I told you that I'd be back, didn't I?
To those of you who stuck around, thank you. It means so much to me. To those of you who moved on, I wish you well.
During the break, we reached both a thousand followers and a thousand reviews. It's utterly insane, but it's also been great being able to talk to you guys in review responses and the like. Seriously, thank you to everyone for all these incredible experiences.
Anyway, updates will come whenever a chapter is ready, and I'll still have about a month off for the wedding in October, but I should still have another chapter between now and then. The next one is an Emilia Camp Interlude (intended to provide a much-needed break), and the Trial will end in Chapter 41. Normally, I wouldn't say when an arc will end, but this one was only supposed to be a few chapters, and it ended up being novel-length. So, uh, yeah. I figured I'd let you know that this wouldn't go on forever.
Special thanks to my fiancée for editing this story. Within a couple of chapters, the format of this author's note will change forever, and I can't wait.
The Witch of Envy
"Sanctuary. She's in the Sanctuary."
He was a hurricane of power, making his way through the Forest of Kremaldy. His footsteps singed the grass under him. The trees themselves shied away from his aura as it lashed out, destroying everything in its path.
With a blank expression on his face, Flugel hunted down the last living Witch.
With every step he took, he submerged himself in memories of Echidna. Her infuriating "I know all" expression, her silver tongue and the lies it had crafted…He hated it all, hated her so much! Echidna was the reason that Satella was like this! Echidna was the reason he was on this path! Echidna was the reason that Daph—
He stopped his march to smack himself in the head. "Don't speak her name!" he shouted to himself. "You don't deserve to use it!"
Her death was his fault, and no one else.
He shoved those intrusive thoughts down and proceeded. After all, he only had twenty-four hours left to save Satella.
Now, who was responsible for Satella's condition? Echidna.
"I'm going to enjoy tearing your ugly head from your shoulders, you bitch."
At long last, Flugel passed through the barrier. He still wasn't sure why Echidna had begun Project Sanctuary, nor why she wanted to keep out a demihuman. Who was she so afraid of?
A certain Warlock popped into his mind. So, it was Hector, wasn't it? Was Hector a demihuman? How did Echidna know that Hector would seek her out?
"It doesn't matter," Flugel reminded himself. "Only Satella matters. Forget everything else."
He couldn't forget—not while the Witch Factors screamed at him. Not when her eyes had looked at him in betrayal.
He kept his steady pace even as his heart faltered. Eventually, he entered a clearing in front of a massive stone structure. Facing the aforementioned structure, completely still, was Echidna.
"It's strange," she murmured. "Years later, and it seems I cannot let go of my feelings. Hatred, love, and now…well, I find it difficult to say aloud."
Flugel said nothing.
"Empathy and regret do not come easy to a Witch, you see. Even after 'dying,' I do not think I can truly comprehend the emotional ramifications of my actions, nor would I change anything. I—"
"Shut up."
Echidna slowly turned around, revealing the dark bags under her eyes. Her characteristic, enigmatic smile was nowhere to be found.
"I buried my daughter today," Flugel said evenly. "I didn't realize just how small she was until I carried her cold, limp body and laid her to rest in the sand."
"How unfortunate. Should I offer my condolences?"
"You can shut the fuck up."
Against all odds, she complied.
"The other Witches of Sin are dead," he continued. His expression hadn't changed in the slightest. "A monster murdered them all in cold blood. Now, that same monster is here to avenge his wife."
Without bothering to use an incantation, he solidified the water in the air, sharpening it more than the dagger that had killed his daughter. The dust coalesced into a shield, protecting him from any retaliation. "I'm feeling generous. Any last words?"
Echidna placed a hand on her chest and sighed. "Even now, you make my maidenly heart flutter. To have those eyes, filled with the world's loathing, trained upon my innocent, vulnerable figure…Truly, you are the key to fulfilling my Greed."
Flugel's eye twitched. "Anything else?"
"Plenty," she answered, as casually as ever. "But those may have to come another day."
"There won't be another day. I'm ending your life, here and now."
"How confident. I like that in a man. I can only hope that you are correct." Then, a bit mockingly, she asked, "Shall we dance?"
He responded with a flurry of ice, wind, and fire, sending rotating spears from multiple directions. The earth encased her, keeping her in place. A bolt of lightning was called down from the sky, sending millions of volts through her body.
As expected, she was completely unscathed.
"You're quite predictable," Echidna said when the dust cleared. "The other elements were a nice touch, but protection against electricity is surprisingly effective against other magical attacks as well."
Flugel narrowed his eyes ever-so-slightly. Why was she telling him this? It wasn't like Echidna to play all of her cards at once.
Slowly, she raised her arm towards him, palm-out. "Al Goa."
The wall of flames, twice as tall as him, rushed forward, but he wasn't the slow, incapable child that had last confronted her. A simple Huma with extra power behind it was enough to split her attack like a fiery Red Sea.
She sent the same spell at him again. He wondered why she was making this easy for him. Did she want him to go on the offensive?
Well, if she wanted him to attack, then attack he shall. He threw everything that he had at her. All of his experiences had led up to this moment. His meager quarrels with Reid and Hector were nothing compared to what he assaulted Echidna with. Every bit of his pain encapsulated her, as his adrenaline rose upon seeing how she was as helpless as he had once been.
He ceased his attack, breathing heavily. Echidna stood in the exact same position, completely unaffected. She raised a single, delicate eyebrow as if to ask, "Did you expect anything else?"
Quite frankly, he hadn't, but it felt so damn good to attack her.
Suddenly, he realized something. "You're toying with me," he accused. He knew that Echidna had spells like Va Humawhich could instantly kill him, yet she wasn't using them. "It doesn't make sense to drag this out. Is this some kind of joke to you?"
"Of course not. I am seeking the same thing as you."
He snorted. "Don't tell me that an immortality-obsessed Witch wants to die."
She closed her eyes and looked to the sky. "I will not lie—death still terrifies me. After coming back from it, however…It saps even the greatest of wills. No one is strong enough to return from death yet seek to live again."
"Returning from death? What the hell are you talking about?"
A facsimile of her former smile appeared on her face. "A Witch I may be, but I believe that a part of me is still human. That aspect is molded by my experiences, and…Ah, but there is no point in explaining my viewpoint, is there? You do not care. You hate me."
Flugel's lips curled in a sneer, but he said nothing.
"All of the Witches have killed people. All of us have ruined lives. Come to think of it, I may have ruined the leastamount while saving the most…yet I am the one whom you despise."
"Because this is your fault," Subaru interrupted. "Satella's degradation is your fault. Without you, she and I would be living happily."
"Without me, she would be dead," Echidna said without batting an eye. Circumstances aside, she had provided for Satella when she hadn't had to. "But I digress. We were speaking of…of death. A miserable experience, but I would rather return to oblivion than remember that for an eternity. Unfortunately, merely killing this me is not a permanent end to my existence. More drastic measures are required."
"I don't know what that means," Flugel said. He didn't really care, either, so long as he got what he came for. "What else are you looking for? What, you want to save Satella? I call bullshit."
"Satella? No. I have no desire to analyze those feelings. Right now, what we both seek…is fulfillment." She spread her arms wide, but they didn't rise past her waist. "A Witch can attain fulfillment either through completely denying their Sin or by embracing it. Since I seek knowledge anyway, I chose the latter."
"And what does that have to do with dragging this encounter out?"
"Don't you see? To fall into Sin is to embrace the essence of a Witch Factor: the Od Laguna's loathing. A power belonging only to Witches, certain spirits…and you.
"You, the Sage, are filled with that power. One look in your eyes is enough to intoxicate one such as I. A single glance and a Witch will love you forever, be it romantically or in a familial sense. Is that not why Daphne was so attached to you?"
Up until that point, Flugel had almost listened to her. He clenched his fists, as his vision tinted red. "That's not why D—why she cared for me!"
"How interesting. Then perhaps the search for fulfillment is why you cared so much for her?"
He wasn't paying attention at that point. He was too busy gathering his strength.
