Author's Note: Thank you so much for all the praises and support you gave for the story. I didn't expect it to be this well-received at all, considering the content. I really , really appreciate it.
See end of chapter for more notes.
While most of the cast opted to just enter their respective rooms and rest the night away, a number of people chose to stay in the theater's lounge room instead, talking among themselves. Their minds were still too addled by the previous meeting with the lust variation of Natsuki Subaru; sleep was the last thing on the minds of these people right now.
A certain blonde, great spirit sat still on the sofa, her head downcast, eyes still wide from shock. The tears on her cheeks had long since dried, yet Beatrice still felt like a stake was thrust on her chest, twisting and turning each time she remembered his words.
Her contractor apparently was attracted to her that way. Perhaps, he was even infatuated with her. At least that Subaru was. How does that make her feel?
Beatrice bristled, trembling. A cold shiver runs down her spine, prompting her to hug herself tight.
It's not that she hates Subaru. In fact, she adores and cares for him, for everything that he's done for her. Perhaps, if the stars lined up and everything went well, their relationship might have been even deeper than it is already…
But that Subaru is just… different. He said it himself already: he violated her in her sleep, numerous times, without her consent. That wasn't love nor affection. That was just lust, in all of its disgusting and gut-wrenching glory. If the Beatrice of that world trusted him as much as she, the original, did to her own Subaru, then she definitely understands how devastated her other self must've felt. Her committing suicide wasn't so confusing anymore.
'Who knows, maybe your Subaru's already doing you behind your back.' The condescending voice of the man echoes within her mind. Remembering it, a deep frown marred the blonde spirit's face.
There's no way her own Subaru would do what he did. She refuses to believe that even for just a moment.
…Although… Beatrice might refrain from letting Subaru be touchy-feely with her for a few days, when they finally go back.
Over the table and onto the adjacent chairs, a blue-haired maid quietly sat, the oni also busy with her own thoughts. Rem just finished escorting her lady to her own room, the poor half-elf looking worse for the wear after everything.
Still, she didn't have the luxury of moping around right now. There's already more than enough people doing that, judging from the many downtrodden faces around her. Grabbing the porcelain pot on the table, Rem turned to the spirit sitting over the table, offering her a small smile.
"Lady Beatrice, perhaps a good cup of tea would help ease your mind." She pulled the containers for the sugar and milk, and a single cup from the many clean ones in the middle of the table.
"... Betty doesn't need it, I suppose." The drill-haired girl gives her a casual glance, shrugging her off. "I… I'm going back to my room."
Rem watched as the diminutive lady walked away, her shoulders slightly slumped forward.
"That little lady must've been devastated." A gruff voice catches the oni's attention, prompting her to turn to its direction. It was the demi-wolf that worked for one of Emilia's rival candidates. "She acted real close with Subaru the entire time while we were viewing, and then that guy just drops that bomb on her…"
His lady– Anastasia, if Rem recalls– cuts in, a faint frown adorning her face. "That Natsuki Subaru is a dangerous person. I'm glad he's a dimension away from us right now."
"Makes you wonder what happened to the guy to end up like that, huh?" The wolfman replies, snorting.
Rem kept silent, pondering over the man's words. There were many things that could've possibly gone wrong– or worse, now that she's aware of Return by Death. Maybe her other counterpart was much crueler than she was when they first met, erasing any notion of forgiving her in the boy's mind. Aside from that, the third 'arc' was just a bunch of canned worms waiting to be opened. What if Gluttony and Greed attacked the village instead of Sloth? What if they controlled the Great Hare instead?
What if she never gave those inspirational words that pulled Subaru out of the pits of despair?
The blue-haired maid shook her head, stopping her train of thoughts. Thinking about it would bring her nothing but stress. Besides, he's already gone. If she could help it, she'd like to forget that man ever existed.
Rem absolutely does not want to have anything to do with him again.
Turning back her attention to the people around her, she saw the merchant candidate shaking her head for some reason.
"If I never saw that boy's escapades before I met that man, I would've just assumed he's that rotten inside." Before Rem could even mouth off a single word, the girl continued. "But no, Natsuki Subaru is too selfless and caring to be anything like that guy."
The tiny orange furball sitting on the candidate's lap suddenly perked up, her lips curled up to make a deep scowl. "And he was acting sooo arrogant! I've never met a person so full of himself as that guy!"
