"MASTER!" She yelled to the top of her lungs in pure joy and ecstasy. Shalua was nuzzling her face ridden with tears to Subaru's chest.
"You've finally returned, master!" She continues on.
For her she was happy to see her master again, for Emilia and the rest, they were all confused.
"Uhm, Great Sage-sama, may I ask?" Reinhard called out.
Shaula then proceeds to wipe her tears off her face.
"Yes,you can ask your question, yep." She replied.
"I-Is Subaru your master?" He asks her.
"Yup, he is Shaula's master!" She replied with full joy and ecstasy. In the four centuries of her existence, never have she felt so much joy in her life.
They were stunned by the reply. How did they not know about this?"
"S-So Subaru is the previous sage?" Emilia asks.
"Nope!" Shaula replied. "He is the current sage!" She replied.
And once again, they were taken aback. If this was true, thenn Julius and Felix would pay more debt than they initially thought.
"S-So you were acting as the current sage in his absence?" Beatrice asks.
Shaula nods in response. "Thank you for bringing back master here!" She thanks them.
They were left speechless at what's currently happening. Subaru is the sage?
Everyone turned to the only person who has the power to see if someone is lying or not. And he too wore a grim expression.
"S-She's not lying." Reinhard utters to them as he looks on at Shaula who was now carrying Subaru, and heading towards the inside of the tower.
As they all saw this happening, they went and ran after them.
"Wait!" They all yelled as they got into the tower. They had new questions in their minds, and new problems. As this might be another mission to save Subaru.
As they were now settled inside the tower, they began having their talk with Shaula. It was going to be a long day. And a day which they will be shocked of they'll see within the tower. For they were never expecting to see such a thing. They were never prepared to even read those damned books.
The Books of the Dead of Beatrice's and Emilia's. And most especially, Subaru's. This was the last thing they'd hope to see.
The scene went on, Subaru is still on Shaula's embrace as she and the others were having a talk. A talk that would probably piss someone off if you ask them to give up something that they waited for so long to return.
"I am not giving you back Master until he says so!" She yelled at them, after like the hundredth time of begging.
"We need him please!" Emilia refutes as she tries to hold Subaru once more, to which the demon-beast girl swoops him to her side, not allowing Emilia to hold him once more.
"NO!" She growled at them.
"Please! We are here to cure him from his current state!" Julius begged Shaula, hoping this commotion would soon end.
"Master is perfectly fine! He's just sleeping!" She once again refuted, not giving in to what they were saying.
"Subaru-kun is not fine! He's unconscious after what had happened before!" Rem yelled, to which the beast-demon of a human finally didn't argue. She was now willing to hear their explanation.
'So that's why Master is not responding, nope?' She thought.
"Care to listen now I suppose?" Beatrice asks, to which Shaula nods.
"Good, now let me retell the story I suppose." She said, "Back in Lugunica, your precious master was attacked by a sin archbishop, in fact. In return, his name was eaten and that he was sentenced to extreme torture in one month, to which it lead him to being unconscious I suppose."
"Once his name was restored when we were done from our first visit here, we immediately rushed back, but to no avail I suppose." She explained. "And that's why we're here again, in fact. To get some blood of the divine dragon to awaken him again. It is the only thing that could wake him up, I suppose."
After Beatrice's brief summary of what had happened, Shaula was silent.
"Uhm, are you okay?" Emilia asks as Shaula was too abnormally silent. Too silent.
For Shaula to be told the truth was a very, very bad idea. Her inner beast-demon self was now at for bloodlust after what they did to her beloved Master.
"Do you, by any chance, know who did this to Master?" Shaula said, her tone sent shivers down their spines. It was clear that she was seeking revenge and justice for her Master.
The cast were shivering their spines as they heard that. If this was an old-timey cartoon, it would be like this: they would be pale white as their souls left their bodies.
"I ask again." She utters once more, this time her tone went from 10 to a hundred real fast. "Who did this to Master?" She asks, her green eyes, with three red dots near her pupils, were gone as she blinks. All that remained were pure red eyes.
They remained silent as they didn't know how to respond. If they did they would get killed, if they don't the girl would be more mad, and may possibly kill them.
