Chapter 8: The Beast of Despair

"It's… about your former contract with Puck," Subaru began, "Emilia-tan, I'll be honest. I don't know how to tell you this without breaking your heart, ruining your view of Puck, and making you feel like you've been lied to."

"Subaru, what are you talking about?" From what Subaru said, Emilia was almost scared to know what her knight was implying.

"Emilia-tan…. I think it's time you knew the truth about what Puck is, what he's willing to do, and what he has done in… my past loops."

Emilia nodded, and began to stand up, when –

"Hey, guys!" Petra yelled. "We have our new choices!"

"Hey, we got new options!" Mimi called out to everyone, who all turned to the screen.

Everyone, including Subaru and Emilia, turned their heads towards their newest options, and immediately, Subaru started swearing.

The black-haired boy cringed as he saw the next two choices everyone was presented with.

What if you knew Echidna's origins?

OR

What if Subaru contracted all seven of the Witches?

Everyone was silent. Until…

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"

The Great Spirit of Yin made an outrageous yell at yet another contract based episode.

Subaru, meanwhile, thought it was over. He thought that after spilling the secret of Return by Death, maybe, just maybe, no one would have to figure out his connection to Satella. But no. First, the show had to make an all-new theme song prominently featuring them. Then, it shows him giving Satella a big ol' smooch, but luckily no one seemed to know who she was. And sure, maybe Reinhard figured it out, but he did so only through mind reading, which had to be cheating.

Thankfully, the Sword Saint agreed to keep his mouth shut.

But now, he was sure they were going to demand his head after this.

"Seven?!"

"Bu' there's only one…"

"Does it mean Pandora…?"

Everyone was horrified by what they read. They hadn't felt this much confusion since they had arrived at the Theater. At least Roswaal seemed ecstatic at the first option.

"Subaru," Crusch turned to the black-haired knight, "May we have your insight regarding the second option?"

"Uh… no?"

"..."

"I don't wanna."

"..."

"Please don't make me."

"Bro, if you don't say something, chances are, we're gonna pick the second option," Al commented on Subaru unwillingness.

"..."

"..."

"Fine! I met the Witches of Sin a few months ago!" Subaru finally spilled his guts.

Silence.

Most of the people in the audience should have felt some sort of horror or disgust at what Subaru said, but after everything else they had seen? They were kinda numb to it.

But it still didn't mean they didn't have questions, obviously.

"Ugh, I can't believe we're having this discussion," Julius groaned, rubbing his eyes. Hondeloty, he was getting tired of Subaru's bullshit, a sentiment many shared in the Theater.

Still, he had a job to do.

"Okay, so…Witches? As in plural?" Julius asked for confirmation.

"Yes! But they're harmless! I mean, they're not technically harmless, they killed a whole lot of people, but they're… misunderstood? They're kinda like me?"

"That answer is vague and unconvincing."

"Look, they had good intentions, but they just went about them the wrong way. The Witch of Wrath, for example, wanted nothing more than to end conflict for good and wanted to heal as many people as possible, but her power caused natural disasters to happen because she was too impatient. You know, monkey paw kind of shit!"

"What…?" Felix could barely utter the word as he thought of the implications. The Witch of Wrath, a sin representing unbridled anger, was a healer?

"You said you met the Witches of Sin… did that include… Witch of Envy?" Otto asked in minor fear.

"Yes… and no."

"..."

"Look, it'll make more sense if we just pick that option. Speaking of which… uh… Al?"

"Yeah, I got you, man."

Conditions: Takes place before the Great Calamity.

Conditions: References "the Original".

"This again?" Priscilla growled, sick of reading about that character.

"To be fair, no one knows who "the Original" is, considering we've literally never selected a choice which has that condition," Felt said, further annoying the Vollachina Matriarch.

"Actually… that makes sense," Crusch said.

"Whaddya mean?" Anastasia asked.

"All of the options which featured "the Original", they were all… world-shattering. The lack of the Witch of Envy? Subaru contracting the Divine Dragon and a Warlock? All of these events involved this mysterious character we've never heard of," the green-haired woman argued.

"Subaru, have you ever heard of this "Original"?" Emilia asked her knight.

"No, I haven't, to be honest." Subaru truly never heard of this "original" thing before.

"Crusch-sama?" Felix asked on the off chance Subaru was still keeping something from them.

"He's not lying." Crusch confirmed Subaru's statement.

"So… do we select it…?" Wilhelm asked, looking at Subaru.

"Hey, you guys have squeezed every secret out of me! From here on out, I'm as confused as the rest of you!" Subaru said, pointing to everyone who wasn't his parents.

"All right!" Anastasia yelled. "Anyone wanna see the story featuring only one Witch?"

Three hands.

"Well, that was easy," the purple-haired merchant muttered. "Tin man, hit it!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill," Al grumbled, grabbing the remote.

"Okay, let's go!" Meili cheered, as she was about to get on Subaru's lap, when –

"Purple thing."

"Hm?" The blue-haired assassin turned around, and saw Beatrice. "What's up?"

"You're about to sit in my spot."

"Pretty sure Onii-chan gave it to me."

"Well, your time is up! It's Betty's turn!"

Subaru groaned. "Okay, because I don't want the two of you fighting, neither of you are sitting on my lap. Meili, go back to Petra. Beako, you're sitting with Emilia-tan." Before the two of them could argue any further, Subaru said, "I don't want to hear it. Go. Now."

Both the lolis pouted, but eventually, they relented.

Everyone else sat down, as the lights dimmed, and the screen came to life.

What if Subaru contracted all seven of the Witches?

Conditions: References "the Original".

"HEY LOLI GIRL!" Subaru yelled as he opened the library door. Beatrice had given him a magical key that enabled him to use her door crossing anywhere, so he could visit her whenever he wished. Unfortunately, his entrances weren't always the most subtle.

"Magic key?" Mimi asked.

"For if anyone ever wanted to go directly to the Forbidden Library, in fact."

"Yeah, too bad they're useless, now that the place is destroyed," Otto lamented.

"Eh, it was worth it, I suppose," Beatrice said.

"Do you even know how to knock, I can only imagine how the others deal with you, I suppose," Betty frowned as she turned to face Subaru while still lying on her bed. She had just gotten interrupted from her cuddle session with Bubby. As much as she liked Subaru this was not something that was to be forgiven easily.

"Sorry Beako…I was kind in a hurry," He apologized as he scratched behind his head. He needed to make it quick while the Witches were preoccupied. No doubt this would also double as a good surprise to help Satella as well as Reinhard. "Is Puck around?" He asked as he glanced around the Library.

"Hold up, hold up!" Felt shouted. "You already contracted Beatrice?"

"I don't know," Subaru admitted, "She's certainly more friendly with the other me than before myself and Beako formed our contract."

"You rang," Puck said as he floated up from behind Betty. He wondered what the boy wanted from him now. He had yet to investigate Meili, so hopefully, it wasn't an update. All he had right now was that she and Petra were improving in their maid duties.

"Yeah…I was wondering…are you going through a Hatsumaki any time soon?" Subaru asked. He recalled Puck's Hatsumaki was supposed to happen in a few days but he didn't want to give them an exact date before they became too suspicious. Last time they were able to pull off a snow festival in a day but given more time they could do a lot more.

"Oh, so this is taking place during the Winter Wonderland?" Subaru deduced, but started to wonder how the other him knew about Puck's Hatsumaki.

"The what?" Felt asked.

"Oh, it's when Puck made it snow around the mansion. Basically, he needed to get rid of his excess mana, so rather than freezing the mansion and killing all of us for the first time ever by ice, we decided to spread it out all over the region, to make it both child-friendly, and not murderous."

"Subaru?"

"Yeah, Emilia-tan, what is it?"

"What do you mean by Puck killing all of us?" Emilia asked in a confused and worried tone.

OH, SHIT. QUICK, THINK OF AN EXCUSE.

"I'll tell you later, as long as the screen doesn't pull off more shit like this."

GOOD EXCUSE.

"Yeah, it's in a few days actually. Why?" He asked suspiciously. What scheme was the boy up to, he wondered.

"Well I recently had a talk with some of the Witches and they gave me an idea to throw a Christmas festival of sorts," Subaru explained. The winter festival was one thing but a Christmas festival was sure to make some people smile and it was also a great way to do a lot of things. He could help ease any tension that remained between the groups, allowing Felt's camp to get familiar with Emilia's Camp and the villagers associated with them. It would also be a nice way to relax because Subaru was aware of the hell that would be coming soon and he needed the villagers to trust them.

"So these fools already know about the Witches?" Priscilla asked. "I would say that your entire Camp is composed of nothing but Witch lovers and traitors…"

"..."

"...but then you would give me that death glare, so, I won't."

Everyone around Subaru was quietly impressed about how he managed that.

"Christmas?" Beatrice said in surprise. That was something she hadn't heard in a while. If she recalled correctly, one of her mother's associates visited them one year, teaching them about the holiday and deciding to celebrate it with them. She remembered the man, Hoshin, eager to share it. Her mother always claimed it was a waste but she entertained the idea nonetheless and allowed them to host it in Sanctuary… of course, she left everything to Hoshin to take care of. It ended up being a very big celebration and after much persistence… Betty and Hoshin had even managed to get Echidna to join them. Those were some good times. "Betty loves Christmas," she told Subaru and Puck.

"Beako! You didn't tell me you knew about Christmas!"

"You never asked, in fact."

"What exactly is Christmas, Subaru?" Reinhard asked.

"Christmas is a holiday that's celebrated at the end of each year on the 25th of December. It's about celebrating the birth of a baby that was born two thousand years ago, but I'd rather not get into our world's religions as that would take days to explain," Subaru explained.

"Anyways, for Christmas, you give gifts to people you're close to, enjoy hot coco, sit around the campfire in your house, and listen to "All I Want For Christmas Is You", and who knows how many other songs centered around the holiday for the rest of the day, all of which will be inevitably stuck in your head for the rest of the year, and you can't forget about playing in the snow and having snowball fights," Kenichi explained the traditions that occur during the holidays.

"Perfect… I already got the perfect outfit for you Beako, but we won't be able to do it without Puck's help," Subaru told her. He could already imagine how cute she would look in a little Santa outfit. If he got her out and about talking and celebrating with everyone then that was even better.

Subaru looked at Al. "Padoru?"

"Al looked at Subaru. "Padoru."

"Definitely padoru."

"Wow… slow down a minute… what even is Christmas?" Puck asked. "I'm not going to agree to any of your stupid stunts without an explanation," Puck warned. He still didn't even know what Subaru wanted with him, especially since it was around his mana release period.

Subaru quickly rattled out the details glossing over some of the more religious and complicated aspects. He needed to keep it simple. Christmas was a time to spend with friends and family. It was a time to spend with the people you loved and to have fun with them. It was time to treasure those close to you. He explained all this to Puck and he could say for certain that the cat's expression was looking like he was ready to agree.

"Wait, how religious is Christmas?" Crusch asked.

Subaru winced a bit and said, "Well, for the majority of human history, Christmas was about celebrating the birth of that one guy I'm not mentioning, but in the last century, Christmas has become more of an excuse to get together with family and friends, eat junk food, get presents, and basically enjoy capitalism at its finest. Oh, and Santa Claus!"

"Wha' th' fuck is a Santa Claus?" Garfiel asked.

"He's basically a jolly old man who lives in the North Pole of our world, which kinda doesn't exist here, since your world is flat. Basically, he spends all year making toys for all the good kids in the world, and if you've been naughty, then you get coal."

"So, you've been getting coal every year, Barusu?"

"I wish, we could've sold all that coal and made some good money," Subaru chuckled before continuing, "Anyways, on the night before Christmas, you're supposed to leave cookies and milk out for Santa, and when you're sleeping, he comes down your chimney, takes the cookies and milk, and leaves presents under the Christmas tree."

"Subaru, would that not count as breaking and entering?" Reinhard asked in confusion.

"I… never thought about that before." Subaru admitted to himself. "Unfortunately, Santa isn't real, but don't tell the kids, I want to see if this will help them behave better."