"You seek a child of your own flesh and blood, but why? You've admitted to loving Daphne as much as a biological child, so why do you crave more? Why do you insist that Shaula, a mabeast, is like a daughter to you? Why daughters but never sons? Or brothers? Or sisters? I am sure that you question it, so how come you haven't figured it out? Even after meeting her, why can't you see the truth? Why—"
"Al Fura!"
A massive blade of wind slipped through Echidna's defenses. Droplets of red fell upon the ground in front of her. She held up her bleeding arm with a contemplative expression. "I had known it before, but to see physical proof of my humanity…Thank you, Flugel. I believe that I am ready to end both myself…and the me inside the dream."
She closed her eyes, raised her right hand to the sky, and spoke:
"Al Sharia."
Deep within space, thousands of light-years away, was a cradle of newborn stars in a familiar shape: the Butterfly Nebula. From the outer rim, a single white star detached from its orbit. It shrunk to the size of a small comet, increasing its gravitational field. Meteorites, planets, and even matter from other stars merged with it, increasing its speed billions of times over…as it rocketed towards Lugunica.
The falling star—propelled by Echidna's yang magic—made the speed of light look like a snail's pace. The surrounding spacetime ripped like fabric as the star's energy increased to near-infinite proportions. If it moved any closer, it would affect their own solar system, eliminating all life.
At that speed, it was clear that they only had a few minutes.
Flugel's blood ran cold as he saw the burning star approach the atmosphere. He could barely process it—such a thing shouldn't be possible, even though the laws of physics were different here.
The motivation was equally incomprehensible. To think that Echidna, of all people, would wish for death was unfathomable enough, but to bring everyone down with her? It didn't make sense to him. There had to be another reason.
As the falling star tore through space, he couldn't help but wonder what else she was trying to destroy.
He gulped as it came closer. As terrifying as it was, it was so…beautiful. He had always loved the stars, despite them being so far away. Now, as one threatened to meet him head-on, he felt so…small. Insignificant. Inconsequential. He was an ant next to a mountain, screeching about how important he was.
Now, an ant he may be, but he was absolutely going to fight that mountain if it meant saving his wife.
He sent a barrage of shadow spears at Echidna. He knew that it wouldn't kill her, but at least she could be distracted, right?
While still holding her spell, Echidna flicked a finger, dispelling his attack. She admired him through lidded eyes. "That fiery gaze, directed solely at me…Why, my maidenly heart cannot take it."
"Is now really the time?!" he asked, mouth agape. "A fucking falling star is about to kill us all!"
"Mhm. Quite unfortunate, that."
No more, no less. This nasty Witch, who had selfishly tried to claim Satella's life in the pursuit of immortality, was casually giving up her own life.
Flugel may not be interested in living all that much, but he needed to survive this battle for Satella's sake. What could he even do? There was no way that he could destroy that star with his own meager power.
He clenched his fists. "If only punching you in your stupid face would be enough to stop your spell."
Echidna blushed and fanned her face. "You'd hit a lady, just like that? Oh, you're so cruel to—"
Without warning, he struck her in the temple. She crumpled to the ground before him, and he glared down at her. She turned her head and met his gaze, but she said nothing aloud. She merely smiled as if saying, "Perhaps we will meet again one day."
He kicked the side of the head, knocking her unconscious. For good measure, he stomped on her hand and crushed her feeble bones.
The Witch of Greed, the strongest magic user and the last living Witch, lay prone and defeated before the Sage.
However, she was not dead. Consequently, that meant that she was still powering her spell.
Flugel…no, the entire planet only had thirty seconds left to live. There was no way he was capable of taking out a star, but he might know someone who could. He wasn't sure if this would work, but he didn't have any other options.
He spread his arms wide, raised his face to the sky, and called out, "Volcanica! I need your help!"
The Divine Dragon had come back to the mansion after its confrontation with Sekhmet, confused and not quite lucid. Despite that, it still remembered the people whom it fought for.
Out of a hole in reality itself, Volcanica tore through the spacetime continuum and flew into space at unfathomable speeds.
"For her," it rumbled to itself, as it had for days on end. "The Original Spirit…wishes to save her…"
With determination in its heart, Volcanica gladly faced its fate.
The falling star, once radiant, was now completely invisible. Light was pulled into its gravitational field, from which it could not escape. In the face of this monstrosity, time itself shattered.
Unfortunately for the star, its opponent was the Divine Dragon.
With its aura flaring, Volcanica straightened itself out and opened its mouth wide. Faster than the eye could see, it intercepted the shrunken star's path…
…and swallowed it whole.
The gravitational field hadn't affected Volcanica in the slightest, and the star's sphere of influence disappeared the moment the dragon shut its mouth. All of the mass and energy was instantly converted into pure mana, which the Divine Dragon easily contained. It let loose a mighty roar, heralding its victory to the world.
Once upon a time, a man with a different name would have been awestruck at the impossible feat. Now, Flugel merely sighed in relief.
Still, while the world-ending threat had abided, his entire body remained tense. Echidna still wasn't dead—though she may be as fragile as glass, physically, it wouldn't be so easy to defeat an immortality-obsessed genius.
His eyes drifted to the stone building near them; specifically, to the runes he had spotted. He was no rune expert, but he could never forget that combination.
"Ismir. Mora. Tahli. Llina. Tahli. Eetay."
If he took the first sound—but not necessarily the first syllable—of each rune, it sounded remarkably similar to a language from his homeland. He had no idea how to speak it, but he knew a few words, most of which he had taught to Shaula for her named attacks. The algorithm in front of him was massive, but if he looked at one specific string and translated it with the aforementioned method, he could decipher the word immortality.
Those runes had been carved onto Satella's flesh when she was but a small child.
Either this structure was keeping Echidna alive, or it was designed to resurrect her at some point. Perhaps it was both, but he didn't have time to figure it out.
Not taking his eyes off of the comatose Witch, Flugel called for Volcanica. The massive beast traversed the distance from space to the ground in mere seconds, yet it barely made a sound upon landing.
Slowly, it spoke. "The Witch…is not dead."
"I know," Flugel said testily. "Look, you just absorbed a massive amount of energy. Think you can use it to brute force past Echidna's protections?"
In response, Volcanica opened its maw wide, releasing the power of a dying star in one continuous burst. It was a supernova only an arm's length away from them, concentrated purely on the Witch of Greed. Every cell, every atom in her body vaporized into nothingness.
The matter and energy that made up Echidna's body was not changed, modified, or converted. In the face of Divine Retribution, her physical form was erased from existence. From here on out, she only existed in dreams and nightmares.
Now that she was gone, would she exist in Flugel's nightmares, too? He didn't know.
Echidna was…What even was she to him? Yes, he despised her, but at this point, did he even have the right to? She had hurt her "daughter," but she had also provided for Satella for over a decade. She had saved Satella in ways that Subaru hadn't been able to.
Flugel had murdered his daughter after three years.
Typhon—the judge, jury, and executioner of sinners—told him that he was worse. He found himself agreeing.
All of these emotions, however, were muted. At this point, he felt so…numb. He had dreamed of this day, even before he had crafted his plan to kill the Witches. This was the woman who had destroyed his life, destroyed Satella's life. None of this would have happened without Echidna.
He had hoped for catharsis, but he just wanted to go home and heal Satella. That was all that remained for him in this life.
Flugel looked at the tomb and the glowing runes. He'd love to destroy it piece by piece, but he needed to make Satella a priority. He was running out of time, and the tomb likely had a ton of protections on it that would take days—perhaps weeks, or even months—to dismantle. Besides, even Echidna couldn't come back from such a powerful attack.
…An attack that was still going.
"That's enough," Flugel told Volcanica, who obeyed his order. "That's…Her body is destroyed. Please…no more."
He didn't know why he was offering mercy. Maybe he was just a coward who was afraid of his own punishment, which would undoubtedly be worse. Or perhaps he was thinking of their strange conversation before their fight, where she implied that she held some level of affection for Satella. It didn't excuse anything or make it okay, but it left him feeling…odd.