"You don't know who did it don't you?" She asks them, to which they didn't respond. They just remained silent and slowly shook their heads, sweat dripping off of their foreheads.
"Shame." She spat out as she calmed herself down. She once more blinked and again, her eyes returned back to their normal appearance.
For them they silently sighed in relief as the crisis was averted. But now, they still need to push for her to return Subaru to them. But the question is how?
How do you ask? Simple. They will deceive her thinking they'd stay with him for a little longer, and in the process get the blood they need, give it to him, and once he wakes up, he could probably convince her that he is not her master and that he needed to return to Lugunica.
The chances of this working is a 'meh'.
"Great Sage, please reconsider." Reinhard said. "If you don't get the decision of your Master, before kicking us out, I'm sure he'll be disappointed." he added.
"Yeah, please reconsider this, we'll leave if he says so." Emilia said, although it pains her to say the last parts of her statement.
On one hand, Shaula sees them as a threat to her Master and to the well being of the Tower. On the other hand, if they are her Master's companions, kicking them out would make him mad. So against her will, she reluctantly allows them to stay.
"If you are Master's companions, it would be best to let you stay." She said to them, to which Emilia and the rest were delighted by her response.
"You can roam around the Tower, since you've conquered it before, but some areas will be off limits. Yup." she said to them.
"Thank you..Uhm?" Rem utters, not knowing her name.
"Shaula." Shaula simply replied.
"Thank you so much Shaula-san." Rem bowed in courtesy.
"I'll entrust Master you for now, but I'll be with him soon." She replied as she gave Subaru to Beatrice. Now it's up to you to think how a loli carries a full adolescent man, either she used murak or what, let your imagination shine.
"But, you'll have to undergo some of the same trials from before, yup." She added as she now walks away.
Now that they had full discretion to explore some parts of the tower, they did so, and what they would eventually discover would make them regret witnessing what they saw. For they will find these books with their names on it. The two names of the people who are still alive.
As everything was happening back in the tower, Subaru witnessed it from the Castle of Dreams.
"Uhm, who was that…?" Subaru asks as he was confused what just had happened. At first his body was just on his wheelchair, and now he saw a lady, on her BIKINI of all things, carrying him. Subaru had a boner and quickly reverted his thoughts.
"She is the apprentice of the sage." Echidna replied. "She is the one who guards the Pledaies tower in her Master's stead."
"By your tone, I'm guessing you know who this sage is, correct?" Subaru asks, to which every witch nodded.
"It's Flugel." Satella replied.
"Huh, then why is she referring to me as her Master!?" Subaru asks as he was not about to have a sex slave when he wakes up. It would be a nightmare for him.
"Because you and Flugel share the same features." Minerva replied.
"And what do you mean by that?" Subaru asks.
"Now thinking about it, Baru does look like him." Typhon replied.
"And you smell! You smell just like him, Subarun." Daphne added.
"Well, now that's out of the way, why am I referred to as a 'Sage'?" Subaru asks.
"You forgot ha-haven't you?" Carmilla utters.
"Forgot what?" Subaru replied.
"You forgot that we told you that you were a *sighs* Sage candidate." Sekhmet replied.
"Oh, that." Subaru said. "What does that mean anyway?" He asks once more.
"It means that you'll be eligible to become the next Sage of this age." Echidna replied.
"But why me?" He asks again.
"Because you've entered my tea party, that's the only qualification I'll give you." Echidna replied.
"Huh, well that's convenient." He replied.
"Still, I don't know how I would explain this to them.." He utters. He was not about to wake up and get asked why does he have a sex slave looking woman.
"Well, the only thing you'll need to worry about is the witch cult's attack." Minerva said.
"Oh right, speaking of which, where are they now?" Daphne asks.
Echidna opens a hole on the table, and on the other side were the witch cult who are now making their way to Emilia and the others in the tower.
"So you've escaped huh?" Subaru said as he narrowed his eyes, setting sight on the woman leading them. The sin archbishop of wrath, Sirius.
Satella too is mad. Her fists shaking rage.