"I see", Reinhard admitted, finding himself fascinated by Subaru's world more and more. "I'm sure that once the Royal Selection ends, we may be able to implement this holiday into our world, if you would not mind helping us, that is."

"Of course! We're gonna bring the Christmas cheer to Lugunica!"

"That sounds wonderful… but I don't quite see how I can help… besides why are you even thinking about this so suddenly?" Puck asked.

"Well to be completely honest," Subaru said. "I actually want to use it to help smooth things over with everybody," Subaru admitted. "Things have been tense lately and I think the idea of a Christmas festival might be what everyone needs to feel better. It can be a nice experience for everyone, help mend whatever damage happened on the date. It can also help Emilia get on friendlier terms with the villagers," Subaru listed off before turning to Puck. "As for what you can do. All you need to do is make it snow… and make it snow a lot," Subaru explained.

"Betty thinks it's a good idea," Beako added. It was certainly better than the alternative. She, Puck, and Emilia were going to try to contain it all in a barrier within the mansion. It was a rather crude method but it would have kept everything safe and hidden…however, if they went out holding the festival… they would allow Bubby to burn off the excess mana far easier and also constructively use it all. The girl wanted to be King… she would need to know her subjects. It was efficient and that's all that mattered…. It is not like Betty wanted to celebrate Christmas again with her mom and make a snow Puck.

"Well, I suppose if it will help Lia and the others...then there is no harm in doing it," Puck thought. "Alright then," He said. "Let's throw us a Christmas festival," He told them, however, he soon realized something. "How exactly are we going to do this exactly?" Puck asked.

"Don't worry," Beatrice told him. "Leave everything to Betty, we are going to hit them so hard with Christmas they'll be singing jingles bells till the royal selection, I suppose," Beako said with a determined look on her face. She was going to make that snow Puck.

Opening Theme: Polaris

"Huh, and here I was half-expecting Christmas music," Naoko hummed.

"So, are we all in agreement that this is the Christmas episode?" Subaru asked.

"Happy Hanukkah, baby!" Al yelled.

"That's a new one," Meili said.

The screen then shows multiple rapid still images. From when he encountered Satella in Japan, to fighting off several Mabeasts, to burning down the Capital. Him and Emilia as children in Elior Forest. Subaru in dark clothes sitting on a throne of shadows. Otto drinking with the female Subaru. Shaula with Elsa and Meili. Halibel with Zarestia. Volcanica and Reid. A smiling Rem. All of these images become background noise to…

Tales from the Multiverse

Volume II

The next shot shows a smiling Echidna, along with the rest of the Witches of Sin, posing for the camera, along with Elsa, Meili, Halibel, Zarestia, Shion, Flop, Medium, Cecilus Segmunt, Vincent Vollachia, and Ryuzu Meyer, all of them smiling happily.

Just wait, Subaru, the black-haired knight told himself. In just a few minutes, everyone will see that the Witches are totally normal people, and not psychotic monsters hell-bent on destroying the world, and any admission of guilt you have will be cleared.

The next shot shows the woman in the black dress, her face obscured by the black hood-like veil, walking, as the faces in the background changed. First, it's a smug-looking Pandora, and next, an apathetic Hector. After that, a crying Echidna, and finally, a smiling Subaru, wearing traveling-like clothes, including an orange scarf.

The woman's mind flashes back to a moment where she cradles Subaru's bloodied body, while she cries. In an instant, she runs, and sees a dead Subaru, one with blood all over his tracksuit. Lifting her hands, the body rises, the blood disappears, and his eyes open up. The woman pushes the now alive Subaru towards the arms of Emilia and Rem, while she watches, crying, until suddenly, shadows engulf her and she becomes a monster.

Wait, since we're picking one that references this "Original" guy, would it maybe explain some of this weird backstory stuff between me and Satella? Subaru wondered to himself. Nah, probably not. I doubt that this "Original" guy would be involved with the two of us.

The next shot shows the shadowy monster, only for it to fall, making it dissipate and show the veiled girl in the black dress. Subaru dives after her, getting closer and closer, until the two of them are face-to-face. As soon as that happens, the veil flies off, revealing the crying face of Satella, who has black smoke coming off her.

Hey, now that I think about it, maybe this episode will show me why Satella cares so much about a loser like me, regardless of whether or not it involves this "Original" guy? Hmm… I wonder if Reinhard is listening in on this, too? He should be able to hear this.

"Yes, I am", the Sword Saint nodded.

"Well, hello to you, Rein," Subaru nodded back.

Subaru merely smiles, and kisses Satella, whose black smoke disappears, as it begins emanating from Subaru. Subaru grabs hold of Satella, and like an olympic athlete, tosses her towards a nearby cliff, where she lands safely, only to see that Subaru is still falling. Subaru looks towards her, when he suddenly gains a pained expression, and the camera reveals that a shadowy tendril has stabbed him, and is dragging him down.

As the tendrils wrap around him, Subaru softly smiles through his bleeding mouth, and accepts his fate. However, suddenly, the shadow tendrils are destroyed, revealing that Satella had jumped off the cliff, refusing to ever let go of Subaru.

As the two of them hug and crash down, the scene fades to show Subaru and Satella standing up, and beside them are Echidna and the rest of the Witches of Sin. Softly smiling, Subaru holds onto Satella's hand, giving a determined look, as all eight of them run toward the sunset, with the final shot of the opening being a still image of the eight of them leaping across the screen, all of them smiling.

Episode 7:

The Beast of Despair

"Huh, that's a weird title," Ricardo scratched his head.

"Yeah, it seems pretty cheerful so far," Anastasia agreed with her friend.

A few days later….

It had taken some convincing on his part but Subaru succeeded in convincing Felt, Rom, and Reinhard to go to the festival with him. Felt and Rom were easier to convince. Puck had convinced Emilia to send a letter, explaining how this was her way of apologizing to them for the whole mess that happened. Reinhard however was a different story; the stupid law was once again causing problems for Subaru. Luckily… he found a loophole.

"Wait a minute… am I in Felt's Camp?" Subaru asked in confusion. He had nothing against the Felt camp, quite the opposite in fact, but he was surprised he wasn't in Emilia's Camp.

"So remember… if anyone asks… your name is Dante… you are a Mabeast hunter and your father is Sparda," Subaru told the knight. Reinhard van Astrea wasn't allowed to go anywhere… so he didn't. Instead… with some white hair dye, a red trench coat, a black undershirt, and some brown leather pants, he would now be known as Dante, after a rather stylish hero from Subaru's homeland. Reinhard had protested at first but Felt promised she would do better in her studies… after kicking him in the shins failed… and Subaru decided to guilt him once more with the date. Reinhard folded way too easily to their combined efforts. However, he admittedly did rock the look of the legendary Devil Hunter and Subaru was sure that if possible… he could also back up the look.

"Are you serious, Subaru?" Kenichi asked his son in a deadpan manner.

"What did he do, nyah?" Felix asked.

"Okay, okay, this might sound a little bit cringey… but I kinda had Rein here cosplay as a fictional character from my world," Subaru said, blushing a little bit.

"Which one?" Emilia asked.

"Dante from Devil May Cry, a video game series," Subaru answered, remembering the times he played those games. "Basically, Dante's a half-human, half-demon mercenary, and son of the Dark Knight: Sparda. His origin story is that –"

"Okay, we should probably cut that short, otherwise, we'll be stuck listening to hours worth of video game lore," Al said. "Come on, we've got festivities to see!"

"Subaru, if you don't mind, I would be intrigued to learn about Dante and his father at a later date," Reinhard telepathically asked.

"Sure thing dude, I'm always happy to explain video game lore."

Once they had arrived at the Festival, they had been greeted by smiling Petra, Meili, and Emilia. They were all warm and inviting but Subaru was still cautious about the assassin in their midst. After exchanging pleasantries the trio then showed them around. To say the place screamed Christmas would be an understatement. Apart from the fresh powder, there were tons of decorations littering the area. While it lacked traditional stuff like Santa and reindeers, they still had candy cane arches, snowmen, and so many ornaments. They didn't have lights like usual but credit where it was due they had colored glowing crystals that did the job just as well. Roswaal's Manor had even been covered in garlands and was decorated as well.

"Wow, it's so pretty," Typhon cheered as she ran around the snow. Even if there was no need for them to dress warmly, they still did as a means of properly enjoying the winter festivity. Daphne soon ran after Typhon while Apollo happily followed like a good little puppy dog. Kids would be kids, the thought as they looked on.

"Who's the girl?" Petra asked.

"I believe we've seen her before," Wilhelm said.

"You're right, Wilhelm-san," Frederica realized. "She was in the introduction."

"Oh, yeah, that's Typhon," Subaru said. "The Witch of Pride."

Upon hearing that, everyone turned to look at Subaru's causal expression, then back at the little girl with green hair, as they quickly began to yell at the absurdity of the situation.

"I still do not see why you decided to drag me here," Echidna grumbled. She was still in her child form and didn't feel like being here in the slightest. She turned to Minerva, the main culprit who had brought her along. "This is nothing but a waste of time," She told the Wrathful Witch.

"Echidna… Christmas is a time to spend with friends… so you are going to enjoy the holiday cheer AND YOU'RE GONNA LIKE IT," Minerva screamed back. Echidna pouted, ever since the transformation, the Witch of Wrath had been treating her less than an equal and more like a child and Echidna didn't like it one bit. She was acting as if she was her mother, not that Echidna even knew her mother, but she was certain Minerva was not her.

"I'm guessing these are also Witches?" Rem asked.

"Yeah, Minerva, the Witch of Wrath, is the blonde and angry one, but I have no idea why Echidna, the Witch of Greed, is a little kid."

"I told you already… Minerva… don't waste your breath on her, if she doesn't want to be here then you shouldn't force her…. respect her wishes," Sekhmet said as she tried to temper Minerva's rage. Honestly, Minerva could be quite troublesome sometimes.

Elsewhere Satella and Carmilla were walking around while the others talked. Carmilla looked around fondly as she saw the children playing and the adults watching them from afar. "This is nice," Carmilla said. "No war, no hatred, no fighting," she mused as she stared at the villagers, how long had it been since she saw a town that didn't go to war over her. "You can just feel the love in the air, Storge, and Philia," Carmilla said as she looked on.

"HELLOOOOO, NURSE!" Al whooped, as he saw the purple-and-black Witch.

"That's the Witch of Sloth, Sekhemt."

"Yo, Bro, is she single?"

"Typhon's her kid, perhaps adopted, so you'd be chasing a single mother."

"Ew, no, fuck that."

While the women were glaring at Al, Julius asked, "Who is the one in the green scarf?"

"Carmilla, the Witch of Lust."

"Seriously? Dude, she looks like an introverted Twitch streamer who never leaves her home! You'd figure she would be sloth and the MILF would be lust."

"I don't know what to tell you. You'd have to ask Carmilla yourself why she's lust."

Storge was the love between parents and children, familiar love and Philia was love between friends and equal. She had heard Subaru describe the Christmas Holiday as that, a time to be with friends and family. This festival, despite being a crude attempt by people who weren't even aware of its origin and meaning…still held such a feeling.

"Betsy sure is amazing, I suppose," Satella said with a small smile. Leave it to Beatrice to pull off such a stunt at Subaru's request. Glancing around the dreaded Witch soon found the little spirit, busy at work away barking orders to the maids, like a little blonde dictator. "Well, I suppose she did inherit her mother's desire for perfection after all," Although Satella couldn't blame her, she looked so cute in her little red Santa outfit to even be blamed. It was evident Beatrice had loved the holiday and wanted to make sure everything was done right.

Upon seeing her… Emilia froze.

It was her. The Witch of Envy.

Al paused the viewing, and Emilia took in the still image in all its glory.

She knew that face. She had seen that face. It was her face. But also… she was the one from the intro. She was the one who cried over Subaru's body, the one who reversed his injuries, the one who became a shadowy monster, the one who…

…who Subaru kissed.

"THAT'S SATELLA?!" Felt screamed in disbelief.

Everyone turned to Emilia, who still couldn't take her eyes off the screen.

