Chapter Three: Lingering Fear
The carriages came to a halt at the steps of the mansion, two maids stood in front of the entrance in wait. Ricardo got out of the carriage he was in and moved to the one he had placed Subaru in, he had no doubt that Ferris had let him sleep. He climbed onto the back of the carriage and poked his head in. "Hey there! How is our battle brother doing?" He expected Ferris to say something sly or in a teasing matter. What he found was the healer curled up in the corner of the carriage with a look of dread written on his face.
"Hey uh- buddy? How is he doing?" After a minute of silence, Ferris looked at the wolfman with a serious expression. He took a deep breath as he asked a favour of Ricardo. "Gather everyone in the dining hall. They need to see something." Ricardo shifted uncomfortably at the lack his usual jovial tone. "Okay but is he alright?" It seemed that Ferris finally realised he had been asked that question as he sighed. "I-I don't really know." It wasn't the answer that Ricardo, nor the eavesdropping Garf wanted to hear. Dead silence.
Ricardo tried to break through the silence as he got inside and scooped up the sleeping boy. "I'll just put this guy in the dining hall for now. You want him anywhere specifically?" Ferris shifted around before he stood up. "I need him at the front for everyone to see. This is something you will only believe with visual evidence." That claim concerned the beast man as he simply chose to remain silent, focusing on getting the boy to the dining hall instead. As he dropped out of the carriage with the boy in hand, he moved to the door. His journey to the entrance was cut short as a maid with blue hair dashed in front of him before he could scale a single step.
It was Rem, a sister of battle during the fight against the whale. "Howdy little gal. What do you need?" He watched as her joyful expression turned to a deadpan as she raised a single finger to point at the sleeping boy in his arms. Ricardo laughed out of embarrassment. "Ah! Sorry Rem, I completely forgot about that!" It was a lie. He was trying his best move past the maid to get to the door. The mystery behind Ferris's words had left him very worried.
"I find it difficult to believe that you would forget the target of your rescue mission." The blunt words were from a direct replica of Rem, only with red hair and eyes instead of blue. The scepticism was clear in her tone as she eyed him down. He gave in to the stare as he sighed. "Ferris wants to announce something. He said some awful cryptic stuff about the kid so I'm trying to get everyone to the dining hall. Can you two help me? Whatever he plans to say isn't gonna be pretty." The replica shrugged while Rem nodded her head in agreement. He could tell that both were concerned, the sassy red head showed it less, but Rem was an open book.
"Alright. I will inform the residents of the mansion of the healer's announcement. Rem, you inform the ones out here." Rem once again nodded in agreement with her copy as the red one slowly made her way back into the mansion. They seemed quite coordinated, maybe this was a common practice? Ricardo payed it no mind as he moved past the blue-ette and entered the mansion.
The place was huge. Fancy too. He made a quick whistle before he chose a random direction and went down the left bottom hall. Unfortunately, no one had actually told Ricardo where the hall was as he wondered through the mansion for what felt like half an hour. To his luck, he ran into a petite maid with brown hair coated with an orange tint and a large red ribbon tied at the top. "Hey there young miss! Mind leading me in the direction of the dining hall?" When she turned around, he saw tear stains on her face leading from puffy red eyes. Upon seeing the still unconscious (How the hell is he still asleep?) Boy in his furry arms, her expression was replaced by a large bright smile.
The moment Ricardo saw the smile, he had instinctively covered his eyes with one of his arms from the pure light emanating from her. "Jeez kid! Anymore of that bright smile and I'll go blind!" Subaru seemed to groan in response as he shifted into Ricardo's chest as if to avoid the light from waking him up. The girl giggled with glee as she looked at the sleeping figure. After finally realising that he had asked her for directions, she tried to recompose herself while struggling to stop herself from smiling. "The dining hall? I will escort you there immediately sir." He looked at the girl as she tried her best to keep a straight face.
She began to walk past Ricardo in the opposite direction of where he had gone. He inwardly sighed at having gone the wrong direction. They both began to walk through the hall in silence, the girl took occasional glances at the sleeping boy. Ricardo was curious, so he tried to pass the time with a quick chat. "Do you know him well?" She seemed thrown off by the sudden question but beamed at him in response. "He saved me and my village! He was always so nice! I want to help him in any way that I can! So, I joined the staff here as a maid!" Ricardo looked at the girl as she smiled with pride as she talked about her ambitions to help the boy. He decided to tease the girl to gauge her reaction.