"Why is she after me?" Subaru asks. "Why does she think she will resurrect Petelguese once they've harvested me?" He added.
"A simple answer, it's because she believes in the words of the gospel." Sekhmet said, not sighing for once.
"Everyone in the witch cult has a firm belief that the gospel is always right, so that's why they devote themselves to the ordeal the gospel told them to do." Echidna added, sipping her tea.
"Looks like they have to deal with this alone huh?" Subaru said.
"Yes." Satella replied. "Yes they will."
Subaru sighs at Satella's answer. "I hope when I wake up and I die, you send me back farther, before gluttony has eaten my name." Subaru said.
"Wh-what?" Satella stutters. Sending him back? But why?
"And if you do so, remove their memories of Return by Death." He added.
"Hm?" Echidna raises an eyebrow. "Not only do you wish to go back, you also want their suffering to be erased?" She asked the boy, to which he nodded.
"Hmph. You are really something else, Natsuki Subaru." Echidna commented as she sipped her tea.
"I can't allow that." Satella replied.
Subaru looks confused on why Satella was against this. After all, he was just saving them.
"Why?" He asks.
"Not only you'll sacrifice yourself again, they won't learn and grow without your presence." Satella replies, to which stuns Subaru.
"What do you mean by that?" He asks her.
"You keep doing everything for them, and yet you still insist that they always do something for you, even though what you've done for them is far greater than what they've done for you." She explains.
"You insist on going through every hell hole just to save them. At the price of your own self-worth. I know the lingering thoughts in the back of your head ever since, I know how you feel and that you put on a tough act when you're with them."
"Your mentality was already broken enough ever since you came here, but when you shoulder everything, you are becoming inhumane towards yourself." She finishes explaining.
Subaru was left speechless after Satella's explanation.
Satella then proceeds to plant a kiss on Subaru's forehead.
"So please, I beg you, show yourself some love, for you are also one of those who you needed to save. Didn't I tell you that before?" She asks him, giving him her brightest smile
Subaru was left stunned. Even though the past encounters with the Witch had told him she really holds him dearly, the fact always stuns him 'til now.
And so, finding no way for his first request to be made, he asks for a second one.
"Fine, well can I at least make this request?" He asks her.
"Sure, what is it?"
"Can you please update their checkpoint here?" He asks her.
"Alright, I'll update it here, but please, stay safe once you wake up again." She said.
Subaru smiles at her, holding her hand.
"Of course, after all, I still need to fulfill that promise I made to you." He said, flashing his brightest smile at her.
As this was happening a certain greedy witch was observing the duo.
'Love always fades.' She thought to herself. 'But for you, Natsuki Subaru, that does not seem to be the case at all.' She added as she looked at the boy who was at pure bliss with the witch who loves him so dearly.
Back at the Tower, things were going smoothly as they can be. The knights were the ones taking on the trials and had managed to pass most of the trials thanks to the countless divine protection Reinhard has, he is broken as hell, and for the girls, they were tending Subaru. Well, with Shaula that is. Needless to say, Shaula was another obstacle in taking care of Subaru.
Shaula would constantly leap out of nowhere onto Subaru. Hell, even one time she almost sent him barrelling down the stairs, if Emilia and Beatrice weren't behind him. Needless to say, it was a chaotic mess. Taking care of Subaru was already fine enough, but Shaula had to be in the equation for the chaos to start. Needless to say, it was now a job that the maid, the spirit, and the half-elf had to do. They had to make extra sure Subaru is safe while Shaula was around.
Speaking of Shaula, even though they were here for three days, she still is clingy with her supposed Master. She would constantly run up to him, along with his three companions and make their lives a living hell. On one note she was happy, on the other, due to that happiness, she almost strangled him to death, but thanks to the intervention of the three girls, that didn't happen.
From time to time, she would feel jealousy from the three girls. She wanted her Master to her and hers alone. But thanks to Beatrice, Emilia and Rem, they wouldn't allow that of course. They treated Shaula as if she was a hazard to their well being, well she was DEFINITELY a hazard to Subaru. If he's awake right now, he would be feeling pain all over his body thanks to the mishaps with Shaula.