"Hah! Well what do you know, the half-devil really was a Witch the whole time!" Priscilla smugly laughed at Emilia's misfortune, as everyone else either glared at her, tried to console the panicking Emilia, or were trying to comprehend that the silver-haired girl from the intro everyone thought was Emilia was Satella the entire goddamn time.

"So what?"

Everyone turned to look at Subaru.

"So what if Emilia-tan and Satella look the same? They aren't the same people, and being a half-elf doesn't automatically mean you're a Witch." Subaru adamantly stood by his words.

"I met Satella two months ago, and I didn't see her as the incomprehensible evil that everyone made her out to be. I saw a broken person, crying her eyes out because the only person she ever loved kept dying over and over again because he couldn't bring himself to value himself. I saw someone, with tears in her eyes begging me to one day kill her because she likely couldn't take the guilt of her past sins any longer."

"I may not have been around her for long, but I saw someone who clearly regretted what she's done in the past, and I can say, without a doubt, that I would far prefer Satella's company over yours any day."

Priscilla's eyes widened at that claim. "How… how dare you…?!"

"I do. I do dare. I dare every day of my fucking life, because my mission is not to kill her, but to save her. And even if I don't have anyone by my side, I will continue to dare and challenge all of you, all for the sake of letting one girl live a long and happy life."

"So, I ask you again, Pris, and anyone else who's thinking of opposing me… so what?"

While everyone could only stare in shock at Subaru's determination to save Satella, Reinhard couldn't help but smile at Subaru's selflessness.

Priscilla, quietly, sat back down. Subaru didn't need to say some grand speech about how he would stop anyone who defied him, even if it took him a hundred deaths. He already did that when he defied the strawberry blonde for the first time ever, back when they were all seeing the Sin Archbishop of Pride. He didn't need to say it: The threat was already there.

Subaru, quietly, sat back down. "If you have any more questions about any of this, I can answer them later. Right now, we have a Christmas special we gotta watch."

And so, one by one, they all sat back down.

Suddenly out of nowhere, the drill loli was tackled by the Pup of Despair much to her chagrin. Apollo had started licking her in joy as she tried to get doggy of her. However, the Spirit's attention soon turned to the Witches who were laughing at her, and then it clicked when she realized who the dog belonged to. She dismissed the maids quickly and soon went to a more secluded location. Typhon and Daphne who had now joined the duo of Lust and Envy followed her.

"You made it," she told them, not even bothering to hide the happiness in her voice. It would sound uncharacteristic of her to speak like that to anyone but Bubby but here they were. "Where is Mother?" She asked excitedly and now all the witches felt frightened. They didn't want to crush that smile and that hopeful look. Echidna was here sure but she was in a bad mood and they still weren't sure if the duo should meet. Unfortunately, one of them wasn't so aware of that complexity.

"Oh… Dona is here, she's with Subaru and the others talking to not-Satella," Typhon said excitedly. There were times when Typhon's innocence was cute but this was not one of those times. Beatrice had looked ready to run to her mother at the first second, but Apollo had quickly transformed to stop her. Meanwhile, Daphne quickly dragged Typhon away to let Satella and Carmilla explain the situation and do damage control.

"Now we know you're excited to see Echidna," Satella trailed off. "But we need to tell you something," Satella warned.

"What is it?" Beatrice asked.

"Echidna hasn't been feeling too well…well actually something happened a while back and she hasn't recovered properly," Satella explained, trying to figure out just how to phrase the situation.

"Something happened to Mother?" Beatrice asked worriedly as she tried to struggle out of the Mabeast's grip.

"Yes," Satella answered. "There was a fight and Echidna got hurt, she's okay now, but due to some complications with Minerva's Authority… we needed to transform her," Satella explained. Okay now for the damage control, "The transformation turned her into a little kid and it's, unfortunately, some of her memories are all scrambled up… so if she acts cold or doesn't recognize or remember you… that's why," Satella explained.

"Ohhh… that makes more sense…"

"What is it, Subaru-kun?" Rem asked.

"Echidna is a smart cookie, always experimenting on something, so chances are she was experimenting with Minerva's Authority… and it backfired."

"Okay, now I'm curious: What does she look like as an adult?" Otto asked.

"She has Emilia-tan's height, build, and proportions."

In the back, Roswaal was secretly worshiping the smol Echidna.

"Oh… so you're saying Betty shouldn't surprise mother… because the sudden surprise of Betty might put her in shock," Beatrice theorized.

"Um… yes," Satella said. Just like her mother, Beatrice could sometimes overthink things and find deeper meanings and interpretations of things that didn't even exist. "So just try and act natural around," Satella asked.

"Don't worry, Betty will be the diligent daughter that she is and stay away… for mother's sake," She replied in a monotone voice. The loli soon left the two.

Carmilla merely cast Satella a disapproving look as she shook her head. "You lie way too easily," Carmilla muttered. Maybe it was because she just had the experience, lying to others and herself.

"Why would they lie?" Petra asked.

"One would say simply because they're Witches and that's in their nature," Julius said, as he suddenly saw Subaru's glare. "...but I have a feeling that this is not one of those cases!"

"Yeah, what Julius said," Subaru smirked. "But in all seriousness, I think the reason Satellas lied to Beatrice is because the truth about Echinda is… nasty."

"Nasty how, Barusu?"

"She's a sociopath who only cares about gaining more knowledge, regardless of who it hurts. Also, she's the least likable of all the Witches, and that's saying something."

Elsewhere, Roswaal was planning on how to permanently kill Subaru.

"I wonder where they went," Subaru thought as he walked around the Christmas festival… well it was more like a snow or winter festival. The place looked phenomenal but that was to be expected; Beatrice had gone above and beyond with the preparations, she was ever a diligent little loli. How she had managed to find so many Christmas decorations was beyond him. I wonder if Rem made them, he thought. He wouldn't put it past the blue-haired oni. She was as hard-working as they came. "And yet you always insist others are better," he mused. Subaru had seen her around but he never got a chance to talk with her. She had been busy handling the preparations as per usual but he also felt she was avoiding him somewhat, kind of like another girl he knew.

"Hey, did those Christmas decorations come from the mansion?" Subaru asked.

"Subaru, you have to remember, the mansion burned down," Beatrice reminded him.

"Yeah, I know, but still…"

Once he was sure he had spent an adequate time walking around, Subaru went to relax under a nearby stand that had been set up. He wanted to get out of this snow as soon as possible and go somewhere warm and toasty but he couldn't quite leave otherwise people would notice. As beautiful as the snow had been and watching the people all laugh and have fun, Subaru was on edge. With each flake that touched his skin, he felt a lot of horrid memories surface. He had been taking deep breaths just as Minerva had instructed to help him stay calm. Despite her aggressive nature… the Witch of Wrath was very familiar with dealing with trauma and had been a great help when she first noticed the signs. Nevertheless, it only worked momentarily. He didn't exactly want to stay out very long but this was all his idea, so he needed to see it through.

"So you are the faaaaamous Subaru Natsuki," a voice spoke behind Subaru, causing the boy in question to stiffen instantly. He knew that voice. He hated that voice. He wanted to do nothing more than murder that voice.

"Oh… Roswaal-sama, I didn't see you there," Subaru answered. "How do you like the festival?" He asked.

"Well…I can certainly say it brings back memories," Roswaal smiled fondly. "Although I have no clue why my sweet little Beatrice decided to plan such a thing, so suddenly," Roswaal said. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?" Roswaal asked as he cast a glance towards Subaru.

"Oh, great, the Grinch is here," Subaru hissed.

"The whaaaaat…?" Roswaal asked.

"A green asshole with termites in his smile, spiders in his brain, an empty hole where his heart should be, and with the charm of an eel. Except the Grinch is actually likable, in a werid way."

"And why would you make such an assumption?" Subaru answered his question with his own question. He was hoping he could stall out long enough to find an excuse to leave but it didn't look like he was going to be so lucky. Roswaal was persistent.

"Well… my sweet little Beatrice has been a lot happier as of late. She's more outgoing and I was told from the moment she met you, she was crying tears of joooooy. Are you perhaps… 'that' person?" Roswaal asked before looking up. "No perhaps, you aren't 'that' person… you're someone else entirely riiiiight?" he added. "You wish to be Emilia-san's knight, correct?" Roswaal said.

"Yes… I do desire to be Emilia's knight," Subaru said. He wasn't backing down from that decision. He had promised himself he would be worthy of being her knight, he wasn't going to back down now. Subaru was aware he would have had to deal with Roswaal eventually… maybe it was just wishful thinking that it wouldn't be now.

Once again, everyone in the Emilia Camp, minus Ram and a confused Rem, glared at Roswaal, who merely continued watching.

"Is that so," Roswaal mused. "And what pray tell can you do?" Roswaal asked. "How do you plan on protecting your lady if the need arises?" he inquired.

"I'm the Sword Saint's student," Subaru answered. "If Reinhard trains me, then surely that will suffice, right?" He asked.

"Reinhard is a powerful individual… but he is nothing more than a child scared of his own power," Roswaal whispered. "He won't act unless he's ordered to… why else do you think the world still suffers; had he taken initiative, the Great Mabeasts, and the Witch Cult… both would have been exterminated by now," Roswaal told him. "Is his mentorship all you have… or is there something more?" Roswaal asked.

"How dare you?"

Everyone turned toward the sound of the voice, and saw the ashen-haired merchant.

"Otto-sama?" Frederica asked.

"HOW DARE YOU?!" Otto yelled towards Roswaal. "How dare you say such things to Reinhard?! If you truly believed that these catastrophes were preventable, why didn't you go and stop them?! Oh, wait, you didn't, BECAUSE YOUR STUPID LITTLE BLACK BOOK TOLD YOU TO LET NATSUKI-SAN TAKE CARE OF THEM, LIKE HE WAS YOUR SLAVE!"

"OTTO!"

Quickly placing his hands over his mouth, Otto silenced himself, but it was too late. They heard. They all heard. The entire Theater was quiet. Not even the viewing was playing. Al had paused it when he began his rant, and now they knew. They all knew.

"Otto-san…" Julius slowly asked. "What did you mean by Roswaal-sama's black book?"

The gray-haired merchant kept his mouth shut, but the gears in everyone's heads began spinning as they all looked at the clown, and remembered that for some inexplicable reason, everyone in his Camp hated him, as much as they hated… Witch Cultists.

Crusch's eyes widened in realization, as she asked, "Roswaal-sama… are you… a –"

"No," the clown stopped her in her tracks. "I am not one of those filthy Witch Cultists, nor do I possess one of their defective books. I am not one of her lackeys."

"Crusch-sama…?" Felix asked.

"Truth."

"Wait," Anastasia called out. "Then what is this "little black book" Otto-kun mentioned?"

"Something that's none of your business," Subaru said, gaining everyone's attention. "This is an Emilia Camp matter, and it will stay as such, unless this show decides it's not. Understood?"

Everyone was quiet, and Subaru took that as a form of agreement.

"Good," he said, sitting down. "Then let's get back to it."

Subaru glanced at Roswaal. The clown was smirking at him; he knew something was not right with Subaru. His Gospel would have told him that much, but was he aware Subaru could reset, or did Roswaal just know something was off about him. Roswaal then gestured to the Mabeast, who was more of a puppy now, playing with the children.

"I am aware that the Mabeast of yours is one of a kind. No other like it exists… so tell me… how did you get something as special as that… did you make a deal with a Witch perhaps?" Roswaal asked. The clown was no fool; he knew the only people who could properly deal with Mabeast were those associated with Gluttony.

"What do you want from me, Ros?" Subaru asked. He was getting tired of beating around the bush. The clown looked up… pondering for a moment before answering.

"What I want is some answers… who are you really… and what business do you have here?" Roswaal asked.

"None of your fucking business, Ros," Subaru spat at the on-screen clown.

"So he really does have a Gospel…" Wilhelm whispered at the confirmation.

No, he doesn't, Crusch thought to herself. Whatever the book is, it certainly doesn't belong to the Witch Cult. My Divine Protection didn't trigger. So, whatever it is, it told the clown that Subaru was capable of looping, but what else does it know?

And more importantly… what is the Emilia Camp hiding?