"Nah." Shaking his head, the wolf person interjected her. "That wasn't arrogance, that was just well-placed confidence. That guy definitely knows what he's doing."
One of the other little furballs gave him the stink eye, the one with the monocle. "I can't believe you're defending that guy, Ricardo."
"Hey, I'm not. I'm just saying what I saw back there." He shrugged, giving him a wide grin. "If he ever tries to do anything funny with our Kararagi, he'll have my muscles to go through first."
After a trio of playful snorts from the 'children', their uncharacteristically quiet knight suddenly stood up, catching everyone's attention. "… Excuse me, Anastasia-sama. May I excuse myself for a moment?"
Both Rem and his lady gave the purple-haired man a look-over. On the surface, Julius still held his normal aloof expression, befitting the knight's supposed calmness as usual. Yet not even an inch deeper on his facade was the turmoil and uneasiness blatantly visible to the pair's eyes. It was a clear reminiscence of a certain raven-haired youth who likes bottling up all of his problems to himself, so Rem definitely can see it in him. Anastasia just simply knows, knowing him for years.
"What's wrong, Julius?" With a concerned look, the short lady gave him a questioning smile. "You seem bothered by something."
"..." Yet once again, the knight failed to keep his character. Usually Julius could and would answer his lady's inquiry within a heartbeat, yet this time the fabled knight of knights seemed truly lost, his mouth closing and opening for quite a while.
"I… I need to train."
For the purple-haired knight, these past meetings with the various Subarus had been a brutal eye opener. If he went on as he used to, not only his lady but even their entire country could be put in danger, and he would be powerless to do anything about it. Gluttony already sent alarm bells in his mind. His confrontation with Lust was the last straw.
It's not that he's suddenly viewing Subaru as an enemy. He's just… taking possible futures into consideration. Who knows what the other sins could be capable of doing?
'Besides…' Julius thought to himself. 'I loathe this feeling. This… feeling of powerlessness. I cannot protect those who are important to me if I am to stay like this.'
For his lady, for everyone in their camp, for Subaru. Something needs to be done with himself, and he's already set his mind on it.
Back to Anastasia, the girl looked down on understanding. She knew where her knight was coming from, and if she was being honest with herself, she also did feel alarmed, knowing Subaru's true potential. Not only because of her seat on the throne being threatened, but also for her and her family's safety. Thankfully, Lust seemed truthful when he said that Subaru has no chance of turning into him anymore, but… there's never 'too much' when it comes to safety, as a merchant of her caliber would know.
"I understand." Closing her eyes, she waved him off. "Go on now."
"Thank you, Anastasia-sama." With a curt bow, the knight quickly left.
Following the man's exit, Ricardo ruffled his head with a groan, standing up right after. "Agh. Can't let Julius show me off now. Mind if I go train too, Anastasia-sama?"
"Not at all. You may go, Ricardo." Nodding, the merchant girl smiled at the towering form of the wolfman, who proceeded to leave the room too while whistling.
Not wanting to be outdone, Mimi moved to get off from her luxurious seat, smiling. "I'll also–"
"W-We need to stay here and keep Anastasia-sama company, big sis." Hetaro squeaked out.
"Aww…" Once she felt her lady's comforting embrace though, the tiny girl cooed in delight, quickly forgetting about her earlier plans.
A quiet moment fell on the room, with only the sound of satisfied whines from Mimi occasionally breaking it. Rem only stared at the empty cup in front of her, the oni once again deep in her thoughts. Anastasia was content to just pat the cute girl's head sitting on her lap, glad that the thoughts of that man finally left her mind– at least for the meantime.
"You don't get it, stupid! That wasn't Subaru at all!"
The incessant yelling of a certain young candidate reverberated inside one of the many private rooms in the theater, loud enough for it to be heard on the hallways outside. Reinhard could only give the tiny lady a small smile, understanding that Felt was just helping him get out of his stump in her own way.
"I understand, my la–"
Before he could finish his sentence, he paused, taking note of the royal candidate's raised eyebrow.
"... Felt-sama. Thank you for your concern." The red-haired knight sits down on a chair beside the girl's bed, to which Felt was lying on herself.
"Yeah? Stop getting depressed over that dummy." Felt harrumphed, crossing her arms. "There's no way big bro would be that scummy. Petra's right, that probably was just a poser or something, like Gluttony."