"It sounds like the title of lolimancer really does fit him! He has a bright little girl crushing for him in the mansion working as a maid for his sake!" He laughed as her bright smile faltered and her face flushed into a red, stuttering mess. After he had finished embarrassing the girl, they reached the dining hall. He opened the door slowly as bustling sounds were coming from the inside. He peaked his head through to see everyone accounted for besides himself and the maid, Subaru included.
"Those maids work fast." He muttered to himself as he entered the room with the small maid in tow, most barely noticed them as they were to busy pondering on the potential reasons for the announcement. He moved to the front of the room where Ferris and Beatrice stood, an empty chair sat beside him. Ricardo approached the two. "Sorry for being late. This place is a maze." Ferris nodded his head as he pointed at the seat. "Please sit him there."
The room went silent as Ricardo carefully seated the boy. Ferris stepped up to speak to those present. So far, it was only those that resided in the mansion and the rescue team, some individuals he did not recognise. A demi-human maid, a little blonde-haired girl with sharp teeth, and a short girl with blue braided hair. He'll have to ask the court mage and lord of the mansion to invite all other candidates to inform them of the situation as well, including his mistress. He shifted nervously under their gazes as he signalled for silence around the room.
"I know that most are confused on why they are here. There is an explanation. As I ran a medical check-up on Subaru-kun, I came across a horrific discovery. It was something that I couldn't explain even if the bile in my throat would allow me to speak of it. I decided that I would need to show you instead." He turned to the boy as he unzipped the jacket and handed it to Rem, who proceeded to take small whiffs when she believed no one was watching.
Ferris felt his hands shake as he grabbed the bottom of the boy's shirt, slowly lifting it up. He braced himself as he removed it and stepped aside, hearing loud gasps as the sight of his chest horrified them. The moment Rem saw the 'mark,' she tossed the jacket aside with disgust. She felt bloodlust build inside her body as her blood boiled at the sight of her hero's defiled chest. That jacket needed to be cleaned at least one hundred different times before she would let him wear it again.
Most made their confusion and horror known as they bombarded Ferris with questions. Ferris struggled to respond as the overbearing number of questions drowned out his voice. The questions began to slow down and stop when they felt the temperature of the room drop alongside a large spike in killer intent.
Ferris felt his fear reach its peak as a pair of amethyst eyes bored into his. If he didn't start talking soon, he would be buried under a glacier. "Why did she do this." It wasn't a question. It was an order. Ferris started to shake uncontrollably as he prepared an answer that would allow him a chance to survive the encounter. "I-I bel-believe th-that she m-m-may have used him as a." Ferris was sweating. Should he really say it? He swallowed the earlier bile in his throat as he prayed for mercy, putting on a stoic face as he sealed his fate. "I believe she has been using him as a sex slave." He closed his eyes expecting to die horribly. The silence he heard was cut through by the sounds of sniffling as he opened his eyes. Emilia had crumbled to the ground alongside others as she cried at the news.
He felt guilt at knowing that he had told her this, but some things were a necessary evil. He gripped at the shirt in his hands as he moved to cover the boy's shame. "This sin archbishop must be under the delusion that love is displayed through lust, as her sin would imply. She needs to be stopped at any given chance." He looked back at the others, unable to face the half-elf. Roswaal decided to speak up in a flat and serious tone as he faced the sleeping boy. "This mansion will be under complete lockdown until the sin archbishop of lust has been confirmed dead." Nods of agreement were shared around the room. This was the beginning of a war with the witch cult that would end only when lust was erased from the world.
Lugnica Castle Dungeons
The sounds of pitter patters on the steps of the stone staircase led to the deepest part of the dungeons. Capella grinned widely when she entered a hallway, two large crystals shimmering at the end of the hallway. She moved slowly as the sounds of her least favourite person became more audible with every step she took. She approached the left crystal first, it was quiet. She tapped on the glass as she announced herself to her most useful pet. "Oh Rooooooy~ How have you been? Have the guards treated you nicely?" The shadow inside started to shake erratically.
She laughed at his terror. "What's wrong? Don't miss mama? Or are you simply afraid that I'll finish my alterations?" At the mention of the alterations, Roy screamed in terror. Sirius was quiet, she had no recollection of any alterations. She decided to politely ask the question on her mind. "What are you babbling on about whore!" Capella frowned at being interrupted but grinned as an idea came to mind. "Roy, do mama a favour and tell the bandage bitch the story of why you are so scared." The shadow in the crystal shivered at the request. Deep breaths were heard as Roy prepared to tell a story.
Done! Enjoy the slightly longer chapter.