"I'm just a boy, seeking to make a silver-haired half-elf happy," Subaru answered.

"Would that be Emilia, you're speaking off, or is there someone else?" Roswaal asked slyly. "I wouldn't blame you if you fell in love with one… I fell for a rather greedy girl myself," he told Subaru. "Well, I've wasted enough time on this," Roswaal said as he started to walk away. "If you wish to be Emilia's knight, then the position is yours," Roswaal said. "Just don't disappoint me…" he replied as he turned back to Subaru… flashing him a sinister smile. "Subaru Natsuki,"

"Damn it," Subaru muttered. What the hell just happened? he thought. He glances at the Mabeast next to him, but the creature was already off to who knows where. Subaru meanwhile decided to push this aside. He had matters to deal with and like hell was he going to let Pennywise's stupid brother mess with him.

"Pennywise?" Meili asked.

"A shapeshifting evil entity which preys on children and feasts on their fears, and usually takes the form of a clown," Subaru quickly explained. "Basically, what everyone thinks the Witch of Envy is, except it's a dude, and goes unnoticed by most adults."

"I do not like what you're insinuating, Barusu."

Subaru merely gave a blank, annoyed stare at the red oni. In turn, Ram merely gave a huff and returned her attention to the screen.

"You're Echidna, I suppose," a voice called from behind the Witch of Greed. Echidna froze as she knew exactly who it belonged to. Time seemed to slow down as the Witch tried to decide what to do next, a great discomfort forming in her body. She didn't want to turn around, nor did she want to acknowledge the voice behind her, but fate would not let her. She turned to face the girl who had called her, the Great Spirit of the Forbidden Library and one of her prouder creations… Beatrice. Regardless, Echidna couldn't help but glare at the pup in Beatrice's arms who enabled this Great Spirit was a stone face, but Echidna knew well enough that the girl's front was only a façade. Beatrice can be proud and carefree but Echidna had seen that mask crumble before Subaru. If Echidna said yes, she could dismiss the girl almost immediately. The Great Spirit would be heartbroken and her allies would be enraged with her. That was not the best choice. She doesn't care for Beatrice but if she breaks the girl's heart anymore…

"Kasaneru," Echidna corrected. "Echidna is the name the others insist on calling me but I prefer Kasaneru," she explained. Beatrice's comment had been an easy read. Echidna figured the others might have pulled some stunt to spare the girl's feelings because of the issues between the two. They probably made some excuse like memory loss or something, which granted Beatrice's trusting nature would have inevitably led to her believing them. Honestly, she couldn't believe her own daughter would be so gullible to Satella's lies. Nevertheless, she would capitalize on it. This child form was already one way to distance herself from the fair maiden mother Beatrice had grown attached to, giving herself a new name in this form would only serve to better separate herself as the Witch of Greed in her naïve daughter's eyes. Perhaps if she saw Echidna as someone else, the girl would let go of her delusions of Echidna being a mother to her and move on to people who actually cared for her and could love her.

"Kasaneru," Beatrice repeated. "Okay… my name is Beatrice, but you can call me Betty," Beatrice spoke.

"Nice to meet you… Betty," Kasaneru answered.

Upon hearing that… Beatrice's heart shattered.

Mother… No, Echidna didn't care for her. She never did. Subaru was right. All of those centuries she wasted, waiting for 'that person,' but 'that person' never existed to begin with, did they? It was all just an experiment to see if Beatrice had any free will to begin with.

Suddenly, Beatrice gasped as she was being hugged by her contractor.

"It's okay Beako, you've got a new family now." Subaru said with a smile, making the Great Spirit of Yin hug back.

"Ok then, listen up. Three squads and three bases, one for each of them. Trees are going to be a pain to you all because they make for a good cover. Bunkers are to something that you don't want to find right between you and your mission objective, they'll most likely be shielding an enemy of yours. You'd be easy prey without any means to defend yourself. The objective is really simple..."

Subaru was walking in front of the four teams like an army general would an arm folded behind his back while the other followed his rigid flow of movements. Right now, he was giving a pre-battle speech, making sure his soldiers were all well prepared for what was to come.

"... You are to take that flag placed down the hill, and bring it over to your base."

"Oh, I know what this game is," Subaru smiled.

"Ooh, ooh! What is it? Tell me, tell me!" Mimi begged.

"Capture the flag."

CTF.

Capture The Flag.

If there's one thing playing video games such as Halo do, it's to make you appreciate this fantastic game mode. And Subaru, being a shut-in during his stay in his previous world, knew that all too well.

"What, pray tell, is Halo?" Otto asked.

"Another video game series like Devil May Cry. Halo takes place five hundred years in the future where humanity is fighting a war against a massive alien religious group called the Covenant, who want to initiate something called "The Great Journey" in order to achieve godhood, if I recall correctly," Subaru explained the setting of the series.

"What. The. Fuck?" was the general reaction of everyone in the Theater.

"Anyways, before I end up hopping on the lore train, Capture the Flag is a multiplayer game which was featured in Halo, but is also played in real life. Anyway, in the game, there are two teams on opposite sides of an area, they have a base with a flag that represents their team. The objective of this game is to capture the flag of the opposing team and bring it back to your base. If you successfully bring a flag back to your base, they get a point and the flag teleports back to the enemy base. I can't remember if there's a time limit or point objective, but the team with the most points at the end wins, or they reach the point objective first."

So, nostalgic feelings or not, here he was trying to bring to life that same game mode in a different world. Finding this little spot near Roswaal's mansion has been a stroke of great luck indeed, for it was a circular soil depression, about twenty meters in diameter, surrounded by trees. If one wouldn't know any better, they could think it to be some form of explosion generated crater.

Maybe it was part of the collateral damage produced by Roswaal and Puck's fight many years ago when Subaru hadn't yet been transported here.

Whatever it was, it mattered not now. It would be put to good use today.

"No, it wasn't," Emilia said. "That fight happened over at Elior Forest."

"That fight… would that happen to be the Day of Red Earth and Sky?"

"No, that was when Puck fought the previous Great Spirit of Fire, Melakuera."

"I see," Crusch said, before she turned around and said, "Wait, WHAT?!"

"Each base is collocated in a triangle-like setting just outside of this crater-like depression, amidst the trees on its outskirts. That makes sniping from base to base very hard, courtesy of the trees themselves acting as a natural defense. Also, MAGIC AND DIVINE PROTECTION USAGE IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN."

All of the 'players' stood amidst the snow, silently and attentively listening to Subaru's attempt at a military-grade rambling on the game's rules and pieces of advice.

"If one of you were to be hit by a snowball, you are to lift your arm as to communicate that you've been hit and return to your own base. You'll be able to rejoin the fight after fifteen seconds from the moment you enter your team's castle have passed.

"You hear that, Rein? You're outta your element," Felt chuckled.

"I figured as much, Felt-sama," the redhead gave a soft smile.

Also, if you've been hit while you were carrying the flag, you'll have to set it down where you are. Everyone else that wants to take the flag, will have first to reset it bringing it over to the center again, and only then can they try and bring it home to their base." Subaru explained, and everyone nodded their head in acknowledgment.

"I will now call the names of the ones that will ensemble the Blue Team, starting with..." Subaru halted his match and turned on the spot to face the players. A blue-haired oni filled his vision, and joyous thought threatened to once again invade his mind. Subaru still couldn't believe that she was alive and well, he'll be eternally grateful to the Witches for having given him the means to 'save' her.

"Rem" Subaru called out smiling.

"Y-yes?" She tried to reply in a straight tone, not expecting to be the first to be called.

"You'll form the Blue Team, along with Beatrice, Meili, and..." Subaru shifted his gaze to stare at an adorable little puppy that was happily wagging his tail near Meili's feet. "... Apollo."

The newly formed Team walked over near Subaru, waiting for further instructions.

"So, what exactly is Apollo?" Petra asked.

"To be honest, I have no idea," Subaru answered. "I've never seen him before, so I'm assuming that he's a tool the Witches pulled out of thin air to help me with my time-traveling shenanigans."

"Why do you assume it's time-travel?" Frederica asked.

"Because of Rem. I apparently "saved" her, which implies that this event, which took place after the Mabeast Invasion, is before Sloth and the Sanctuary, where Rem was in the biggest danger. Plus, the fact that the Witches are here now, rather than in the Sanctuary, is telling."

"R-Dante! You'll lead the Red Team, the village boys. You all, little pests, try and listen to him... I assure you he knows what to do."

"I will try my best to lead my team to victory, Subaru." said the undercover Reinhardt, while doing a polite slight bow. Even while undercover, it seemed he couldn't part ways with his knightly etiquette. Seriously, the guy needed to loosen up.

"He's strong!" Lucas shouted.

"He's stylish!" followed up Cain.

"He's experienced!" noted Dine, pointing at the sword 'Dante' carried on his back.

"And he's going to kick your arses if you misbehave," Subaru finished in a friendly-mocking voice while closing one eye for emphasis. The boys gulped and said no more, just waiting for the snow battle to start.

I'm having Devil May Cry flashbacks… Subaru thought to himself. It's like watching Dante getting ready to kick demon ass, just without all the blood and getting stabbed in the chest.

"Alright, then! All you remaining ones will form the Purple Team. The captain will be E-" Petra's cold gaze sent shivers down his spine, making him immediately rethink the choice he had made. "P-PETRA-CHAN! She'll be the one leading you a-all...!"

Emilia, Puck, and Felt exchanged glances among themselves, trying to understand why Subaru seemed to be shivering under the gaze of that cute and gentle village girl, who now bore a satisfied smile. Puck was especially confused given Subaru's special company. Perhaps if he needed help he could recruit Petra to help him against Subaru.

After he finished his instructions the teams all broke off, leaving Subaru behind. "You aren't going to play in the snow with the others?" Sekhmet asked as she glanced at Subaru. The boy in question almost jumped at the sound of her voice before he relaxing when he realized it was her.

"I'm surprised you'd be asking that," Subaru answered. The Witch of Sloth seldom left the dream world unless it was important. He guessed even she could be moved to have some fun.

"I'm known for my lack of fun… you're not," Sekhmet said. She was lazy but she wasn't a fool. Subaru was a man who had endured hell but still managed to smile and laugh. Even he had his limits though, one could distance themselves from trauma all they liked but regardless it could be triggered. You can act like you don't care, pretend it doesn't affect you, but while that will fool others it won't fool yourself.

"So, this IS a time-travel fix-it!" Subaru yelled in realization.

"Subaru?" Emilia asked, confused.

"The snow!" he yelled, pointing to the screen. "I wasn't afraid of the snow during the festival, before the Royal Selection! I only gained that fear after Sloth and the Sanctuary!"

A few people in the audience shuddered at the implications, but Subaru continued.

"I meet the Witches in the Sanctuary, I shoot down Echidna's contract, I contract with all SEVEN of them, use that Mabeast as a conduit, and we go all the way back to the beginning! That's why all of these events have changed! I know the entire future for the next whole month, and have been changing it! That's why Roswaal's pissed at me! I'm going against his book!" Everything then made sense to Subaru, before a thought crossed his mind.

Wait a minute… SON OF A BITCH! I SHOULD'VE CONTRACTED THEM WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE! I WOULD PROBABLY BE HELLA OVERPOWERED BY NOW!

"Again wit' these mentions o' a book…" Anastasia grumbled.

"Oh well… I'm just not feeling like playing in the snow. That's all. I think I might be coming down with a cold or something," Subaru claimed. She could tell it was an excuse and a pretty weak one at that. However, she could also gain some information from what he said and what she knew. Snow had been something he loved if all the memories she saw were correct but they were being distanced now. He was linking snow to his trauma even on a subconscious level because some of his more gruesome and horrible deaths had taken place in snowy settings. Sekhmet glanced him over, he was fully covered in clothing to block out the cold… far more than what most would wear. He didn't want to expose any of his skin to the cold. Even now when he didn't need to talk or converse with anyone else, he had lowered his cap till it was only just above his eyes and wrapped his scarf around his mouth and nose.