"But my divine protect–"
"So what?" Once again, she interjected him. "Maybe it was faulty. It happens you know!"
'Never in my case, at least…' Reinhard thought to himself. Still, he knew continuing this argument would just lead to nothing, and so he kept it to himself.
"Perhaps. You should go get some rest now, Felt-sama. The new warden said we'll still be meeting more people from that world."
Yet another concern for the sword saint. Lust made no attempt to hide the fact that he wasn't the only one who 'changed' in his world. Emilia and Rem at least had drastically been altered to what they are now. What could have happened to his lady, or even himself?
He can't say he's excited to meet his other self at all, nor anyone for that matter. He just hopes everything goes much better than it did for Lust's.
Before he knew it, his lady was already sound asleep in front of him. She must've been stressed about the viewing much more than she let on, too. Smiling slightly and admiring the young girl's strength, he quietly exited room, locking the door behind him.
He himself didn't really feel like sleeping anytime soon. He feels too… restless. Such feelings weren't foreign to him at all, as he'd usually grow antsy whenever he's not doing anything. The idea of being useful was so deeply ingrained in his mind that it all just seemed like second nature to him.
As he aimlessly walked through long, winding corridors, Reinhard was pleasantly surprised to have bumped into a fellow knight, that being Julius himself. The man was wearing a simple tight-fitting black shirt, along with a similarly dark exercise pants. It seems like he wasn't the only one feeling discontent, judging from the training sword strapped on the man's waist.
"Reinhard." With a courteous nod, the knight of Anastasia's camp turned to him. "What brings you out this late?"
"I wanted to clear my mind for a bit." He gestures to the sword on Julius' waist, smiling. "Would you mind me joining you on your training session?"
"Not at all." And with that, the two went off to another path, idly talking with each other. Julius explained to him that there was an expansive room above a stairs located on the far right end of their current floor. The knight of knights judged it fit for a place of training, and he wouldn't be disturbing the people sleeping on the floor below either. It was the perfect place to let off some steam.
"I admit, I wasn't even aware that this place had multiple floors," Reinhard mumbled with a mellow chuckle.
"I didn't either. It was Felix who told me about it." Julius said as they finally reached the moderately-sized stairs he was talking about. As they ascended, he continued. "Ricardo and Felix should be up there doing their own training already. I just went back to my room to change clothes."
The sword saint blinked at that. It turns out there were many more people who felt the same way as he did. Reinhard discreetly smiled to himself at that thought.
Inside a certain room, one Priscilla Barielle sat in front of a table, the orange-haired girl having been silent for almost an hour now. Al knew his lady was deep in thought, but seeing her so quiet was nonetheless quite unnerving. Still, he knew it'd be wise not to disturb her, and so he just kept a rigid post beside the door to her room.
After what seemed like forever, Priscilla suddenly stood up, an unamused look marring her usually smug face. She's been pondering about the many implications of what Lust said. Initially, she thought her other self would be untouched, with great confidence. But now that she's had sufficient time to digest every little detail she heard, things might actually be a little different than what she first thought…
And the fiery royal candidate didn't like it.
"Al." In an instant, the helmeted figure of the man was already walking towards her.
"Yes, Priscilla-sama?" He can't say he likes the look on her face right now. She almost looked… troubled.
"I demand to talk with that warden. Bring her to me right this instant." With a straight face, his lady once again made a ridiculous order. Al of course knew better than to say anything less than an affirmative.
"Of course, my lady."
As the hulk of a man walked away, he began to ponder about his new task. 'I might have to ask that pretty boy for some help. He seems like a nice enough guy…' And strong. Unbelievably so. That's the foremost reason why he's the one who instantly popped into his mind after all.
But his future plans skidded to a halt the moment he opened the door leading outside. Al was surprised to see a young girl standing right in front of him, to which he instantly confirmed to be an unknown. He's never seen her in the theater, and with the flashy black gothic lolita outfit she was wearing, it'd be really hard to miss her.
"Hello! Paradox here! You called?" She tilted her head as she smiled, making for quite the unnerving visage.
No scent, breathing, aura, nor even a heartbeat. Al felt that if he closed his eyes, the girl would cease to exist. Did she even, to begin with? Even air had much more of a presence than her. It was all so… unnatural.
"Hello? You still there, Al?" Paradox waves her hand in front of his helmet, even though her hands barely even reached his neck.