He sighed. "Let's just go home. There's nothing left for us here."
Without further ado, Volcanica scooped up Flugel in its talons, created a wormhole with a mere thought, and brought them back to the mansion.
On the ground, unseen by all, a blue pyroxene crystal, completely unaffected by Volcanica's attack, floated up off the ground and into the tomb.
Twenty-two hours remained.
Every moment, Satella's soul decayed further. In twenty-two hours, it would wither away into nothingness. Soon, the soul would still exist on the mortal plane, but saving her would be pointless. Calling her "comatose" would be pointless; she'd be neither alive nor dead.
However, he didn't have twenty-two hours. The window to save her was much smaller.
In truth, Flugel only had one hour left to save his wife.
He had arrived two hours earlier. He should have been done by now. Satella should be walking around, and he should have already stabbed himself in the throat.
But no. He was a weak, pathetic piece of shit. He couldn't even open the damn door to his room.
"S-Subaru, Satella—"
He paused. He didn't finish the passphrase.
Once again, he pressed his palm against the wood and pushed his mana into it. "Subaru, Satella…and Shaula."
Nothing. Of course, he couldn't cheat it.
"Why now?" he muttered under his breath. His heart rate increased as his mind counted down how little time he had left. "My old name is hard enough. Geuse, I'm going to fucking slay you. Why did you close it now, of all times?"
"Because Lady Satella requested for her final moments to be alone."
Flugel whirled around to find Geuse standing somberly at the entrance of the library. The Sage grit his teeth; he didn't have time to talk. "Well, Lady Satella doesn't have a choice in the matter. I'm going to see her as the last thing I do."
Geuse nodded. Dried tears ran down his face—strange, as the spirit only cried when happy.
At least, that had once been true.
Geuse's overall demeanor had changed. His shoulders slumped, weighed down by an unseen burden. His bright, intelligent eyes looked dull and lifeless.
"That is acceptable," Geuse said flatly. "Lady Satella said that she'd be more than happy to see you, though she didn't think that you would come."
"And you?"
"She and I have said our goodbyes many times over the past two weeks. She didn't say what was happening, but she had a lovely moment with Shaula before sending the poor girl away to the Watchtower."
Flugel froze. Geuse's expression shifted to one of resignation.
"Master Flugel," he whispered. His voice cracked under the weight of his grief. "Will Shaula see her mother when she gets to the Tower?"
Flugel's entire body trembled. Geuse kept probing, despite already knowing the answer.
Eventually, Flugel cracked. "She smiled at me," he said quietly, choking on his own words. The memory of the cold metal in his hands and her encouraging words threatened to overwhelm him. "Even though I didn't choose her, she smiled. How could she smile knowing I'd never even considered her?"
He faced the spirit head-on, breaking his mask in the process. "I killed her, Geuse. When Shaula arrives at the Tower, she's going to find a tombstone."
Geuse had known it to be true, but the force of the words sent him reeling, nonetheless. He collapsed into a nearby chair and gripped his head in his hands. "You really…Oh, Master, what has become of you?"
"I am who I have always been, Geuse."
He was the Sage: the most despicable being on the planet.
Geuse pulled at his hair before collecting himself enough to speak. "I know it is unbecoming of me to ask anything of you, but, please, don't let their sacrifices be in vain."
Upon hearing that request, Flugel didn't yell, or cry, or feel much of anything, really. Geuse may as well have asked him to go to the store right as he was in the process of leaving.
"I will honor them until the end. You have my word."
With that, he sent Geuse away. He only had forty-five minutes remaining.
He faced the wall and placed his hand against the wood. He steeled his nerves, channeled his power, and spoke: "Subaru, Satella…D-D-Daphne and Shaula!"
With that, he ripped open the mana seal, tearing off the carefully woven spellwork. Her name was forcibly removed, leaving a passphrase that he was capable of saying. With heaving breaths, he forced out, "Subaru…Satella…and Shaula."
The passphrase was changed, and the door opened.
Satella lay on her back in the center of the bed with her hands clasped over her chest. It wasn't her natural sleeping position—she had always preferred to be on her side, facing him—but one into which she had been carefully placed. The silver light from their bedside lamp shone down upon her like her own personal moon, showering her with its undying love.
It was a beautiful picture, yet Flugel felt like he was viewing her corpse before her funeral.
"I swear, I won't let it come to that."
It wasn't a matter of years, months, weeks, or even days. He had minutes to perform his task. Luckily, a certain someone had said that it would not take long.
He stood over Satella's body, trying to untwist the knots in his stomach. It wasn't guilt or regret—he would recognize those feelings in a heartbeat.
This was nerve-wracking anxiety.
Oh, sure, he knew what the procedure would be; he wouldn't take on such a gruesome task without knowing everything involved. Still, this was his one shot to save Satella. It had cost him everything to get this far, so he needed to make sure that he wouldn't botch it. Only one person could help him with that.
"Pandora."
The platinum-haired woman appeared in his vision so seamlessly, he had trouble believing that she wasn't already in the room. Her eyes remained locked upon Satella's prone figure.
"You're so…perfect," Pandora murmured. She brushed a stray lock of hair behind Satella's ear with a fond smile. "I must confess, I miss the days where we were one, my princess. I swear, I shall reclaim those feelings, even if it's only for a moment."
"Shut up." Flugel clenched his fists. "You know why I called you here, and it's not to hear you fawn over my wife."
She looked up at Flugel, unperturbed. Her smile never wavered, but it still refused to meet her eyes. "I suppose you're right," she said. "After all, 'there's a time and place for everything! But not now.'"
She covered her mouth and pushed out a facsimile of a giggle, almost as if she were sharing an inside joke. Flugel, for the life of him, didn't get it.
His lack of understanding didn't seem to bother her much. Following his implied request, she described exactly how he needed to manipulate the Witch Factors.
A short time later, she finished her explanation, clapped her hands together, and smiled. "Do you understand, my treasured one?"
Flugel nodded sharply. It was a bit abstract, but he could do it.
"Now, just…leave," he said, feeling an oncoming headache from her mere presence. "Goodbye forever, Pandora."
Her eyes twinkled. "You may try and bid me farewell, but I have never left your side."
As if to spite herself, she vanished.
He turned his attention back to Satella. This was it: his final moments with her. Soon, she would toss him to the side, and he would kill himself. He refused to accept any other outcome.
The reason was quite simple. He needed her alive, yes, but he also needed her to love him.
"Because I'm nothing without you," he told his wife's immobile, vulnerable figure. "I'm the most pathetic, incompetent guy in the world. You gave me strength, but I'm as weak as ever. You gave me a new life, and I squandered it. You're my everything.
"You know what, Ella? The title of 'Sage' is bullshit." He spat the word like a curse. "It never meant anything. I bet that someone just started calling me that because I was near you. You were the hero this world needed most, not me."
His achievements flashed before his mind's eye, but he shoved them down. His failures outweighed anything that he had once accomplished. He wasn't the Sage, but a worthless thing.
His expression softened a bit. "But that's fine. I've accepted who I am. The reputation was cool and all, but I didn't want any of it. I didn't want to be some legendary figure. All I ever wanted to be was your husband."
The Witch Factors, once always screaming, crying, or berating him, were utterly silent. Perhaps they respected a man's last words.
"I made a choice," Flugel said quietly. "I could claim that I was manipulated, or drunk, or pressured, or something like that, but I know the truth. I made that choice. I followed through with it. Every time I wanted to leave that path, I came back to it, even though I knew it was the wrong choice. I still did it…for you.
"It's always been you, Satella. You, and no one else."
He sat on the edge of the bed, brushing wisps of silver hair out of her face. It stuck to her pale, sweaty skin, so he grabbed a cloth from the nightstand and gently wiped her face. Even in deep slumber, she leaned into his touch.