"I'm curious… your world is bigger than ours, right?" she asked. He nodded. "Well… what do people do in places that don't snow… how do they celebrate Christmas?" she asked. Her plan was simple; get him to talk about places where it didn't snow so he could focus on those warmer thoughts. All the while she would listen while he distracted himself. That was it.

"Oh well… you see..." Sekhmet turned him off for the most part. She still paid attention to some of the more… noticeable details but she could keep her focus that long. Regardless it looked like he was feeling a little better as he went on to explain. Still, perhaps she could do something more for him, and by doing something she meant tell Satella because that girl was worried but scared to act and Sekhmet was sure this was the push she would need. "So since the trees don't usually grow they use the artificial ones," he finished. "Hey, are you even listening?" he asked.

"You know I wouldn't mind lying by a warm fire under the tree, with some nice hot chocolate… I think I'll try that late," Sekhmet answered. "Fake trees or not… it still feels like it would be nice," she answered. She paid attention only enough to not cause a fuss for her ignorance. Dealing with people who fussed over a lack of attention was even more work and she really didn't like that kind.

"Why am I not surprised?" Subaru said to himself.

"Is she always like this?" Petra asked.

"Sekhmet? Yeah," Subaru said. "Pretty sure even breathing was a chore for her."

"Prolly never took a bath, did she?" Garfiel asked.

"Ewww!" Mimi squealed. "I don't wanna think of that!"

The yellow flag fluttered in the wind, uncaring of the fight that was about to start just for the sake of its own abduction. All around, in this crater-like place, many short but lengthy snow walls, dubbed bunkers by Subaru, were littered around.

Just outside this crater, at the outskirts of the depression, the three teams waited patiently, inside their little snow castles, for the signal that would have commenced the battle.

Garfiel squirmed in his seat. "My amazin' self can feel th' excitement from here!"

"Down boy," Frederica groaned.

"Ne, Puck... Why does Petra-chan seem so pleased at the prospect of having to fight her friends to win?" asked a perplexed Emilia. Petra was currently on the ground, already making ammunition out of the surrounding snow if that small but growing pile of several very-compacted snow projectiles near her legs was to be of any indication.

"She's a fighter, I respect her. In the slums where I come from, all of us young adults had some little in-fights, even between friends, just like in this game," Felt chimed in.

"We'd steal something from each other and try to take our stuff back. We actually saw that as some kind of way to... Practice our means to survive." she was clearly talking about the thievery the slums youngsters were known for.

"It must have been hard living in the outskirts of the Capital" Emilia commented. "Before coming to reside inside of Roswaal's mansion, I lived in the Elior Forest," she explained as she scooped up some snow, intending to help Petra in her effort of making a stack of the soon-to-be needed snow ammunition.

"That doesn't sound too bad," Felt replied. "Living in forest grants you a chance at a life free of oppression; also you can hunt your own food instead of having to pay for it. All in all, it seems like a pretty good deal in my opinion."

"Yeah, there's nothing wrong with living in the wilderness. Pretty sure lots of people do it back on Earth," Kenichi commented on the lifestyle.

"Dad, there's a difference between camping and homeless people."

"Can't be homeless if the forest is your home, now can you?"

"DAD!"

The thought of running away from the Capital had crossed Felt's mind more than once already. Maybe, after having saved up some money, she could do it... She'd be free from it all. Some people in slums still lived there just because they didn't know any better, or they just trusted too much the nobles' words of comfort.

But she will not stay there and feel sorry for herself, she will not stay down and bow her head just because some rich punk said so. 'Live strong' was the slums' slogan but most of the suburban people didn't even try to live up to it. They just stuck around and wallowed in self-pity. Felt will not do the same.

"It was pretty lonely," Emilia admitted sadly. "There wasn't anyone else around beside me." Back then, Emilia had lost track of time before long, seeing as every day followed the same routine as all the others.

She'd wake up, clean the statues, map the forest, maybe mine some crystals and then go to sleep, then wake up only to do it all over again. Sometimes, when she required more supplies, she'd stop by the nearby village to restock, while some other times she'd have to fight off some Mabeasts that roamed around in the forest.

Both Felt and Emilia empathized with one another. Both of them suffered due to society's treatment of them, just in different ways.

Subaru and Reinhard saw the sad faces of their mistresses, and quickly looked at one another in agreement. They would make sure that they help one another, so that both of them would be happy, regardless of which one of them won the throne.

And so, along with Satella's rescue, a new secret pact was made.

She managed to survive, but she had been alone. Emilia then cast a glance at Puck, who was now gaze-scouting the area around the flag from a couple of meters above the ground near her. No, I wasn't alone. She thought to herself, she had had Puck after all. He has been there since she woke up from her ice prison and had always visited her almost every day. He had taught her so much too. He had loved her when everyone else hated her. "But… Puck has always been there for me." On Emilia's mouth, a little sincere and a heartfelt smile grew.

Felt hummed as she listened to Emilia. How would she fare alone? Felt couldn't recall a moment in time where she had been alone; Rom has always been with her when she needed him.

"I guess, I was never alone too," Felt mused. Rom had always been a constant in her life, she barely even remembered how her life was before she had met him. Heck, she couldn't recall it at all. Rom had always taken care of all things and was still there for her even now.

Subaru was all hung up on going to serve as Emilia's knight and as far as Felt knew Reinhardt only helped and cared for her and Ron because she was a Royal Candidate.

Even now, he's still the only one I can truly rely on, Felt thought. She then cast a glance at Emilia. Was it the same for her and Puck?

"Ne, Emilia" Felt whispered. Emilia perked up at the younger candidate's call. "Why do you want to be King?" Emilia smiled at her as her eyes assumed a look of firm determination. "I want everyone to be equal; I want everyone to have equal rights. I don't want to see any more discrimination. People shouldn't suffer just because they were born differently." That response resonated with Felt. It could have been because she also knew Rom, as well other demi-humans, faced some form of scrutiny and judgment at some point in their life of how different from all the rest they were born.

The whole concept of racism is stupid, Felt thought. She had seen all kinds of people in the slums, and she knew no one was better in any way than the other, they were all equally capable. There was no such thing as the true best race.

"Damn right, it is," Subaru said. To be honest, even if Emilia didn't end up winning the Royal Selection, he would be fine with Felt being in charge.

Crusch, Anastasia and Priscilla secretly began to incorporate equality into their policies.

But while racism as a whole was a problem it was not the main issue. After all… she'd seen it before that all races could work well together. Rom, a giant, took care of her, a human, after all… and again, Subaru and Emilia saved them from being killed.

"What about you, Felt?" Emilia asked, now curious herself about Felt's motivations. "Why do you want to be King?"

At first, Felt wanted to say, "It was either this, or letting my grandpa die," but the more she thought about it, she… actually didn't know. Sure, she knew that she hated the current system and she wanted to tear it down, but after that… what?

Big Sis wanted to end racism, the others had their own ideas, even Big Bro probably knew what to do better than her… but what did she truly want, besides destroying everything she hated?

Maybe I should ask Rein? Or better yet, ask Big Bro once he's with us?

She would make sure that he wouldn't suffer anymore, first and foremost.

Felt hadn't really thought of a real solid reason why she accepted to participate in the Royal Selection, other than saving Rom's life. "I accepted only because the insignia chose me and to save my old man's life, I guess," Felt answered.

"Subaru had seen the gem shine, and he told Reinhard and Rom about it," Felt explained. "It's mostly because of them I decided to give it a try."

The Insignia had marked her as one of the Royal Candidates, with no apparent reason. Emilia at least had a half-decent reason why she should try and prove herself to be capable of being Lugunica's next King. What did Felt have that made the gem choose her to be the fifth Royal Candidate and make people like Subaru, Reinhard, and Rom put so much faith in her?

Both Felt and Emilia turned to stare at the sudden eruption of Shamac that was shot in the sky, signaling to all the participants the start of the battle for the flag. Felt will have to find out herself what made her so special later, for now, was the time for action.

Reinhard stared at the sky while he waited for the signal before his gaze trailed back to the kids with whom he had been partnered. Subaru had made it very clear, compared to the girls on the other teams these boys would be cannon fodder so he needed to balance them out. Subaru had been insistent on several rules, don't abuse his blessings to win the game and don't hold back too much for the sake of the girls. "If they think you're going easy on them, and then they'll think you believe them to be helpless, so try to find a sweet spot in between," Subaru had told him.

"Subaru-sama, do you have such little faith in my friends?!" Petra accused him.

"Yes. Hands down. Next question."

"Wow, that was cold," Otto chuckled.

Subaru had also added how Reinhard should loosen up a little bit. This was a snowball fight, it didn't matter who won or lost just as long as they had fun, but what exactly did he need to do for fun. Reinhard looked back at his childhood. He never really had much fun growing up. He had remembered when the first of his Divine Protections had shown up, he had been so ecstatic to show his friends his new ability. He remembered how impressed they were back then. Then he received another and they were impressed again. He received more abilities but slowly he could see them no longer being amazed. Instead, they started looking at him differently, soon they didn't want to include him because it would be fair and eventually his multiple Divine Protections earned him the attention of the royal guard.

It was the same story even now that became Sword Saint, people start out being impressed by his power, but eventually, they start to become weary of it. Reinhard has tried his best not to let his power or his family legacy being the only things to define him. He was thankful that he had friends like Julius and Felix who had accepted him for just being himself. Admittedly though he thought Subaru and Felt-sama might have been the same way but his Lady didn't treat him any different than how she treated those around her, the same could be said with Subaru. Even now when he was wearing this disguise he admittedly liked the idea of others treating him as his own person. Sure the person he was being viewed as was the false, Dante, but compared to the false image of the Sword Saint, Reinhard, that he had lived with for so long, it was refreshing, especially when Dante could be accepted as more of his true self, not tied to any legacy or name other than his own.

"Perhaps, maybe Dante could be more than a one-time thing," Reinhard thought. He was already excited that he was included here. While the other boys were younger, he still let them take charge in the planning, only stepping in when the ideas were too farfetched for him to execute without using his Divine Protections. Despite his efforts though, one of them was still active telling him about the Shamac signal was about to be fired, but he ignored it choosing to wait for when everyone else moved. Once his other teammates did see it, Reinhard followed them into battle against the others.

"So Rem, what's the plan?" Meili asked. She was a little unsure of what was to be done. Admittedly she had participated in games like this before but those were a lot bloodier and messier back then especially when Elsa played. Meili would have taken charge had it been only Demon Beasts that were her partners but she had an oni and a Great Spirit here, two people senior to her.

The Demon Beast that was there also wasn't all that helpful either. Apollo, as he was called, did not listen to her like the others, every command she had given him has was ignored completely with him only listening if it suits his interest. However, she did notice that he seemed to suddenly change his movements as if he was being ordered by another master. He didn't have any horns, nor were there any stubs to signify where a horn would have broken but he was Demon Beast as far as she could tell. Something for sure was off about him. Meili would need to include him in her next report, to Capella. She was fairly certain though that this creature was the one responsible for the slaughter that occurred a few weeks ago.

"Subaru said we merely need to capture the flag at the center and return the base," Rem repeated. "Rem will draw there their fire while Meili sneaks to get the flag, Beatrice should be able to cover for her the time being," Rem said. It may not be as good as what Ram could think of but Rem was sure it would probably be sufficient. Beatrice however seemed to disagree.

"You forgot to include Apollo," Beatrice said. As if on cue, the little puppy dog barked happily as it chased around before falling into the snow. "Nevertheless, it is understandable, Apollo's size will lead him to be underestimated, I suppose, but do not be mistaken he can aid with our victory," Beatrice told her.

"Well, that's not untrue…" Subaru thought to himself, but he doubted Apollo looked like that in battle. "Maybe Apollo can change size like one Mabeast Meilia disguised…"

"Yeah, 'cept mine aren't as ugly as Apollo, Onii-chan…"

"Wow, you're a ruthless kid," he chuckled, giving her a noogie from across their seats.

"Alright, knock it off, Subaru-sama," Frederica smiled, seeing Meili laugh.