"Step aside." His lady's sharp words rang from behind him. Without a word, he obliged, content to have left the spotlight for now. Of course, his hand has never left the hilt of his sword, and won't be for the duration of this talk.
Priscilla gave a short once-over to the small girl. She noted how her hair was cut and prepared neatly, its luster palpable from the shine it had. Her bangs were trimmed in a straight line, giving her quite the refined look. Lastly, her skin looked supple and fair, clearly having been taken care of by the girl.
Despite her small and seemingly young appearance, Priscilla didn't miss the subtle femme fatale the girl possessed. Her outfit, although appearing to have covered her quite nicely, actually accentuates her bottom and waist, making it much more prominent. Her hands, posed in a way where they were hidden behind her looked innocent enough, but the unmistakable effort of her puffing up her chest didn't fly by the vollachian candidate's attention.
And last but not the least, her smile. It was that of a sly fox- and a seductress. This was no little girl.
"Are you done checking me out, Priscilla?" Coyly, Paradox fluttered her eyelids, smiling to herself. "Your staring's making me blush."
"I am quite done, yes." Taking it in stride, she walked back further inside her room, taking a seat. "You may come in." Priscilla eyed her from her seat, frowning.
To her utter surprise, however, once she turned back in front of her, Paradox was already sitting on the chair, holding a teacup out of nowhere and all. The candidate quickly looked back at the open door, finding no one there but a visibly tense Al.
"You wanna ask me something? Hm? Hm?" She began tilting her head left and right, nodding to a tune only she could hear. "Paradox knows a loooot of things!"
Priscilla quickly regained her bearing, crossing her arms under her bust. "I will get straight to the point. I need you to bring mine other self tomorrow, during the meeting."
Normally, nothing much interests the scarlet-eyed woman. Riches, power, authority… She has all of those in spades. And so what else could offer her the same, if not another version of her? At least, she expected the other Priscilla to reach the soles of her foot. Anything less would be laughable.
Laughable, and… disconcerting. Priscilla Barrielle does not bow down to anyone. Priscilla Barrielle has never lost to anyone. She has always been unmatched, ever since she was old enough to be aware of the world.
A slightly smiling Natsuki Subaru flashes by her mind, grinding it to a halt. The royal candidate visibly frowned right after.
"Oooh, pretty Priscilla's feeling fidgety, huh!" Paradox giggled loudly, the mocking in her eyes painfully bare. "No way, did Subaru actually affect you that much?"
"Pfft, fufufufu!" Covering her grin with her favorite fan, Priscilla effortlessly brushed off Paradox' words, seemingly unaffected by the smaller girl's taunting. This entire incursion was caused naught by caution, but of curiosity and amusement, after all. That, Priscilla was certain. "It is simply hard to find suitable entertainment with such magnificence as mineself. Nothing bores me more than mediocrity and stagnance."
"Oh…" With a pout, the raven-haired girl leaned on the back of the chair. "What a bummer." She let out a loud sigh, shoulders heaving up and down dramatically. "Well to answer your request, no, I won't do that."
"And why would you not?"
"Weeell, you didn't say 'please', for starters." Paradox nodded to herself, smiling. "Everyone knows you have to say please when asking for something."
"No." Face unchanging, Priscilla's tone remained flat.
"Ugh, you're no fun…" The doll-like girl sighed to herself. "Fine, fine. I said I 'won't' because it depends on you whether you'll meet her or not. I will give you the opportunity to do so. There, you happy?"
Priscilla mulled over her words for a moment. The crimson woman snapped her fan close, showing her victorious smirk. "Quite. You may leave."
"Whaaat? Not even a thank you?" Paradox huffed as she stood up, shaking her head. "You're unbelievable! What did papa even see in you that he– …actually, it's probably just your looks, isn't it…" The little girl murmured to herself as she walked away, shoulders slumped forward in defeat. "Of course it is, that stupid, perverted…" The rest of her words were lost to Priscilla's ears as she disappeared along the hallway.
"That girl isn't human." Al straight up said as soon he closed the door. "Nor a spirit. Or anything I've seen for that matter."
"It matters not," His lady idly fans herself, a small smile encompassing her face. "If she can entertain me even more, I would not care even if she was a mabeast, or worse."
With nothing left to do, she shoos away the knight with a dismissive wave. "Get out. I'm going to sleep."
Nodding, Al wordlessly complied and left.