"I'm not a hero or a good father," he continued, unsure if he was speaking for her sake or his own. "Hell, I'm not even a good husband. But…I love you. I really, really do. I love the way your smile lights up the room. I love your protective instincts. I love how you were such a good mom to Daphne. I love how cute you were when you played with Typhon. I love how you accepted Shaula instantly and treated her as your own. I love how you welcomed Geuse with open arms, no questions asked.
"I love how your hair and eyes almost seem to glow sometimes. I love how you're my ideal girl. I love how we ran away together and pushed through all of our struggles, hand-in-hand. I love how you always made sure to tell me every day that I'm the one who saved you. Honestly, I didn't do much; anyone would have proposed, had they been around you long enough.
"I love how strong you are—you even overcame your scars by the end, huh? Even without knowing about the burns, you've helped me with them, too. I wasn't quite there, and I regressed a lot when you got sick, but…given more time, I could have healed. We could have had a little girl of our own flesh and blood, and that strange feeling of loss might have gone away."
He gave her a small smile, brushing his thumb across her cheek. "Daphne and Shaula would have been the cutest older sisters. Geuse would have cried with joy. Minerva would have demanded to be 'Aunt Minerva,' and she wouldn't have taken no for an answer. Typhon would have loved her new playmate. It would have been amazing, and it would have all been because of you.
"Our past, our present, and the future I destroyed…That's why I love you. You've given me all these incredible memories. You've made me who I am. You've made my life worth living, and I fucked it all up."
Now, he would make it better. Now, he would save her.
"I love you, Ella. I'm going to fix this."
Death couldn't have her. She was his.
He crawled over her unconscious form and straddled her. He pinned her arms down, putting almost his entire weight on her fragile bones. She shifted in her restless slumber but didn't—couldn't—wake up.
Without any fanfare, he focused inwards and pulled. Not physically, of course; he grasped the Witch Factors from within his soul and pulled.
Detaching them from himself almost killed him instantly. There was a one in a million chance that he'd survive after this, but that was fine. Saving his wife was more honorable than a knife to the throat.
He pulled and pulled, eventually detaching the Witch Factors, one by one. They manifested outside of his soul, writhing above Satella's stomach. They smashed against each other in a haunting dance, threatening to become one. They hovered over Satella's skin, refusing to be absorbed by someone filled with the world's love. They wanted to go back to Flugel, to the Sage, to the place where they were meant to be.
Flugel wouldn't let that happen. He stopped pulling and started to push. One by one, he forced the Witch Factors into her body, grunting at the exertion. Just as magnets with the same polarity can make contact with enough effort, so too could the Witch Factors with the Sorceress.
For a brief moment, neither possessed a single Witch Factor. They hung in the air between them, hanging on an invisible thread. Flugel's mind cleared for a moment, and he almost felt like Subaru. All the guilt, pain, grief, and regret came to the forefront of his mind, threatening to break his resolve.
But he had come too far. The sunk cost fallacy wasn't supposed to apply to human lives, but he refused to let Daphne's death go to waste.
He pushed harder.
The Factors fought back, rebounding into his soul and sending his thoughts racing. However, his willpower was greater than a mere substance. He forced them through Satella's skin, guiding them to the core of her being.
The moment one touched her soul, she opened her eyes and screamed. She struggled against him, clearly in agony, so he covered her mouth with his own, silencing her with a kiss. He just kept pushing and pushing, forcing the toxic substance inside her.
He replaced his mouth with his hand, smothering her as he gazed dispassionately into her wide, fearful eyes. "It'll be over soon," he soothed. "Shh, it's okay. Don't worry. I love you. I love you."
If anything, that seemed to terrify her further. With strength she didn't have mere minutes before, she tried to push him off. He bound her wrists with earth magic, taking advantage of her panic; there was no way she'd think to dispel it when she was—in her mind, at least—fighting for her life.
To Flugel, he was finally saving her. He could finally fulfill his long-held promise. Every word, every action, every crime, every plan, every murder had led up to this moment. She would be okay. She would be able to live her life as he wanted. He knew that he was in the wrong, but it was absolutely worth it to die knowing that she was alive.
To Satella, she was being violated by the one person she had trusted to never hurt her.
One by one, the Witch Factors tested Satella. The dark, writhing, sludgy substances caressed her soul, mocking her. How could this being—composed entirely of an opposite force—think she was worthy of their power?
Wrath rejected her. Satella had patiently indulged her husband, remaining willfully ignorant of his descent into darkness as she clung to the shred of kindness that remained inside of him.
Lust rejected her. She had let her scars dictate her life, so she had suppressed her desires.
Gluttony rejected her. She was happy with what she had.
Greed rejected her. She was beloved by all for her selfless acts of charity.
Pride rejected her. Though she was stubborn, in the end, she had always relied on others to dictate her life.
Sloth almost took her, but it rejected her in the end. She had given up on being cured but still lived her life to the fullest.
One by one, the Witch Factors returned to the Sage…except for one.
The Witch Factor of Envy hungrily attacked her soul. It saw how she truly felt, witnessing how jealous she was of those with picture-perfect lives. Why could they have children of their own? Why could they have peace when she had struggled more than them?
Next, it viewed her insecurities. What would Subaru do when he couldn't find a cure? When she passed on, would he find someone else? Would he forget their love, forget about her? There were millions of women that were so much better than her. The moment he stopped focusing on saving her, he'd find someone else. Their vows would be forgotten in an instant. The thought tore her up inside, day in and day out.
The Witch Factor preyed on these insecurities, allowing it to see more. It was delighted at what it witnessed.
Satella wasn't just jealous. She was envious.
She felt anger when she saw the idyllic lifestyles of others. She wanted a family more than they did, so she deserved it more than them.
The Witch Factor of Envy latched onto that aspect of Satella and chose her as its new host.
And yet, it couldn't fully bond. Satella, while unaware of it, had the potential to gain any Divine Protection, so she couldn't have an Authority. She was the Sorceress: the epitome of the world's love. She wasn't one of the extremely rare cases where one could hold both the Od Laguna's love and loathing.
As such, she was split in two.
One half was Satella, bearing her soul. She was no longer on the verge of decay, as she was held together by her other half.
Her stronger half. A being unimpeded by thought and empathy. A single-minded entity who only cared about one person.
Lurking just out of sight, waiting for her moment to strike…was the Witch of Envy.
Satella wasn't in bed anymore, somehow finding herself standing with her back against the wall. Aghast—or perhaps unsettled—she gazed at the crying, shivering mess huddled up in the middle of the floor, laughing hysterically.
She took a shaky step forward, unable to hide her panic. She had no idea what had just happened, not what changes had been made to her body. All she knew was that she was cold as ice, that she had boundless energy, and that her husband was in pain.
She dropped to her knees before him, almost collapsing as she did so; it was as if there was another person inside of her skin, taking the same steps and throwing her off balance. She raised her numb hands to his cheeks, granting him the stability she lacked.
"What's wrong?" she asked. Her voice was the same, but it sounded different, somehow. "Are you okay, my love?"
He retreated from her, violently rejecting her affection. It wasn't the first time he had done such a thing—both of them were quite prone to breakdowns—so she knew just how to react.
She sat back on her ankles, waiting patiently. "I'm right here," she said quietly. "Whenever you're ready, I'm right here."
If anything, her kindness just made his agony worse. He had never felt like he deserved her love, so she would prove it to him once more.
She reached out and grasped his head, gently pulling it into her lap. "Breathe. It's okay. Do it with me. In, out. In—slowly, all right? You've just had a long, long nightmare…but it's over now. You're here. I love you."
His tears didn't stop, but he wasn't hyperventilating anymore. "D-don't love me. I d-don't—damn it, I don't deserve your love!"
She smiled down at him. "You're my hero, Subaru. Whether you like it or not, I will always love you."
A lump formed in his throat. "You don't understand! Don't you know what I've done?"
"I do not care," she said stubbornly. "When I had given up on life, you persevered. You saved my life, Subaru."
"B-but Satella, I—"
"I'm famished," she said quickly. Geuse had spoon-fed her some mush, but that was all. "I have not had a proper meal in ages."