"Yes, forgive me, I merely forgot that he was our teammate as well," Rem apologized. She glanced at the little puppy still, surprised that it was behaving and acting so friendly. Rem had recalled how her encounter with the creature had been quite a stressful ordeal. He had beaten Rem and Ram together, before subsequently healing them before throwing them back to the mansion. She didn't know what to make off the creature or Subaru, but hearing the story Subaru had given with the blessing of both Puck and the Sword Saint, had somewhat tempered her dislike for them.

If she was being honest, she actually felt more confused. Subaru had not taken revenge on her and her sister, especially when he had all the right to do so and he had several Great Spirits and the Sword Saint vouching for him. Nevertheless, she still didn't trust him with the Witch's scent surrounding but she would trust he meant no harm to her and her home if what he had done so far was any indication. At the very least he was probably telling the truth and was a victim to the cult which left him like that. To think one of the Archbishops had tried to possess him, had the same thing happen to Rem herself, she would have felt so violated and ashamed she might have considered killing herself. Perhaps he was just a victim like her and Ram, and she had mistaken him. She would think about this later as she saw the Shamac launch. Now was time to at least enjoy the family and friends she had, she knew what it was like losing them before, she'd make sure to treasure what she had now.

MMMM… Subaru cringed at Rem's internal monologue.

"LET THE GAMES COMMENCE! SHAMAK!" Subaru yelled as he cast towards the sky a projectile-like condensed shadow cloud, which upon distancing itself from him about 6 meters, exploded outwards releasing its stored darkness, signaling the starting of the battle.

Subaru watched for afar as all the teams dashed out of their respective Halo-style base. Ah, how I miss that game... Maybe it could be possible to materialize it inside my dream house... I'll make sure to try and do it. I'm sure everyone would appreciate that, he thought to himself, a happy smile on his face.

"Barusu. "

"...Hck!" Subaru jumped after hearing someone call him with a familiar distortion of his name.

"Dream house?" Frederica asked.

"If I was a betting man, I'd wager that he's referring to something like the Castle of Dreams Echidna utilized when I met her."

"Are you not going to take part in this horrendous excuse of a game that you managed to impose on those unfortunate people?" Ram asked, making herself known by entering in his peripheral line of sight.

"Aah Ram, Ram... Always watching over me like my guardian angel!" Subaru said in one of his usual dramas, an arm outstretched towards her.

Ram kindly reacted with a disgusted scowl appearing on her face. "Please, don't go and shame yourself further by voicing your delusions. Everyone knows that no sane angel would ever want to watch over such a pathetic excuse of a human being, they'd sooner protect the last two onis, just so that they'd never have to be anywhere near you." Ram retracted by a couple of steps to put some distance between her cute self and that disgusting being.

"Well, if an angel won't look out for me... at least the devil will." Subaru winked. That statement was true on more fronts, as the image of Satella came forth on his mind. She had been watching over him from the beginning, even if it hadn't always been a pleasant thing for him.

Ram sent him a murderous glare, Subaru sighed while closing his eyes in response. He knew Ram will always be Ram, whether she knew him well or not. Still, what was she doing here? Shouldn't she be with that wretched clown?

Ram was a bit conflicted about whether or not she should be offended. Normally, she would have chastised him for disrespecting her master, but now… she couldn't help but feel that Subaru's distaste for Roswaal is justified after what he tried to do at the Sanctuary. Especially now that she knew what Roswaal might have done to Subaru had he been successful.

"Why are you here, Ram?"

Ram held a firm gaze towards him. After a little while, she narrowed her eyes.

"Roswaal-sama seems to trust you Barusu, but that isn't enough to earn my own trust. According to my little sister, you reek of the Witch, and that alone should be enough of a reason to think you are a Witch Cultist. Also, you have declared interest in Emilia-sama, a silver-haired half-elf, I fear for the safety of her naive self. You are not to be taken so lightly, I have seen what that adorable puppy of yours can do and what you seem capable of recovering from."

Subaru understood that the way he acted was very suspicious. How could she imagine that in another life they had been friends? She felt the need to protect her new family, especially her sister. Subaru relaxed his expression.

"I know that seems suspicious, but I swear on the great dragon itself that my intentions are pure." he voiced his thoughts with a hand over his heart.

"You know that this is the highest form of promise there is here in Lugnica, right? Barusu could be executed for not seeing it through." Then Ram's voice assumed a more shadowy tone.

"Know that you cannot play me for fool. Know that I will watch your every move. Should I find something to prove your nefarious intentions to others, I will not hesitate to act upon that... And this time, that puppy of yours won't be there to save you." her eyes said it all, she will watch him and determine for herself if he was to be punished. But, doing so, she was giving him the benefit of the doubt. That, Subaru didn't miss in the slightest.

While everyone else glared at Ram, Subaru smiled to himself.

"Welp, that interaction just confirmed several things."

"What do you mean, Subaru-kun?" Rem asked.

"First off, this is indeed a time-travel fix-it. Several of the things that I've said have only happened to this version of me have also happened to me in this timeline, meaning that he split off from me, and traveled back to the beginning to fix everything."

"Okay, and the second thing?" Al asked.

"The second thing is that Apollo over there is indeed what's giving me an advantage in this timeline," Subaru continued his analysis. "Chances are, he's able to use the Witches' Authorities and probably interacts with the world in their place, since they're clearly invisible to everyone but to me and the Great Spirits. They're acting pretty much like ghosts here."

"Thank you, Ram, I'll prove that I have only Emilia's safety and happiness at heart. I won't let you down." he finished with a soft smile.

"... We shall see, Barusu. For now, isn't it time to start this game already? Idle banter gets on my nerves, especially if the other party can only sprout nonsense. Poor me, my ears are bleeding because of your idiotic words. I'd rather see my lovely sister mow down those opposing teams with snow projectiles and bring home victory instead of hearing you talk again."

"Ok then! Now let's enjo- Hck!" Subaru jumped in his place at the sight of a snowball crossing the entire map in a straight line at Mach 1, only to lodge itself inside a tree's trunk. The splinters flying out of it could be seen even by Ram's impassive nacked eye.

"...What the fuck was that?" Subaru asked, his left eye twitching.

"It seems you managed to create a game that captured my sister's interest, that's all."

"Are you enjoying the show?" Sekhmet asked Satella. The half-elf turned to face the slothful Witch, surprised by the sudden question.

"Yeah, it's nice I suppose," Satella answered. The festival was in full swing and the Witches were able to watch it all happen right in front of them. While the snowball fight had been headed by Subaru, a few other activities were being overseen by Roswaal and Ram. Satella smiled at the sight of all the people enjoying themselves. This was the world she remembered being introduced to. A pang of sadness touched her heart as she realized that she could never truly be a part of this world's joy anymore. Even if she was freed and tried to make amends… the world still wouldn't forgive her, however, she would make do with what she had. It served her no purpose to be jealous of what she couldn't have anymore.

"Damn, Rem, that was your throwing arm? Nice!"

Rem blushed due to the complement. "Subaru-kun is too kind."

Others in the audience heard Satella's inner monologue, and were slightly surprised at her wanting to make amends. Sure, she looked harmless, and Subaru vouched for her, but to hear it from herself, that only confirmed it.

I promise, Subaru said, looking at the on-screen Satella. I'm going to save you.

"It's a shame Subaru can't enjoy it as much as he wants to," Sekhmet said bluntly. Satella turned to her with a confused look. Was something wrong with Subaru? "Don't go crazy just yet… it's nothing serious," Sekhmet explained. "The little child isn't so comfortable in the snow anymore… that's all," The Witch of Sloth told her. She explained her little theory on the snow-based deaths traumatizing Subaru, nearly dozing off midway only for Satella to snap her awake. Eventually, they did manage to make it to the end, leaving Satella with a small frown.

"I'm so stupid… how did I not see it sooner?" Satella cursed herself.

As Subaru watched Satella on the screen, he now saw that she was kinda like Emilia: She had her flaws, and sometimes was a bit of an air-head, but with a kind heart. He also kinda felt like a dick for not completely enjoying the snow festival with everyone else.

As his mind was beginning to spiral, Subaru felt… something… it was not a physical sensation, but something he could just feel.

"Do not blame yourself, for you have done more than you can possibly imagine. I love you."

The sentence appeared in Subaru's thoughts with a familiar voice to follow.

Thanks, Satella-tan.

"You tend to miss things when you distance yourself from people," Sekhmet said. "Regardless… I just thought it might be best to tell you this." She explained before leaving, she had already done what she wanted to do… Now was the time to go and relax. It was understood though that Sekhmet was just telling her because she knew Satella would act almost immediately.

"So he's uncomfortable with a white Christmas," Satella mused. A crazy idea was starting to form in her mind and Satella seriously hoped it wouldn't backfire. Christmas wasn't about snow and winter, after all, it was about family and friends, and there was more than one way to celebrate with them. Satella soon disappeared into the dream world. She had lots to do but thankfully she had the power of imagination on her side, in the most literal of ways.

"And the winner… is the Purple Team," Subaru said as he announces the winner. It was a close match, to be honest, but he was sure that they all could agree it was well deserved. Almost immediately the focus had been on the Blue Team, with Rem's sheer power but the focus quickly shifted to Reinhard who had made himself a target despite his best effort to hold back. Nonetheless, this was not the last man standing; it was Capture the Flag so Reinhard didn't need to be beaten. The Sword Saint as a way of being a good sport had let the village boys take a chance to retrieve the flag while he merely covered them. Although Reinhard racked up the most strikes that still didn't come without some major upsets. Despite Rem's earlier strength, she was not the Blue team's MVP, rather it was Apollo who earned that spot when he stole the flag and ran, his smaller form making him hard to hit as he always managed to narrowly most strikes that weren't from Reinhard.

Yet despite the beast's best efforts both he and Reinhard still failed against the Purple's team's strongest weapon, Petra. The little girl was tenacious if anything else. While Red and Blue fought, Purple camped nearby and sniped out most of the other teams. Eventually, they had managed to snipe everyone except Reinhard but Petra did the impossible and outed him as well. She had rushed Reinhard and hugged him, with the snowballs in hand so when she held him, the snow technically touched him and he was out. Safe to say Subaru was shocked by that along with the other participants who knew Dante's identity. After that, it was just a matter of grabbing the flag and running to base.

After the game, the groups dispersed, now a little closer to each other. Emilia and Felt went elsewhere enjoying the music. The maids and Beatrice resumed their aid with the festival as they now had some snow sculpting to oversee and participate in. Betty had decided she wanted help making two sculptures and Meili was surprisingly eager to help her. Dante/Reinhard was quite happy that his Lady's team won. He was a little worried that his teammates would resent him but that was not the case. They seemed to enjoy the game just as much as he did, even inviting him to go with them when they went to grab some snacks.

The festival soon started to wind down as everyone began to part ways. Felt camp had stuck around till the end, not wanting to miss any second of it. Eventually, though even they had to prepare to leave. "We would like to thank you all once more for coming," Emilia told the rival camp.

"No worries, Big Sis," Felt said. "It's been a real bash," After this Felt wondered when the next time she'd be able to have fun like this would be. The Royal Selection would be starting soon so she would most likely get drowned in her studies and whatever crap she needed to do. Maybe she could ask Emilia if she could help her study.

Felt looked over to Emilia and Crusch and asked, "Girl's night?"

"What's that?" Emilia asked.

"It's a female-only social gathering, usually hosted by a member of the group, who all do activities circled around the idea of having fun," Crusch explained.

The silver-haired half-elf asked, "Like going out and getting drunk?"

"No, no, that's for guys."

"""HEY!"""

"I concur with my Lady," Reinhard added. "It was a pleasure for us to attend,"

"Hey, where's Subaru?" Emilia asked as she glanced around for the other boy.

"Buenas Aires!" a voice screamed startlingly. Subaru suddenly appeared flying through a window from the mansion before landing head first in the snow. The young knight to be pulled himself out before turning to face the others with a broad smile on his first, trying his best to recover from that less than ideal display. "Sorry about that, I just went to check on Beatrice a little, and apparently I startled her," he explained. He just had to put a snowball on her head for old time's sake, either way, it was worth it. A green puppy soon followed his example however rather than be flung out the window, Apollo had jumped and landed right on Subaru's head. After sharing a few more words with each other, Felt Camp departed.