After a few hours of activity, everyone eventually retired to their rooms to sleep. They couldn't really tell day and night from each other, but they do know that they're tired, physically and/or mentally otherwise. They needed all the energy they could get to prepare for the next meeting tomorrow.
After a particularly uneventful sleep, everyone slowly trickled out of their respective rooms and into the giant cafeteria of the theater. As usual, all kinds of food were set up on the many long tables, easily more than enough for the entire cast. Mimi and Garfiel instantly ran to the closest piece of meat they could get their hands on, while Tivey, Hetaro and Otto awkwardly followed each, trying to reign down their hungry companion.
Breakfast went relatively quiet. Aside from a minor dispute between Priscilla and Felix (again), nothing much really happened. Eating good food seemed to improve their spirit at least, as they'll definitely need it if the upcoming meeting were to go anything like the previous one's.
As everyone made their way to the theater, idle talks and murmurs could be heard from many sides. Anastasia and Emilia were making casual talks, although Ram made sure to stick to her lady in case the sly merchant tried anything with the naive elf. To her surprise, it seemed that the two were really just having a friendly conversation.
Off to another side was Crusch, Felix, Julius and Ricardo talking amongst themselves. After yesterday's training session, it seemed that the Karsten camp and Anastasia's knight and commander hit it up, strangely enough. Despite his gruff appearance and mannerisms, Ricardo was actually a pleasant company all around. Julius and Felix were already close even before, so they were understandable. The demi-cat healer was a bit wary of Ricardo for a bit, but judged him to be too much of a meathead to be planning something nefarious to his lady.
The rest acted like themselves, understandably. Priscilla and Al kept to themselves, although the scarlet-eyed woman never lost her judging eyes the whole walk. Reinhard and Wilhelm kept their distance from each other, while Felt tried her best to pester the redhead instead. In actuality, she just wanted her recently gloomy knight to stop moping about.
"You sure we should've left Subaru bro back there?" Garfiel said with a suspicious look, ignoring the clamoring orange furball dangling on the back of his head.
"The war–…" Otto coughed. "Paradox said she'll just teleport him to his seat. I still can't believe how casually she said that… I mean, teleport?"
"Psh." The blonde teen only shrugged, smirking. "I could've just carried bro like before."
"You'll upset Subaru if he knows that you're carrying him like a princess…" The white-haired merchant whispered with a chuckle.
"Wee! I'm at the top of the world!" Mimi suddenly yelled while standing on Garfiel's head, giggling to herself. Otto tried his best to stop laughing at his friend's unamused face, and failed miserably. Annoyed, Garfiel grabbed the energetic demi-girl and tossed her back to her siblings, which only earned him another excited scream from the girl.
It wasn't long until they reached the familiar sight of the theater. Its dim and quiet atmosphere instantly dampened the moods of most, reminding them of what happened yesterday. Still, they continued on and took their respective seats as before.
Beatrice stood in front of her and her contractor's seat, impatiently waiting for the warden to keep her promise. As soon as her thoughts started turning sour, the sleeping figure of Subaru suddenly appeared in front of her with a flash. The great spirit's volatile ideas vanished in an instant as she once again took her reserved space on his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist as she did.
But just as she touched the raven-haired boy's hand, a certain man's smirking face suddenly appeared on her mind, making her pause.
Once she realized what happened, however, the little spirit gritted her teeth in frustration, pulling her Subaru's hand around her protectively. She won't let that guy mess with her mind.
To her right side, one Emilia worriedly glanced at the distressed spirit. She herself hasn't really recovered much from yesterday. Sill, she's doing her best to forget everything for now, as Rem and Anastasia suggested to her. She just has to wrap her mind around the fact that that Subaru isn't the one she knows.
" Welcome, welcome!"
Everyone paused as they heard the familiar voice of Paradox all around them. The theater lights began to light up ever so slowly, illuminating the empty stage in front of them.
" I see everyone's here already. Great! We can start right away." A couple of hums followed her words. " Are you excited to meet more people from our world?"
"No." Felix dryly replied.
" I knew you are!" Disregarding the demicat's statement, she continued on. " But before we start, let's do a quick recap, okay?"
" So let's recall all the relevant facts for today's meetup: There are two opposing sides present in our world. That's the king's reign itself, and the resistance."
Anastasia frowned at that. "Didn't Subaru say he's already the king of his world?"