He stared at her blankly before raising his eyes to the ceiling in exasperation. "You really do live in a fantasy…but I suppose it wouldn't be the worst thing to hold off on talking for a bit."
"I know not of what you speak." She smiled, helped him stand up, and intertwined their fingers. "Now, I was not lying when I said that I was hungry."
He flinched at the last word. She didn't think much of it.
To her ice-cold skin, his hand was unbearably warm. She forced it out of her mind.
They could have teleported to the kitchen, but they didn't want to risk putting unnecessary strain on her. After all, her physical body hadn't healed instantly—she may have more energy, but her muscles remained atrophied. Who knew if her Od and gate were fixed?
She clung to him, remaining locked to his side. Of course, her condition was just an excuse. She could hobble over to the kitchen just fine, thank you very much.
In reality, neither wanted to let go of the other.
Still, it was a pain to move. By the time she had made it to the kitchen, she was forced to collapse into a chair, breathing heavily. Subaru fussed over her condition, but she could only beam at him.
"I did it," she said in wonderment. She rubbed her sore legs through her dress, smiling brilliantly all the while. "I stood, I walked, and now, I'm about to eat real food."
He turned away from her, unable to witness her gratitude. None of this was supposed to happen. He was supposed to tell her what happened, she would hate him and kick him out, and he would kill himself. But this?
Honestly, he should have expected this.
He would give her as long as she needed. Then, he would tell her about the corpse withering away in an ocean of sand. His life would end, as hers would begin anew.
For now…perhaps he could enjoy her affection for a little while longer. He didn't deserve it, but he had always been selfish. As long as he faced his retribution in the end, he would gladly indulge her.
So, without further ado, he made pasta.
He cut up some vegetables for the sauce. The damn onions were making him cry.
Sometime after the water started boiling, Satella started to hum. He couldn't help but chuckle. "You have a gorgeous voice, but you're tone deaf. That's just unfair."
He could feel her smiling at the back of his head. "Like mother, like daughter."
He was glad that he was facing away from her. He just hoped that the pasta wasn't becoming too salty.
If it was, Satella didn't notice, or at least she didn't comment on it. She instead made a variety of noises along the lines of "mhm" and "yum" and "sooo good!"
"It's just pasta," he deadpanned. "No need to act like I'm a gourmet chef."
She giggled. Giggled. His wife, who hadn't laughed in ages, giggled. "When you've only eaten purée for weeks, solid food is a delicacy."
He gave a stiff nod. "I'll be sure to remember that."
She scooted up next to him, her chair squeaking along the wooden floor. "You know…you haven't kissed me since I woke up."
His mouth dried up, and he averted his eyes. "Satella, I—"
"Don't say you don't deserve it. You saved my life."
"At the cost of everything," he said bitterly. She ignored it.
She put her hand on his cheek and turned him towards her. "'My love for you is unconditional,'" she recited. "'Our bond is unbreakable. Together, we shall overcome all hardship.'"
Unbidden, a smile formed on his face. "Yeah, yeah. Just rub it in that your vows were better than mine."
"Yours were lovely," she consoled. "You waxed poetic about me for ten minutes straight."
He blushed. "Who even talks like that anymore?"
Her smile widened, and she leaned her forehead against his. "Listen to me, Subaru. I do not know what you did, but I am sure that I will not like it. Regardless, I will always love you. Nothing will change that."
He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "I know you believe that, but you're wrong. No one can love me after this."
"Perhaps under normal circumstances, but you were lost, Subaru. You may convince others that this is who you are, but I know the truth. You're a hero, through and through."
He laughed derisively. "Bullshit. Even calling me a villain is too kind."
She reached up and ran a hand through his hair, calming him. He wondered if he would have done what he did if only he had allowed himself to drown in her affection.
"My Subaru isn't a villain. Every night, you spent hours healing me. You stayed up to make sure I wasn't having nightmares. You showed me what it means to truly love someone. You made me feel worthy enough to escape a prison of my own creation. You may not be a gallant knight in shining armor, but you were the hero that I needed most."
He had no idea what words he could respond with. He had never been as eloquent as her, having always chosen to speak through his actions.
He couldn't think of a better action than giving her exactly what they both wanted. His eyes fluttered shut, as he kissed her soundly.
It was…cold. Not exactly frigid, but it didn't have her typical warmth. Nonetheless, he felt her love as strongly as ever. Her soul, tainted as it was by a Witch Factor, shone bright with hope.
At long last, he pulled back and gazed into her glittering eyes. He had missed that sparkle, that glimmer of life. There was so much he wanted to say: sweet nothings, apologies, explanations, gratitude, anything. And yet, what came out of his mouth was none of those things.
"Holy shit, you're a good kisser."
She gave a coquettish grin and drew circles on his chest. "There's more where that came from…if you'll have me."
They were in bed within two minutes.
Her kisses were soft and loving, just like they used to be. A bit cold, sure, but his heart was warm, so he didn't care.
For a little while, nothing was wrong with the world. It was just Subaru and Satella, together at last.
She pulled back with puffy lips and a gleam in her eyes. Holding herself up with her elbows and gazing down at him, she said, "I'm ready."
He froze. "Wh-What?"
She turned crimson but didn't back down. "I want a child, my love. I love Daphne and Shaula, but I want a baby, just like we always talked about."
With a frown, she noted the fear in her eyes. She gave him a light kiss before saying, "If you do not wish to be intimate, I understand. 'Tis a big step."
He averted his eyes. "It's not that," he said, his voice cracking with emotion. "I don't…Damn it, I don't deserve a kid. I lost my chance at being a father."
She raised herself off of him, giving him the space that he needed. "I understand that you feel that way because of Beatrice, but you're wrong. You're wonderful with children. You've already proven that you're an incredible father. You do not admit it, but I've witnessed you putting Daphne and Shaula first, even above me.
"You will be the best parent in the world, Subaru. Even if it's not tonight, or the next night, or even for years, I will be waiting patiently. I want you to see that you deserve your happy ending.
"I want our children to know that their father is a hero. I want to see you hold them in your arms, smiling down at them. I want you to finally accept how amazing you are. I want Daphne to get excited when she finds out that she's going to be a big sister."
He flinched at every word. She would have continued, but he jumped out of the bed, pacing furiously across the room. "You don't understand," he said, raising his voice as he pulled at his hair. "I can't be a dad. I've already failed. I-I can't…You don't understand!"
"What don't I understand? Are you questioning my love for you?"
"No! Yes? I don't know! You shouldn't love me! You need to hate me! Loathe me! Revile me! You need to kick me out and tell me to die!"
By the end of his tirade, he was panting with his face flushed. Satella managed to stay calm, but it wasn't easy.
She took a deep breath with a look of resignation on her face. Finally, she asked, "Subaru…how exactly did you save me?"
He didn't say anything coherent. He just broke down further. Satella got out of bed and embraced him, drawing circles on his back. "It's okay. Breathe. I'll be waiting for you to tell me."
"You'll h-hate me," he croaked.
"That's impossible," she assured him. "I will always love you."
"But I want you to hate me."
"Then you are a silly, foolish man. Tell me what happened, my love."
As the minutes passed and her anxiety grew, she noticed the shadows creeping up the walls. Whatever he had done must be weighing heavily on his soul, but he was Subaru, so she would forgive—
"I killed her."
His voice was so quiet, she almost didn't hear him. Her face fell as she admitted, "I had thought it might be something like that. You've been under a lot of stress, Subaru, and it wouldn't be the first time you've killed for me. It's understandable that you would take drastic action."
He hesitated. The shadows grew in size. "I needed to save you," he croaked. His shaking doubled in intensity, and his skin turned pale. "I would have done anything, even if it was wrong."
She shivered and rubbed her arms. She was so cold—it always pained her to hear him talk like this.
"…It was all so fucking pointless."
The vehemence in his voice didn't startle her, but his following words sent alarm bells ringing in her head.
"To think that I only needed one, but I took them all…I'm such a fucking idiot! Me! I'm the one who did it! They're all gone because of me! Because I didn't fucking think!"