Meanwhile, the knights are currently duking it out with Reid, who was being an asshole considering they couldn't move on from this trial. Even though Reinhard was broken in terms of how powerful he is, he couldn't pass this trial.
They once thought of seeking help from the Shaula, but to no avail, they also tried to beg for help from Emilia, but after what she had gone through before the first time they went here, she was not facing Reid ever again. If she could kill him, she definitely would.
Nonetheless, the knights were currently done for today as they were exhausted from fighting Reid. And yet they did not avail. Disappointing.
For now, they decided to stay at the Taygeta Library, because it was the only room they did find interest in. Books of the dead, hell, Emilia found Archie's and Fortuna's. And for Beatrice, she found Guese's and Ryuzu's. But to pay respect to the dead, they didn't open them. So that they would let their story be theirs and the refined story for them to tell.
"Beatrice." Called out Emilia.
The spirit who was wandering around the library, inspecting the shelves filled with these books who retells the story of those who had passed, looks at the girl who was calling out to her.
"What is it I suppose?" She asks.
Instead of Emilia replying immediately, she gestured to the little spirit to come closer.
The little spirit groans in response, but she heads on over to the half-elf that her contractor oh loves so much. She does actually tease him when making their offsprings, but she only did it when her contractor was still unconscious. She wanted to talk with him again though.
"What do you need, I wonder?" she asks.
"What does this say?" She asks the little spirit.
She handed a book where it had a weird inscription on it, therefore no one could read what it meant. But now, Emilia hoped Beatrice could read it. She had been taught some other language by Subaru before, Emilia hoped that she could read it to her.
"Let me see." She said, and Emilia handed over the book to her.
"Hm."
She read the first character.
'Natsuki' She read silently.
She then read the second character.
'Subaru' She read silently.
'Natsuki Subaru.' She thought until the whole world had stopped for her.
'Na-Natsuki Subaru!?' She was now panicking, it was the name of her contractor.
Emilia, witnessing the demeanour of the spirit suddenly grew worried.
"Beatrice? What's wrong?" She asks the shaking spirit.
The spirit took a glance at Emilia, sweat dripping off of her forehead.
A book was dropped, and running could be heard.
"Beatrice!" Yelled Emilia to the growing distant Beatrice as she ran out of the library to check on her contractor.
'It can't be, it can't be!' The spirit thought as she sprinted out of the library.
Her memories with her contractor had begun playing in her mind.
"Beako!" He calls her.
His smile was the most significant memory she had.
'Please!' She begged in her thoughts.
"Please be alright! Don't leave Betty behind!" She yelled with all of her might, tears now leaking out of the spirit's eyes. She couldn't bear losing him this time, after everything that had happened.
The door swung open, and it surprised the oni maid who was looking after her Subaru-kun.
"Beatrice-sama, what's wrong?" Rem asks, as she notices the tears on the spirit's face.
"I-Is Betty's contractor alright?" She asks as she sniffles.
"Yes, Subaru-kun is alright Beatrice-sama." Rem replied.
Beatrice was now smiling, even though tears were still running down her face. She then walks up closer to her contractor and hugs him.
"Please don't leave Betty behind." She said, as tears now stained his tracksuit.
Emilia came in, panting as she too ran after the little spirit.
"What's wrong Beatrice?" She asks in between her breath, she then looks at the little spirit who was crying on her contractor.
"I think Beatrice-sama missed Subaru-kun so much, Emilia-sama." Rem said.
"I see." Emilia replied as she stood upright as she took in deep breaths.
"Emilia-sama, may I have a word with you?" Reinhard asks out of nowhere.
"Huh? Sure, what is it, Reinhard?" Emilia asks.
"Well…" Reinhard utters.
"You see…" Julius tried to say what they found, but didn't have the will to do so.
"We found this." Felix said, as he handed a black-leathered book to Emilia.
"Huh?" Emilia replied as she took the book.
And on that book's cover, the inscription reads; "Emilia".
A/N: I made a mistake on the whole request part from Subaru, some people have interpreted it as Satella saying yes to Subaru's first request, which she really didn't. That was a mistake on my part.