" What? Hahaha! That's just his ego talking!" The girl audibly laughs for a while. " Well, I guess he does control like 90% of the entire world, but the resistance still exists. They may be small, but they're definitely a huge thorn on his side."
Felt huffed, crossing her arms. "What's all this got to do with the meeting?"
" That's because the people you'll be meeting today belongs to different factions." She lets out a questioning hum to herself. " There'll be quite a lot of people to meet, so I'm doing something special for this one. Look forward to it!"
Otto gulped at that. "I… think that's a bad idea." Subaru by himself was already a headache to meet. Granted, this isn't him they're about to meet anymore, but still, the grey-haired merchant had a budding feeling that anyone from that world be… less than right in the head, to say the least.
" Oh, pssh. They're nowhere near as bad as Subaru, I promise!" Paradox answered as if hearing Otto's thoughts. " Maybe you'll warm up to the idea if I tell you who you'll be meeting first?"
Priscilla already knows she'll be meeting her other self, but she can't say she's sure who else they'll see. If they're at least half as interesting as Subaru, however, maybe she wouldn't mind blessing them with her attention as well.
Speaking of Subaru…
She could see herself siding with him and not, at the same time. Of course, she's not aware of the specifics about the enigmatic king, so some facts may or may not have pushed her to join one side from the other. This uncertainty was, if she was being honest with herself, quite exhilarating.
" First up, we'll have…"
The howls of a rampaging storm rang true all over the white tundra, the once lush greens of the surrounding forest blanketed by the thick, ivory sheets of snow.
This near to the boundary of Gusteko, hails are a rare sight, let alone a blizzard. The heat from the nearby rain forests deters any kind of natural build up for a snowstorm to exist. Yet this storm roared loud enough for it to reach the heavens, encasing everything in its radius with its wintry hands.
At the heart of this unnatural phenomenon, a gathering of dancing orange lights can be seen. Looking closer, one would realize that it actually came from the many bonfires inside a giant walled-off space, looking like a mighty city in the middle of nowhere. No matter how strong the blizzard became, the interior of this stronghold seemed to be barely affected, if at all. It's even more of a mystery than the cause of the rogue snowstorm buffeting it.
Inside, clusters of homely, wooden houses filled the entire area. A number of people can be seen milling about, most of them wearing thick furcoats for understandable reasons. Various kinds of weapons were held firmly within each person's hands.
A particularly colorful group eventually comes into view, walking towards the largest building in the stronghold.
"We succeeded in taking back 'point Arlam'." With her long green hair tied down into a ponytail, and her signature no-nonsense expression, the familiar face of Crusch spoke. "We managed to take down most infantry garrisoned on that town, although a couple or three got away." A large dark-green coat covered her whole body, aside from her head.
"We'll take what we can get," the person right beside her replied. From her feminine voice, it was obviously a girl, but since her face was hidden under her coat's hood, it was impossible to tell who she was. "By this point I'll consider a single step forward to be a massive win…" Her figure was quite small, only reaching up to Crusch's shoulder.
"And who's fault was it that Kalleha fell, ~tsu?" An even shorter boy answered the unknown girl, his long dirty-brown hair dragging along the snow below him. He turned back to Crusch, smirking. "If you'd just let us loose there, we would've–"
"Quiet." Crusch raised her voice a little, making the other two pause. "You know you're one of our heavy-hitters. If we send you out, that bastard would send someone to match or overpower you instead. We don't want another bloodbath."
"…Are you underestimating us?" His hands tensed up, and a pair of daggers peeked out under his cloak.
Unsurprisingly, the woman only gave him a reproaching look, not feeling alarmed at all. "You know well what I'm talking about, Ley."
The now named Ley grits his teeth, it audibly scraping against each other. This time though, his anger wasn't directed at the disgraced noble, but to someone else.
'My hunger… it's clawing its way above my throat. Can you hear it?'
Of course he remembers. A series of images flashes through his mind, many depicting a giant coffin of some kind, along with a blind-folded girl sneering at him… If it wasn't for the demi-human healer, he'd have lost another one of his siblings to that monster again.
The Archbishop of Gluttony's scowl deepened, although he finally kept his mouth shut.
"There will be a time and place for revenge… just not for now." Crusch quietly spoke, knowing the short boy would hear her clearly.