Her heart pounded in her chest, but she still managed to ask, "When you say, 'needing one,' coupled with me being healed…Surely, you cannot mean that the thing you put inside me was—"
"The Witch Factor of Envy."
Satella's breath caught in her throat. Calypso didn't deserve that. She had helped Satella when the latter was a child on the streets. And now—
"You killed her."
A plain statement. Not a question. He had already confessed to his crime. She just needed to admit it to herself. Nonetheless, it broke her heart to see him nod.
"So, I'm a Witch," she stated. That specific part didn't bother her as much as she thought it should. "As I said: like mother, like daughter."
He flinched back as if struck. Suddenly, the full ramifications of what he had said dawned upon her. "'Took them all'…N-no, you couldn't have…"
He nodded, causing her heart to race. "Pan—I didn't think that would be enough. I thought you'd need multiple to balance out your soul, and you were weak, so I only had one shot. I needed more than one Witch Factor."
Satella tried to stop herself from hyperventilating, but she failed miserably.
"S-Subaru," she said, gasping for breath. "Where is Daphne?"
He said nothing.
The shadows covered the entire room. In the deep recesses of her mind, she realized that they originated from herself.
"Where is Daphne?" she asked, much more urgently. "Subaru, please, where is my baby?"
He was a shell of a man, speaking only with the last of his willpower. "H-her last words were 'Mom comes first.'"
With that, Satella's heart stopped beating, and her mind shattered to pieces.
Her thoughts were blank. It was too much for her to handle. She wasn't willing to process what she had just heard—she couldn't accept that he would do such a thing.
And so…she didn't.
She stopped thinking.
She stopped breathing.
She stopped fighting.
For a single moment, she gave up…and someone else seized the opportunity to take over.
Her vision failed her, and she watched her surroundings with eyes that did not belong to her. Her arms reached up on their own volition, tenderly stroking her Subaru's cheek. He flinched back at the contact, so she grabbed him with roughness she hadn't been capable of mere minutes prior. She forced their eyes to meet, and she spoke:
"Mine"
He gazed at her in shock and horror, but she paid it no mind. She dragged his head to her chest and held it there, whispering into his ear.
"Mine all mine I need you stay with me make you mine"
His face turned red, as he struggled against her. Such a bother—she didn't need to breathe, so why should he? Regardless, she would forgive this transgression. After all:
"I love you"
With newfound strength, he pushed himself off of her. "No! You can't love me! That's ridiculous! You're crazy! I killed our daughter! How the hell can you love me?!"
With glassy eyes, she leaned in to kiss him again, but he turned away.
"I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you"
He shook his head violently. How cruel of him to not accept her love.
He reached into his pocket and took out a knife. It was caked with blood—
Daphne's blood! That was her daughter's blood!
With a blank expression, she shoved that small, irritating voice down. It was distracting her from thinking about her beloved, who was currently…Oh. The knife was aimed at his throat.
He wasn't allowed to die. His fate was hers to decide.
A shadowy tendril shot out, impaling the wrist that held the knife. Three more pierced each of his limbs. She used the shadows to drag his screaming figure to the wall, pinning him against it.
"Mine"
Just hers, and no one else's. His life was hers. His heart was hers. His mind was hers. His body was hers.
"I love you all mine mine can't leave love love you mine all you love you me all mine mine"
Through the pain, he gasped out, "S-Satella, what are you—mmph!"
She assaulted his lips with her own. They were salty with tears, but that just made them sweeter. He was hers, only hers, and she needed him to know that he was hers.
He wasn't kissing back. They weren't close enough. She needed more of him. She needed to become one with him.
His skin was fire against her. He would bring warmth to her frigid soul. The shadows wrapped around him, bringing him in, becoming one, claiming him as her own, loving him, hers hers hers he was hers and no one else's. Her shadows and her hands grabbed him everywhere, bringing him closer and closer. He struggled, but she was stronger. She wouldn't relent. She knew he wanted this as much as her.
"Give in give in you want this you want me love me take me you're mine mine love you take you mine you're mine"
Suddenly, her head was sore. She blinked in confusion at her beloved, who was most decidedly not kissing her.
His vision swam in front of him, having headbutted her to get a moment's reprieve. It killed him to ask, but he needed to know: "What's…What's going on? What the hell happened to you?!"
She blinked once more.
"Love love love you only you love mine you take me I'm yours you're mine love me don't leave stay forever I love you"
A series of expressions quickly flitted across his face before he settled on realization. "The Witch Factor drove you mad," he said quietly. "Are you even—no, you're still Satella. Of course, you are. You have to be. But I…I did this to you. I really…Damn it all, I'm so sorry, I…"
She ignored his mumblings, focusing more on the fact that he was here in front of her. Her hand stroked up and down his abdomen, feeling the chiseled muscles underneath his shirt. She captured his lips again, pushing their bodies together. She guided her shadow hands to hook under his shirt, slowly lifting it up. The darkness embraced him, bringing them closer and closer and closer and one and together forever he was hers and she was his forever she loved him love love love love hers her hers—
"I love you"
He was inside of her now—not physically, but spiritually. His soul was approaching hers, granting her the warmth she so desperately sought.
…But he couldn't give that to her. A man such as him was undeserving of her love.
He shocked her with a small bolt of electricity. Not too much—he wouldn't hurt her, not again—but it was enough to knock her back. He quickly healed his limbs before putting a wall of ice between them, knowing it was but a mere deterrent.
He breathed heavily, roughly scratching his sore limbs. "I'm sorry, Ella," he continued, breaking down once more. "I'm so, so sorry for doing this to you. I know there's no excuse. There's no justification. I was wrong. End of story.
"It's just…you're my wife. I love you. It wasn't a question of whether I should save you or not; a little nudge was all it took to push me over the edge. I needed to save you, no matter the cost. Minerva, Typhon, our d-daughter…They weren't your fault."
It was her fault! She let him go down this dark path! She was the one who refused to listen when he tried to save her from Echidna! She was—
"I love you"
A wry grin spread across his lips, and he scratched his arm roughly. "I know you do. You shouldn't. I don't deserve your love—only death." He glanced at the knife on the ground. "But you won't let me die, will you? You need me to live and suffer for my crimes."
"Mine don't die you belong to me just me no one else me and me me love I love you"
He spread his arms wide and chuckled derisively. "There you go. I failed. I fucking failed, Ella. I became the man I always said I was…"
"My love my love I love you"
"…but I still love you."
She faltered at that, stopping her advance as she stared at him in shock.
"I'll never stop loving you. That's not because of my promise, but because of who you are."
He was empty, listless, and lost, but his love for her would never change.
"You're perfect, Ella. You're my dream girl. You're kind and selfless. You're beautiful and sweet. You deserve the world, but you got garbage. Despite that, you loved this shithole we call society, and you wanted to give back to a place that only took from you. I admire you like crazy, even if I don't understand you."
He would honor Satella's memory and protect people, just as he should have done during these past two weeks.
A rigid smile was forced onto his face. "Believe it or not, all that is the truth. I know this situation sucks, but…I want you to stay with me, forever."
She almost fainted right then and there.
Flugel shivered as Satella continued her approach, but it was not because of the cold emanating off of her. Typhon was telling him that this wasn't enough of a punishment and that he should have already killed himself.
'Soon,' he vowed. 'Just let me undo this.'
He had made mistake after mistake, each as irreversible as the last. This, however, could be fixed…but how? How the hell could he undo this, let alone keep her alive after that? Whatever he did, would Satella hate him even more? Would she be grateful that he had saved her again, or would she be angry that he had caused this in the first place?
"…Heh."
It wasn't even a word, exactly—more of a coherent exhalation.
Flugel had realized that, once again, he was seeking validation from his victims. He was asking permission instead of acting.
Looking back on it, he realized just how much of a pushover he had been his entire life. Everything had just happened to him, and he had let those events dictate his life.