"So did you enjoy yourself," Satella asked once they were back at Reinhard's place. She was still feeling a little uncomfortable but hopefully, the festival had eased his nerves somewhat. She didn't like that she made him feel so.

"Yeah it was fun," Subaru said.

"Well, I'm glad you liked it," Satella smiled. "I…um…I actually have a surprise for you," She said nervously.

"A surprise?" Subaru repeated.

"Yeah," Satella answered. "Lie down on your bed and close your eyes," Satella requested.

"Is it a kiss?" Al asked.

The comment made a few of the girls uncomfortable.

Subaru did as he was told and followed the jealous Witch's instructions. Satella then pulled him into the dream world as his body fell asleep on the bed.

"Okay… open your eyes now," Satella said. Subaru opened his eyes and lo and behold he was not expecting what he saw. The Roswaal Manor had been a winter wonderland to them a few hours ago but now he was standing in a Summer Paradise. The air was warm, wet, and salty. He could hear the birds flapping and singing from high up in the air as he heard waves crash below. He was on a beach, he realized, a white sandy beach with clear blue water and many coconut trees littered along the shoreline.

"What is this?" Subaru asked as he turned back to the Witches. He almost blushed immediately when he saw them. They were all wearing beachwear and considering most of them would be considered fairly beautiful women… yeah. Their swimwear was Christmas themed and they were by a table as per usual with a Christmas feast laid out. The trees surrounding them were with lights and other decorations.

Subaru's face was glowing as bright red as a Christmas tree light, as he saw Satella in a bikini. Sure, Minerva, Carmilla, and Sekhmet also looked great, but Satella… wow. She checked off all of his boxes…

Next to him, both Emilia and Rem, and even Crusch, were all growing jealous.

Roswaal was slightly disappointed that he couldn't see Echidna in her bathing suit, but even he had standards. He wasn't a pedo.

"Well… we saw that you weren't exactly comfortable with the snow," Satella said nervously. She hadn't been able to comfort and support him for a long time, even if he was afraid she'd still try to ease whatever discomfort he had."So we thought maybe we can have a small get-together in here in a warmer setting… a tropical Christmas so to speak." Satella explained. "So… what do you think?" She asked him.

"I love it… thanks, girls," Subaru answered. He saw Satella smile at the response before she gestured for him to come. The other Witches were glad to hear he liked it. They had admittedly grown fond of him and it just seemed a little cruel that they and everyone else got to have so much fun and Subaru didn't. It was also the first time any of them had even seen a beach and an ocean.

Everyone not from Earth could only stare at amazement at the sight before them.

Sand as far as the eye could see on one side, like the Auguria Sand Dunes, while the other side had more water than they could have imagined, larger than any lake they had seen in their world, some of them even believed it could fit their entire world inside it.

The setting sun made it seem like something straight out of a painting. The blue sky slowly turned orange, as a flash of green appeared as the sun dipped into the deep blue water, where they could see the yellow of the sun shine within it like shingles.

"Your world is truly beautiful, Subaru-kun," Rem whispered to him.

"Yeah, I… never really realized it till now."

Time was nothing for them here so they spent the whole day enjoying it. Daphne and Typhon were playing in the sand burying Sekhmet. Once they had finished burying the Witch of Sloth, they moved on to a sand sculpture competition. It was a little difficult at first; and wasn't like snow but they could bend the rules of this world to make it what they wanted. Typhon ended up building a replica of Subaru's house while Daphne made a typical sandcastle… at least it was supposed to be a sandcastle. The Witch of Gluttony ended up inadvertently creating another Mabeast, a living sandcastle. The creature almost instinctively attempted to eat Typhon's castle, but the Witch of Pride was quick to put it down. No one was going to attack her home and get away with it. The living sandcastle was living no more when she was done.

Satella, Subaru, Minerva, and Apollo had decided to play volleyball. They tried boys vs girls at first for the matchups, however, that soon turned out to be a rather bad idea. There was some self-sabotage during the match and Minerva's wrath was slowly rising at the unfairness. Subaru seemed to be distracted during the game and Satella didn't seem willing to play rough with Subaru. So Minerva thought of a good solution to that.

"So, I guess Daphne created some new Mabeasts," Subaru commented.

""New Mabeasts"? What do you mean, Subaru?" Julius asked.

"Oh right, I forgot you guys don't know. Daphne is the one who created all the Mabeasts. Not Satella," Subaru nonchalantly pointed out.

"Forgive me, just so I understood this right… that little girl… created the monsters that was responsible for killing my wife…?" Wilhelm asked, his tone low.

"... Yeah…" Subaru realized the situation he was in. "Remember how I said the Witches had good intentions, but they didn't go about them the right way?"

Everyone nodded. "Well, turns out, Daphne has some kind of condition where she's constantly starving no matter how much she eats. So, she decided to create the Mabeast in an attempt to end world hunger, as there would be plenty of game to hunt, kill and eat."

"Then why the hell did she make the three Great Mabeasts?!" Felt couldn't comprehend the logic.

"Well, she said that the White Whale could feed an entire town, and due to the Great Rabbit's multiplication ability, it could theoretically be an infinite food source," Subaru said from what he could remember.

"And the Black Serpent? What was the logic behind that thing?" Crusch asked.

"No idea, Daphne didn't mention it."

Wilhelm decided that during the next break, he would retreat to his room and scream his frustrations out. Maybe also break a few things if the mood overcame him.

"If you two are gonna cause so much trouble for me and Apollo… then how about you both work together," the Witch of Wrath growled. Honestly, these two were a never ending source of headaches for her. The two seemed ready to protest before they glanced at each other and then decided against it. Whatever was going between them… they needed to work out and dammit was she going to force them to do so. Minerva sure as hell wasn't ready for a rematch with the Witch of Envy if their problems escalated too far.

"A rematch?" Ram asked.

"Well, considerin' she's alive, Minerva musta won," Ricardo said.

"Maybe it wasn't a fight?" Tivey asked. "Maybe it was an augment?"

"I doubt it." Subaru said. "Minerva seemed pretty defensive of Satella when I met with them. I'm guessing Envy came out."

"Envy?" Emilia asked.

"Satella's evil half, the part that everyone knows as the Witch of Envy," Subaru explained.

"Wait, so Satella is not fully in control of her body?" Crusch asked for clarification.

"Yep. Satella suffers from a split personality. Satella is normally… well, how you're seeing her now, while Envy is more along the lines of how she's been portrayed throughout history."

Everyone was surprised when they heard that, but given Subaru's track record and his calm reaction to meeting the Witches, it was… not that surprising, unfortunately.

"And now that they are on the same team..." Minerva thought with a smirk. She had become accustomed to sharing her power with Apollo that it had become quite simple for her to share ideas and intentions with him. So she shared a little plan of hers with the beast while they played. As they passed the volleyball back and forth, Minerva and Apollo continually forced Satella and Subaru to come closer and closer together. Once they were close enough.

"JACKPOT!" Minerva screamed as she put her power into the ball as spiked it over the net. She didn't know which of the two she was aiming for but she knew the ball connected and floored both of them...not that it would hurt when her destructive power transferred into healing upon impact.

It was safe to say she was very satisfied at the fact that Subaru had tried to protect the half-elf from the ball. Only now he and said half-elf was knocked onto the sand… with Subaru's head resting on Satella's chest. If it would have been embarrassing enough for him if they were in their regular clothes; Minerva was sure he would have Returned by Death from shame once he realized his head landed on Satella's scantily-clad bosom.

"Well it looks like you guys are busy so I'll go surfing for now," Minerva said as she and Apollo made a hasty escape. Satella might be furious for putting them in a situation like this… but Minerva was sure Envy was overjoyed by this outcome.

Subaru was sweating bullets as he saw his counterpart's face in Satella's chest. Don't get an erection, don't get an erection, don't get an – Goddammit. At least no one's in my lap.

Emilia, Rem, Crusch, and Petra were all fuming with jealousy as they saw the screen.

"Well that wasn't inconspicuous at all," Echidna said sarcastically as she looked back down at her notes. She had wasted enough time today with their snow festival and she wasn't going to spend another second away from her research. She was still drawing up plans for a prototype of the internet… or at least the magical equivalent to it.

The Witch next to her was interested though in the awkward pair in the sand. "I too wish she was more subtle...but it's Minerva," Carmilla said. The Witch of Wrath was as loud and as straight forward as they came. Minerva trying to be subtle was like Sekhmet agreeing to go for a jog, it was never happening in a million years. "I just wish she wouldn't be so aggressive," a stupid wish considering they were talking about the Witch of Wrath, in other words, rage and aggression incarnate.

"If Satella was just honest with him, she wouldn't have any problems," Echidna muttered. "I still don't see why she puts up that farce… pretending that she's split in two," the greedy girl grumbled.

"You still believe that stupid theory. You think she is just faking it," Carmilla said.

"I know she is faking it," Echidna corrected. Witch Factors didn't make split personalities, they just amplified what was already there. Every other Witch who had one didn't change all that much. Only Satella had such a shift. That 'personality' was what Satella was truly was on the inside when she gave in to her despair. Envy was just Satella acting without inhibitions but the half-elf insisted on it being another personality.

"I don't believe that bullshit theory," Subaru said. Satella and Envy acted far too differently for Envy for just be Satella's "true self". The only thing they shared was their affection for him, but everything else was different.

Satella seemed kind and thoughtful of his well-being. She cried when he couldn't value himself, and it was clear she wasn't fond of how he had been using Return by Death. Also, Subaru suspects one of the reasons Satella wants Subaru to kill her is her guilt for her actions during the Great Calamity.

Envy was the opposite. She was completely insane, and won't hesitate to slaughter anyone and anything that gets in her way. She didn't seem to take pleasure in killing, but more likely viewed people in her way as an annoyance. Subaru didn't even think Envy cared about what happened during the Great Calamity. She only cared about having him, not even caring how killing his allies may impact his opinion of her. It was almost like… she wasn't truly in love with him, but rather the idea of him.

Subaru knew that Satella and Envy couldn't be the same person. Envy may have originated from Satella absorbing the Witch Factor, but maybe Envy was… a side effect of what happened?

Attempting to destroy the world, almost committing genocide… combine that with Satella's incompatibility with her Authority, and there's no way her mind was stable after that. Maybe she unconsciously developed Envy as an alternative personality as a result of her actions. Unable to come to terms with what she's done.

Subaru had already seen something like this before. In Attack on Titan, Reiner Braun had developed a split personality after losing his friend and being responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives. He couldn't take the guilt, and so, a new personality was unconsciously developed to help him cope.

Subaru chalked Echidna's "theory" to her being in denial and her hatred for Satella.

"What about Guese?" Carmilla asked. "Do you think he's faking as well?" They had all seen the memories of Emilia. They were altered but it was easy to figure out why and by who. The Witch of Vainglory, the presumed leader of the Witch cult that sullied Satella's name, had attacked the other half-elf and her village. Her aunt, Fortuna, and her adopted uncle, Guese was caught in the fight and they were both killed.

"Geuse died a hundred years ago," Echidna said seemingly… her voice stern. Geuse had been a messenger for Flugel and had become a regular acquaintance of hers, mentoring Beatrice so Echidna could focus herself elsewhere.

However, they weren't killed as expected. Emilia's adopted uncle, Geuse, had taken the Sloth Witch Factor which he was guarding for Flugel, and tried to use it to fight back. He was incompatible and suffered backlash which fragmented his mind. During that state of pain and weakness… the Witch of Vainglory had tricked him into killing Fortuna and when he realized the crime he had committed… Geuse had ceased to be and Petelguese was born.

Subaru took a moment to take everything in. He now knew how Petelgeuse came to be.

Guese… He was just like Satella. A broken soul driven insane by his Witch Factor and crime…

"Petelgeuse is nothing more than Geuse's insanity left alive to be flaunted like a trophy by that Witch," Echidna said. "He needs to be put down just like before," she said coldly. Echidna's thoughts were the same for Envy, monsters of madness that needed to be mercifully massacred. The only difference was that Envy was a smarter monster. Carmilla said nothing. Echidna was very firm in beliefs and it would take nothing short of a miracle to convince her otherwise. She was just glad that despite all the hatred Echidna had for Envy… she was smart enough to know not to fight her.

