.

He turned to Rem who sneezed from the cold. "Come over here." Doing as asked, Rem let herself be wrapped in his arms as she shivered. "We'll be warm soon."

Rem tried to summon her demon powers to keep her warm, but it failed. "I can't get warm from my oni powers. They're not working."

"Perhaps the jump stripped them from you. I'm sure they'll come back." He held her and rubbed her freezing body until his parents arrived. After about 5 minutes, a car rolled down the street and stopped in front of them. His mother jumped out the car and wrapped both of them in a hug, his father was soon to do the same. They didn't even exchange information before they were on the way back home. Rem laid on Subaru's shoulder and started to nod off.

Once they arrived back at the house, Subaru picked Rem up and carried her inside to the living room. He laid her down and sat her head on his lap. "I assume I should start from the beginning?"

His father was the one to answer. "Yes, please. We've missed you so much, and here you stand with some girl we've never seen before. You can take your time though."

Subaru smiled and thanked him. "It's fine, I can tell it now. Remember how I left for the store the night I... left?" He waited for them to nod. "When I walked out the store, I was transported to another world. I don't know how or why, but I was suddenly standing in a center square." He then told them about meeting Emilia and trying to help her get her amulet back. "After helping her, she brought me to the manor of a Lord out in the country."

The older man spoked again. "I find it all hard to believe truly. But it does explain why we couldn't find you."

His mother stopped him for a minute. "You said her name is Emilia? But this girl..."

"This is Rem. I met her at the manor where she worked as a maid." He took a minute and stroked her hair. After taking a deep breath, he told them. "Mom, Dad, this is Rem, and she's a demon."

Both of them stared at the sleeping girl with a questioning look. His father was the one to speak first. "This young girl is a demon? But aren't demons supposed to be evil beings?"

"That's what I thought at first, but Rem and her sister Ram are the nicest demons from that world." As they spoke, Rem began to wake up.

"What's going on?" She looked around and her blue eyes caught the attention of Subaru's parents. "I, I... Pardon the intrusion." She was about to stand up and bow, but Subaru stopped her.

"There's no need to be so formal, right?"

Both his parents nodded. "It's fine dear. You don't have worry about that. But, is what he said true?"

"What did he say?"

"Tha-That you're a demon from another world."

Rem turned to Subaru with a shocked look. "Y-You told them!" She was about to tear up, but Subaru held her close to him.

"It's fine, Rem. I explained a bit of your past as well as your occupation."

"Yes, he told us you and your sister were maids in the service of someone called Roswaal Mathers. He didn't tell us everything since he wanted to keep your life to you." Subaru's father smiled. He could see that Rem was clearly nervous about being in another world. "You're safe here, Rem. Demons aren't exactly feared in this day and age. More like ignored or thought of as fiction."

The demon stared at her lover's parents and smiled. "Thank you." She then sat up and turned so she was leaning on Subaru.

"Anyway." Subaru continued his story after he met Rem. He left out the part that she tried to kill him since Rem didn't know about it either. "Rem helped me defend a village near the manor and rescue a bunch of children. After that, we went with Emilia and Roswaal to the capital."

His mother gave him a questioning look. "You've mentioned Emilia before, but not much. Who is she?"

"Emilia is a candidate to be the next ruler of the kingdom of Lugnica. She also bares a striking resemblance to the witch of envy. The witch is sort of the villain of this world. and the one that brought me there. Emilia looking like her draws her scrutiny and pain." He paused for a moment. "She is also this close to me." He gestured to Rem who was leaning on him still.

Subaru's father looked puzzled. "That's a question I was going to ask. What is Rem to you?"

They all looked at Rem, who's cheeks went bright red in contrast to her hair and eyes. "I, I"

"Rem is my girlfriend." Everyone's eyes turned to him. "That being said, Emilia is also a lover."

"How does that work?" His father was even more intrigued. "I mean, surely not polygamy?

A light chuckle came from Subaru. "It's weird. This is only a recent thing, but yea. Rem wanted to come back home with me since she is that devoted to me, but Emilia couldn't since she's a candidate for king, well queen. So, we decided that in that world, I will be Emilia's lover, while here... I'm with Rem" He looked down and smiled at Rem.

"I guess that makes sense." His mother smiled. "Well, I hope he makes you happy Rem. I know he's not much but he's a great boy."

"What do you mean 'he's not much'? Subaru is my hero." That was a shocker. As far as they knew, Subaru had never done anything heroic. At least, not in this world. Seeing the confusion, Rem began to list the things he's done. "Subaru saved the children in the village as well as me and my sister. He then helped the knights repel and destroy the white whale." She took a moment to explain what the whale was. "Then he sent me away with some injured knights since my power was drained. From what I've been told, he led a mission to kill the arch bishop of sloth."

"Sloth, Envy? Is there a reason they are like the seven deadly sins?" Subaru's mother asked.

Rem then went into the entire story, well as far as she knew of the witches and their bishops. She mentioned the cult attack on her home which forced them to become maids. "Come to think about it, without the cult, Subaru and I would never have met." The demon turned to the one she wanted to become her husband. "I, I love Subaru."

The room went silent for a little while. Subaru smiled at Rem while keeping an observant eye on his parents. "Rem, I promised you before we came here that I would marry you. I don't have a ring but I hope you're willing to wait till I do."

Rem smiled as bright as she could before reaching up and kissing him in front of his family. "Subaru, I would wait a million lifetimes to be yours, but I know you won't make me wait that long."

Subaru's father let out a loud laugh at the two. "You're just like us when we were younger. Always showing off in front of others."

His mother cut in next. "Those were fun days. However, it's very late and it's time for bed." She walked over and kissed her son's head. "I'm so happy you're home sweet heart. And Rem..." Rem looked at her. "Welcome to the family." The demon smiled in the arms of her beloved.

"Thank you, mother."

Afterwards, Subaru's parents went off to their bedroom while Subaru and Rem lay back on the couch. They were positioned so that Subaru lay on his back with Rem on his chest. She was still wearing his jacket.

"You're not hot in that thing? The heater is on." Subaru asked as she settled down on him.

She shook her head. "It makes me feel safe being wrapped in something of yours."

"But you're wrapped in my arms?" He did as he spoke and wrapped his arms around her back.

"Then I'm double safe." They both giggled a bit as sleep began to overtake them. "Goodnight Subaru."

"Goodnight, my little blue demon."