He had never gotten over Echidna's burns, preventing him from having a child. He had let Satella live in a fantasy, not allowing him to try some of the more extreme methods of healing her. He had followed Pandora's faulty plan and murdered his daughter in an attempt to save his wife.
All of that was his choice, yet he still felt like a cosmic plaything. Every decision was dictated by the situation, yet he hadn't done much to break free. He had viewed it as fighting against fate, kicking and screaming, but it was more along the lines of whining, crying, bitching, and moaning.
Now, however, this choice was entirely his own. He had created this situation, and he would decide what to do.
He searched his heart and made a decision. It was the same one he had always made, but it felt different. It was not born of desperation, but sheer conviction. He had no reason to believe it would work, but he'd be damned if he abandoned his creed.
This was the one thing binding him to this world, and he would never give it up.
"I swear, I will save you."
He guided Satella to his bed, carefully noting how she seamlessly took her typical position. Her eyes, normally glittering amethysts, were now flat, purple slates. Her gentle smile was replaced by a thin line, and her warmth was stolen by the frigid touch of an unfulfilled Witch.
For two hours, she stared unblinkingly at him. He didn't move, knowing that would keep her here. The entire time, his mind raced, going over all the research he had done over the past few years, along with everything that he had learned from Pandora.
He found that the solution was quite simple. He needed to remove her Witch Factor.
In theory, it made sense; the Witch Factor provided a similar seal to the one Echidna had given the vessel. There was a small chance that it would provide some residual sealing, but even a chance was better than her current situation. Whenever he had the chance, he'd speak to the Od Laguna and see what advice it may or may not have, as well as any possible methods for removing the Witch Factor—the one that Pandora had spoken of was only for giving, not taking.
Still, he refused to get his hopes up. Knowing his luck, there would be absolutely nothing that he could do to bring Satella back to normal.
It was almost comedic, in a cosmic sense. He had destroyed everything he loved to give her a Witch Factor, and now, he had to take it back. Despite everything he had sacrificed, she was likely going to die in the process, but it was better than the mockery of life she was currently living.
He let loose a manic laugh at the absurdity of it all. Satella didn't react directly, choosing instead to bring herself closer to her. He wrapped his arms around her, but he pushed her away as he felt her trying to merge them once more.
"None of that," he scolded. "You know that I love you, Ella. I'm already yours, okay?"
He knew that he was insane, but he could have sworn that he saw her blush.
At the very least, she seemed to be confined to the Forbidden Library. He didn't want to think about what would happen if she were unleashed upon the world. Kind Witches like Minerva had killed hundreds accidentally, so what would the new, deranged, barely sapient Witch of Envy do? He doubted that she would follow in Calypso's footsteps.
Wary of Satella's potential reaction, Flugel slowly reached out and cupped her cheek. His fingers instantly went numb. She leaned into his touch and reaffirmed her love for him. Tentatively, he said, "I want to go read in the library. Will you come with me?"
"Mine don't leave I love you alone don't leave me alone stay please stay you're mine I need you"
His expression softened at her words. "I'm not going anywhere," he assured her as if he were comforting her after a nightmare. "I swear, I won't leave your side."
Why didn't he do that for her before this? They could have spent her final days together. She could have passed away peacefully instead of living in this madness.
'What a wonderful time for revelations,' he thought bitterly. Then again, Geuse had already suggested that weeks ago.
He really needed to apologize to Geuse. He had treated his friend horribly. Now, however, he was a bit busy trying to save Satella's life…again.
For the next ten minutes, he sat at the desk and tried his best to review his notes, but it was difficult.
"I really need to read this," he said, but his vision was filled with Satella's face, as she sat on his lap. Her arms wrapped around the back of his neck, nearly cracking his bones with her elven strength. Despite his discomfort, he couldn't shake her off—she had attached herself to him in a way that prevented any escape. "So, can you please, um, not?"
Immediately after saying that, he berated himself. A murderer didn't deserve to use levity, no matter how minor.
Then again, perhaps he was using humor—as unfunny as it was—as a coping mechanism. After all, he had literally attempted suicide a few hours ago, and he had nearly lost his limbs due to his wife turning into a raving madwoman. If he weren't joking around, he'd likely lose what little remained of his sanity.
He signed, moved his head, and tried to read, but Satella distracted him, leaning forward and kissing his neck. He knew that she wasn't in the right mindset for intimacy, but he couldn't stop himself from closing his eyes and allowing the contact.
He instantly regretted it.
She was freezing cold, sending shivers down his spine. Her arms slithered around his back, her nails digging into him like claws. What was once a gentle caress interspersed with sweet nothings was now rough and primal, going far beyond the boundaries that they both inherently understood.
He tried to push her off of him. Even with her atrophied muscles, she managed to hold on, refusing to let go of what she had claimed as her own.
"S-stop!" he gasped out. "Damn it, just stop!"
She didn't stop. Her grip intensified, breaking his skin with her nails.
"I said stop!"
He thrust his arms forward, managing to hold her at a slightly more comfortable distance. He breathed heavily, as she gazed at with a look of unbearable grief.
His chest hurt upon seeing her expression, but he didn't relent. "Stop it," he repeated. "This isn't like you, Ella. I don't…Damn it, just…stop. Please. It's freaking me out."
She narrowed her eyes. A spike of fear went through him, but he brushed it aside.
"Ella, listen to me. I've fucked up everything, but this? I can make this right. Please, just let me make this right."
She seemed to ignore him and lean in, but she abruptly stopped. Her eyes flashed, and she seemed to be fighting with herself. Finally, with one long, shuddering breath, she moved forward and laid her forehead on his shoulder.
"I love you," she whispered.
He patted her back in a comforting gesture. It helped him even out his own breathing, too. "I know, Ella, I know…but you're wrong. You'll see when we get you back to normal. You'll realize that I'm a monster, and you'll hate me."
Her entire body trembled with exertion. "Never…hate you. My Subaru…lost…love you…always."
Hot tears soaked his shoulder, so he gently pried her off of him, brushing the wetness away with his thumb. There was nothing he could say to console her. Hell, even if there was, he doubted that he'd be effective at helping her. Maybe a few months back he would have been capable, but now, he was just so…lethargic. His constant meltdowns had taken a lot out of him, and fighting off Satella's unwanted advances didn't help much, either.
Looking back on it, it was hard to believe how much he had changed in the past few weeks. He had gone from an angry brat, yelling about saving Satella while accomplishing nothing of substance, to a drunkard who blamed all of his poor decisions on alcohol. He had turned into an utter psychopath, ranting and raving as he slaughtered a child. He had watched a woman burn to death without a shred of pity, muttering about how she deserved it for pretending to be his daughter.
He had looked that same daughter in the eye as he slid a dagger between her ribs. As the life left those golden eyes that he adored, he had felt his own soul wither away into nothingness.
Flugel couldn't bear to use his old name after that.
Satella seemed to pick up on what he was feeling. She clumsily grasped his head and tried to brush away his tears, just as he did for her. Suddenly, her eyes glazed over, and her nails dug into his skin.
"I love you not hers you're mine can't take you away love I love you"
The same sense of dread and wrongness overcame him. He forced himself to breathe evenly. "I know you do, but please, show it like you used to. I don't…really like this new you."
He knew that his words had the potential to make things worse, but he needed to break through to her, and he'd keep trying until he did.
"Me always me love me don't leave please don't need you here keep you here stay here need you love you mine you're mine"
Flugel managed a shaky smile. "H-hey, I said I'll stay by your side, remember? I'm not going anywhere."
"Died you tried dying don't die can't die mine you belong to me me ME ONLY ME don't die can't DIE ONLY I DECIDE WHEN YOU DIE"
He flinched at the vehemence in her otherwise soft, sweet voice. The fact that her expression, talking speed, and tone hadn't changed during the rest of her tirade just made it all even freakier.
He closed his eyes and accepted the truth. Satella wasn't just being a more clingy, possessive version of herself. She was dangerous.
Back in Japan, he knew that some people fetishized yanderes. Now that he was faced with one, it dawned on him how stupid that was.
Satella was terrifying.