Eventually, the sun began to set and the group was able to indulge in a rather beautiful scene. As the sun was setting however the stars were starting to light up the sky but not just them. The memories used to make the ocean were special ones...algae bloom. Just as the sky was lit up so did the ocean in a mesmerizing way. They had set sail in both to enjoy the scenery as the shore disappeared leaving them only the sea and sky.

"Are you sure there isn't magic in your world?" One of the Witches asked. Subaru blinked as he stared at the sea.

"You guys don't have beaches here?" Kenichi asked in confusion.

"Nope, this world's just one big supercontinent with most lakes and, what I guess can be classified as, a small ocean in the middle of the world." Al commented.

"Wait, you mean you have sights like this on your world?!" Petra asked in amazement.

"Yep, I remember on Subaru's seventh birthday was when we went to the beach for the first time as a family. Subaru and I would play in the sand, trying to build sandcastles, or just bury me underground with only my head poking out," Kenichi reminisced on the good old days.

"You still looked like a Diglett with hair," Subaru commented in a chuckle.

"No, I don't! Naoko, back me up!"

"Mmm, your father's right, Subaru. He looks more like Machamp!"

"Ahh, betrayed by my own wife!" Kenichi gasped.

"You really never saw this before?" he asked. This was a rare occurrence but it was still natural to his world. It wasn't like the dragons and magic-using monsters in there but glancing around he supposed they were right… maybe his world did have some magic after all.

"We don't exactly have large oceans," Echidna snapped as she made notes in her book on the bioluminescent oceans. Perhaps they could be useful elsewhere, after all, a lot of creatures can have qualities that when put into a spell or potion can have unique results. This was no different from her.

Before Subaru could answer the Witch though they felt something shift. Wait a minute, he realized too late what else the memories had. Before any of them knew what happened something large burst through the water. It was a whale, Subaru didn't remember which one, but he recalled seeing a whale in the memory. Its appearance catching them all by surprise as the creature landed with a splash throwing them all out of them both.

"DAPHNE!"

"I didn't make that," she defended quickly.

Everyone was surprised as they saw a large creature breach the water.

"Calm down, it's not a Mabeast!" Subaru told everyone. "It's just a whale! I mean, it's not the White Whale! It's just a normal animal! It probably feeds on giant squid, or something, not people!"

"Giant what now?" Mimi asked.

"Ten arms? Giant, triangle-like head? None of that ringing a bell?"

"And you say your world isn't insane…" Felix grumbled.

Surprisingly it seemed Subaru had underestimated how much Flugel really impacted her. Whales didn't exist in Lugnica, at least not like the ones he knew… they were smaller… probably more like a dolphin. However, the White Whale Daphne made was most certainly like the one back home and if Subaru had to guess… he'd say it was a sperm whale.

"Well I think that's enough festivities for today," Sekhmet said. "I'm going to turn now, come along Typhon," the Witch of Sloth said as she took the Witch of Pride inside. Everyone soon followed after drying off and changing back to their normal attire, some simply to relax in the living room.

Subaru let out a breath of relief as he could now finally allow himself to relax a little. That day had been a rather eventful one, but if he had to be completely honest with himself… It has been well worth the struggle. He got to see so many smiles today and to enjoy a time where everyone was happy and joyful. Even Echidna's smile had its part in making his day here. However, there has been one person in particular whom he was glad to have seen smiling again.

"Wow, I cared about Echinda's smile? She must be less of a sociopath than usual."

Most people ignored Subaru's poor joke, and focused on who Subaru cared the most to see a smile from that day. Was it Emilia? Or Rem? Both girls hoped it'd be one of them.

It wasn't Rem, and it wasn't even Emilia, for he had already seen lots of their smiles on more than one occasion. But rather, it was the infamous Witch of Envy herself. She had been a bit more reclusive than usual for the past few days and, if he had to be honest on his thoughts on that matter, he felt it might have actually been his fault since she started acting more secluded right after he had admitted his fear of her. Today though, she had seemed to be a lot more happy and lively and that managed to make Subaru's already good mood skyrocket.

Rem and Emilia looked sad as they saw that this Subaru cared more about Satella. But a small part of them in the back of their heads told them that he had every right to be.

They killed him. They left him behind to die. They made his life harder to live, while the world's most infamous monster supported him through and through.

"Today we really had a lot of fun" He heard a now-familiar voice say from behind him. Speak of the she-Devil and she shall appear. He turned around to see Satella walking towards him with two mugs, one for each hand, filled with what he assumed to be hot chocolate. "We should do it again sometime," She told him as she offered him a mug and a small smile. He gladly took it, offering her a smile of his own in return before taking a sip of the mug's content. "Hmm" it had a familiar sweetness… it reminded him of the hot chocolate his mom used to make him. He wondered if she had found the recipe while looking around among his memories.

"Well, we can always do it again next year's Christmas" Subaru replied to her. "We can make it bigger and grander if you'd like," he told her smiling. Satella gave a light laugh at his suggestion.

"Nah… It doesn't need to be a bigger event for it to make me happy… I'll be satisfied so long as everyone is here and is having a good time" Satella said. "Although… I will admit this Christmas was way better than the last one I had," Satella admitted as she too took a sip of her hot chocolate.

"You celebrated Christmas before…?" Subaru was left a bit dumbstruck. He was not expecting that to be a possibility… although, given how Echidna had mentioned the other world-hopper, Hoshin, in some way it should have been expected. Talking with Echidna had actually brought up a lot more than just some holiday memories, and because of that now he had a lot of questions that needed to be answered. He already knew that he wasn't the only one to come to this world, as a matter of fact, Al had come from beyond the Great Waterfall as well… but now he knew about Hoshin and Flugel too, that alone made him take a guess about how many others before them were taken from their world just to appear here.

I wonder who she celebrated it with? Subaru asked himself.

Oh, that answer was gonna hit him like a truck, wasn't it?

"Yes… I did celebrate it once, some time ago" Satella answered his previous question. She then took to stare at her mug for a moment before she turning to face him. "I actually celebrated it with you that last time as well," Satella told him. Subaru blinked as his brain gears got to work registering what she did just say.

She celebrated it… with me.

Wait… what?!

Satella noticed the confusion on his face. "You told me the other day that you wanted to trust me and what I needed to do to earn your trust," Satella started in a whispery voice. "Now, I want to do the same," she explained. "Come with me," She told him, then she stood up and started walking away, with him in tow.

Wait, Subaru thought. Wait, wait, wait, wait a fucking minute… DID I HEAR THAT RIGHT?! YOU CAN'T END IT RIGHT THERE! I NEED TO KNOW!

As the lights turned back on, Subaru struggled to hold in his swearing. He couldn't believe what he heard. He actually existed in that world once before?! And of course, the second something like that is mentioned, the screen decides to cut off.

Deciding to make his anger productive, Subaru zeroed-in on the silver-haired half-elf he was sharing a Theater with. While everyone else was busy talking about what they just saw, he addressed the amethyst-eyed girl herself. "Emilia-tan."

"Huh, Subaru?"

"I've been delaying this for too long. It's time."

"It's time? Time for what?"

"It's time... that I told you the truth about Puck."

This was not going to end well.


Author's Note: The original story is called "The Beast of Despair" by RushAlias. The link is s/13715673/1/The-Beast-of-Despair on . Sadly, he doesn't have an ArchiveofOurOwn account. Anyway, it's time for the comments!

dylanq21: Which story are you referring to? Is it this one?

OresoAreYummy: Good comment, hope you look forward to the next chapter.

RandomGuest: Trust me, this schedule is a complete nightmare. But I'm glad you like the quality! I'm always trying to improve my writing with every chapter!

palik: I hope you enjoy all of this Satella!

Scattershot98: Yeah, I was wondering if Al was going too far in the last chapter, thanks for putting my fears to rest.

Datnoob: Yeah, Mimi's pretty chill with Subaru.

hussainmm: Actually, the original plan was to have Reinhard crash the party, but then we decided to do the snow festival. We were never planning on the Lion King scene.

Ronnie R101: Yeah, Rem and Ram were probably impacted the most by the previous chapter. Beatrice, not so much, even with the return of Zarestia. And as for the Re:Avenger thing, I think their universe's Cast is the better choice because they'll at least know some of the context behind what the heck is going on. See you next time!

5queso: Well, it's not that much of a happy ending, considering what is to follow.

Chuck B. Winanaki: Welp, you saw how Beatrice reacted, it was… loud. Yeah, Al is messed up in the head. Also, ha-ha, clever joke. Of course Subaru would never hold his own children responsible for their mother. Not even Priscilla's kid. Well, we never know what Halibel ends up doing, because the original story was abandoned. Yeah, Subaru might be planning to get Tia to join the Emilia Camp,

R-king 93: Awesome chapter.

strangerwager: I'm going to be making TWO chapters based on Re:Forgotten, actually.

Grifith Moses:

XXxxxadisxxxXX: Eh, it's more like a winter festival and beach party.

RealBarto: That specific story will be saved for last. Also, congrats for hitting the jackpot on both the story and the specific chapter, it's gonna be a nightmare.

OnePunchPlayer: Yeah, Subaru was lucky Ram decided not to be violent.

Commissar Gaunt: I can't tell if you're joking or not.

Pryd: How many times do I have to say it?! There will be! NO! LUST! IF!

IHev9Sun: Well, I'm guessing because auto-censor is more of a MHA react fic thing, while the eye-covering is more of a Re: Zero thing. Still, glad you loved the last chapter.

calderoneric758: I have no idea what you're talking about.

Deathenglegamers1144: How is Subaru the Godfather? Is it because of that one reference? That didn't rhyme with jack. Spica will always be cute. Cheers, mate!

The reader2234: Yes, everyone, listen to this guy. I really don't know what to say to this meme. Also, at the end of this, I'm gonna have to talk about my Discord.

Raider301: TOO BAD! YOU'RE WAITING 'TILL NEXT YEAR!

hlglh: You're not gonna stop with the hearts, huh?

LicenciadoGonzalez: Are there even thirty-two types of diabetes in real life? Also, if I showed the first chapter, it would have killed the fluffy mood severely.

Sploosh: Yeah, no, torturing Subaru is one thing, his kids are off-limits. And of course they picked the seven Witches one, you're currently reading it! Also, there will not be any more stories involving a female Subaru. Sorry, them's the breaks.

Asriel_Dreemurr_God_of_Hyperdeath: I… actually never considered Prideful Cinderella.

Don_Tico11: Well, yes, but actually, no.

Monteiro_BR: I'm not doing either one of those stories, but I have to admit, me writing the Beako's reaction to seeing nine Spirit lolis would have been priceless.

Imperius: Diabetes seems to be a comment theme for the last chapter.

King_maximilian_412: Yeah, the "Beast of Despair" is pretty good. When will it update?

DDD777: Hey, be the change you wanna see in the world, right? Also, I'm not planning to do "Sealed" as a reaction. There were a lot more intense stories, you follow?

Alright, now that this is done, an important announcement: Last week, we had to do some major overhauls on my Discord server (including banning people), so for anyone interested in joining, follow some ground rules: Be respectful, keep profanity to a limit, all content should remain in their content-specific channels, stick to the topics assigned for each channel, no spamming pings, no asking to Mod, no derogatory slurs, especially in the voice chat, non threatening others, and no spamming moderators asking for an unban, verbally or through DMs. I'm the ultimate authority on my Discord, followed by Infinite and vinhd15, so what I say goes. If you can't follow the rules, then don't join.

Now that that's out of the way, a special thanks to Infinite the Celestain for helping me in making this story, and for being an all-around great guy! If you want to join my Discord server, the link is /TZ2kmetk. You can chat with others, post memes and fan art, and I'll drop by with announcements and chat with you all every now and then! If you want to add me as a friend, my username is Ernalore#8663! If you want to read more, check out my other stories! Thanks for reading, see you next time!

- Ernalore


Next time:

What if Subaru Natsuki met Subaru Natsuki?

OR

What if Subaru Natsuki's memories were eaten?