Her blank eyes ripped through his psyche, tearing apart any emotions that weren't related to her. The shadows formed an aura around her, poised to strike any who would dare interfere with their love…himself included.
Until he could fix this, he'd just have to show her that she was the only one for him. It wasn't wrong, of course, but he would need to continue making it as blatant as possible.
He took a deep breath and tried to drown out her repeated confessions, focusing instead on his notes. It was a slow, painful ordeal, especially with him having to constantly stop to give Satella the attention and affection she craved.
Part of him wondered how much of this was the Witch Factor's desires and how much was an extreme manifestation of Satella's own insecurities. Perhaps if he hadn't neglected her in those final days, she wouldn't have clung to him so desperately.
"But that's just speculation," he mused, suppressing a shiver as her frigid body contacted his skin. "Who even knows what you're thinking right?"
"I love you I love you"
'Aside from that,' he thought, pulling at his hair.
Out loud, he said, "I love you, too."
A bit of light returned to her slate-like eyes, but it was soon forced down. Slowly but surely, Flugel began to piece together a terrible truth about the woman before him, but he forced it down. He couldn't bear to consider it.
An hour later, he shut yet another notebook with a sigh. "Nothing in my notes," he said, "but I'm not the only one who jotted stuff down from time to time. Isn't that right, Dona?"
No one else heard a response. Satella stiffened when he mentioned another woman, but she remained put.
"Thought so," he said at length. "You burnt your notes on Satella, but not everything else. There's gotta be something here that can help."
He tried to stand up, but a certain someone pushed him back down, causing him to sigh. "Tell you what, Ella: let me do some research, and then I'll give you unlimited attention. Sounds good?"
She blinked. Did that mean that she understood? Considering that she let him get up, she probably did.
It took some time, but he eventually found a simple, leather-bound notebook tucked away in one of the shelves. It felt heavy, as if the secrets of the universe were weighing it down. On the cover, written in elegant calligraphy, was a single name:
Echidna
He grinned. Under his breath—to make sure that Satella didn't hear—he muttered, "Never thought I'd tell you this, but thanks, Dona." He thumbed through the pages, admiring the poison-green, flowing script. "Nice've you to just leave this lying around."
He brought it back to his chair and began to read.
A Classification of the Fundamental Forces
Next page. That wasn't what he needed.
On the Origin of Species, or How to Force an Evolutionary State
It sounded promising, but it wasn't evolution in the sense of unlocking another form or making an existing person greater than they were. It was…well, literal evolution, and how sapient beings could force it to happen to plants and lesser animals by controlling their environment and reproductive habits.
The Cave and Other Philosophical Allegories
Flugel shut the notebook with a heavy sigh. With everything that had happened between them, he had almost forgotten that Echidna was first and foremost a scholar. When she had said that she wanted to know everything, she wasn't just referring to souls but physics, history, microbiology, and even how to better mankind.
The Witch of Greed, the cause of his sorrow, was beloved by the rest of the world. She was the Witch of Wisdom, extolled for her knowledge and contributions to society. Perhaps if "sociopath" was her full-time job instead of just a side gig, she wouldn't have been in such a position of power over Satella. If Echidna hadn't done this world any good, maybe Satella's overwhelming faith in people wouldn't have come into play, and she would have been more inclined to run away.
Maybe he wouldn't be trying to force his wife off of him for the umpteenth time.
Satella's dead eyes gazed back at him unflinching. Her latest attempt to absorb his soul had been rejected. He worried that she'd eventually stop backing away so easily. Even in her weakened state, he knew full well that she was letting him push her off.
"Ella, I'm serious," he scolded. She didn't react. "You need to stop this…this absorbing thing. We don't need to become one for me to love you, and you know that. Just be patient and let me get you back to normal. Then we'll—"
…We'll what?
Assuming he even could fix her, where would they go from there? Was he still going to kill himself? Would Satella hate him? She should, of course, but that was beside the point.
"But seriously…where do we go from here? It's not like everything will go back to normal. No chance to have another family, that's for sure."
Satella's dull eyes narrowed.
"Family"
She rolled the word around her tongue, tasting the unfamiliar sounds. It struck a chord in her soul, speaking to a part of her that she wasn't entirely aware of.
She didn't like it.
Her beloved's gaze had drifted away. He was experiencing love that did not come from her.
She knew what to do. She strode forwards and wrapped her arms around him possessively.
"Sleep come sleep I love you rest sleep with me hold me love me sleep with me"
He chuckled ruefully. "As I said on our first date, you gotta be careful with how you talk to a guy." He looked down at the book in his lap. "I suppose there's not really a rush now, is there? I mean, it's not like you're happy right now, but you're not about to die."
"Forever stay forever"
He grinned up at her. "Yeah, I think a power nap is fine. Let's go, Ella."
As he expected, she watched him fall asleep. It was creepy as hell, sure, but he used to do the same when he was worried about her. He was pretty sure that she used to blink a bit more, though.
She was cold, unbearably so—her arms were pillars of ice, snaking around his body and preventing him from moving. He doubted that he could have handled this without his artificial body.
He didn't feel content. He didn't feel like he had earned this. Every moment he breathed was a moment wasted.
…But against all odds, Satella wanted him around.
He smiled slightly and allowed himself to relax, slowly drifting off to sleep.
He didn't notice when Satella left his side.
Arlam village was a small town where not much happened. The people lived their lives just fine, and that was enough for them.
Sometimes, they wondered about the nearby mansion and its occupants. It used to belong to the Mathers family, but it had been gifted to the Witch of Wisdom, Echidna, as a gift. Then, Echidna vanished, never to be heard from again. It was empty for some time before the Sorceress and the Sage claimed it as its own.
The village youths often reminisced about the days where the two legendary figures would come down to play with them. These beings—practically gods—asked for no clout or recognition. They just wanted to see children smile.
And then they stopped visiting.
Rumors and gossip spread, as a small town was wont to do when something changed. Some say they left, others that they had died. The latter was debunked when the Sage had fought a monster on the king's orders. Perhaps the Sorceress had died, and the Sage was a recluse, grieving his wife in silence and solitude.
In the end, their guesses didn't matter. Their fates had already been sealed.
Like paint spilling on a canvas, the stars were blotted out by the shadows. The moonlight was swallowed by the darkness, as a great evil descended upon the unsuspecting town.
The angel of death and her shadowy tendrils searched every single home for beings that fit her qualifications. Sure, she could expand those qualifications in the future, but for now, her pickings were a bit more…select.
The Witch of Envy looked down upon the crib and the wailing infant within. What an irritating, disgusting creature. She couldn't understand why her beloved wished for such a thing.
She'd just have to show him how troublesome they were.
She made no grand gestures nor spoke any incantations—such silly acts were beyond her. With a mere thought, she stole the breath of the newborn, silencing it instantly. It fell limp, its lips parted mid-cry.
It would never take its first steps or speak its first word. It would never hold its mother close or play with its father. It wouldn't even have the honor of being mourned, for its parents had also been slaughtered.
Its soul struggled against her grip, trying to return to the Od Laguna. She wouldn't allow that. It would just come back. She tried to use her Authority…
…but she couldn't.
Her fingers couldn't move. Her Authority wouldn't activate. Her shadows disappeared.
With an imperfect imitation of a frown, she easily warded off the entity that lived inside of her. She closed her fist around the baby's soul, shattering it and condemning it to oblivion.
Unfazed, she left the empty home and looked to the horizon. This town may no longer have many occupants, but there was an entire world out there interfering with her love life. Perhaps her qualifications were too narrow.
Her lips curled upwards ever-so-slightly, as she envisioned the result of her quest: a truly perfect world composed of herself, her beloved…and nothing else.
She vanished into the shadows, already moving on to her next target. With love in her heart and a slight smile on her face, she eliminated all who would stand in the way of herself and her husband.
She smiled as she embraced the cold. She fell into her role with ease, becoming a force of nature more extraordinary than any Witch before her.
With her power, the world itself would perish, for the Great Calamity had begun.