Not long after, the trio finally reaches their destination. With naught but a single knock, Ley proceeded to kick the double doors, although thankfully he had half the mind to hold back his strength. As they trudged inward, many faces turned to them, each giving them a polite nod.
Walking up the massive wooden stair at the far north of the lobby, they proceeded towards the second floor and into another room. This time, the pissed off archbishop refrained from busting in as he did on the main lobby, with the door being opened by someone else instead.
"Generals." With a curt nod, a blonde maid welcomed them inside, standing aside for them to pass through. Everyone who attended is already waiting for you inside."
As she passed through, Crusch gave her a small smile, nodding. "Thank you, Frederica."
"Ahhha~. I hate going outside." The hooded girl whines as she passes by, dusting her coat clean of snow. "Puck-chi's blizzard is too strong, don't you think?"
"Let me take your coat and hang it, Arneb-sama."
With a happy nod, the short girl took off her dark coat and handed it to the waiting hands of Frederica. Now uncovered, the pure white poncho covering the diminutive body of 'Arneb' was laid bare, with stray pink tribal signs lining the clothing here and there. A thick brush of white fur also encircled her neck, making her look much puffier and warmer than she'd actually be.
Aside from that, two big rabbit ears can be seen lazily folded on top of her head, along with a short horn protruding from her upper forehead. Her bright red eyes also stuck out like a sore thumb to her otherwise innocent-looking appearance.
"You're blocking the way, beast." Ley's dry voice spoke from behind her.
In response, the rabbit girl only playfully stuck out her tongue, although she did finally move forward right after. The short archbishop only made a bored grunt to Frederica's respectful bow, quickly walking past her.
The trio didn't have to walk much further as the large, rectangle table of the meeting room was just right around the corner. Around it sat… not that many people. In fact, it was only a pair of familiar faces that greeted them.
With her long, flowing pink hair and blank face, Ram turned to face the three newcomers. She was wearing a traditional kararagi robe, colored the same as her hair. Sakura leaves were drawn on the sleeves and bottom part of the kimono.
Beside her, the colorful visage of one former margrave can be seen. While Roswaal's clothing remained unchanged, the man seemed to have forgone his ludicrous make-up, as it was nowhere to be seen. On his face sat a small smile instead, his gaze instantly honing in on Crusch, Ley and Arneb.
The pair stood up in tandem.
"Good eeeevening, and welcome back."
"Welcome back." Ram followed suit, the giant chains shackled to the collar on her neck rattling as she nodded.
The three gave more or less the same reply as they did with Frederica. With the greetings out of the way, each one took a seat, with Crusch and Arneb sitting side by side as well as Ram and Roswaal, while Ley took it upon himself to sit the furthest away from anyone.
"What has haaappened with your recent skirmish, Lady Karsten?" The mage quickly starts the conversation. "It was my former land, so I'm quite conceeerned."
Crusch snorted at his words, and made no attempt to hide it from the man. "Right. The attack on Arlam was a success. Me, Wilhelm, Felix and the rest of the troops suffered no casualties, and the few minor injuries we got were quickly treated by my knight. Point Arlam is back in our hands."
"That's… surprising." Ram interjected, blinking. "Weren't a Cardinal posted there? That's what the reports said when it was attacked two weeks ago."
"Were you expecting us to get wiped out?" Crusch narrowed his eyes at that. Ram put a fist over her lips and coughed.
"No, I didn't mean it like that. I just…"
"I'd appreciate it if you diiiidn't bully my servant like that, Karsten." With a mirthful chuckle, Roswaal quipped in humor.
"Hm." Crossing her arms, Crusch continued. "As I was saying, there was someone posted there, but they were already long gone by the time we reached the village. Only a handful of soldiers were left to guard it." She turned to the bored-looking bunny girl beside her, coughing. "Arneb, if you will?"
"Eh?" The girl visibly fumbled for a moment, but quickly got her act back fast enough. "Ah! Arlam. Yeah, yeah, someone strong was in there, the place was practically teeming with mana. Although I don't know who it was, I'm pretty sure it wasn't my creator."
Having been silent this whole time, Ley finally joined in. The small boy was balancing a dagger on one of his fingers. "Felt and Capella were busy destroying Kalleha, so it couldn't have been them. Although we could've totally erased those two if we fought-"
"Not again, Ley." The green-haired woman cut him before he could continue.
"Bah." Shrugging, said boy only grabbed the dagger and started carving random things on the wooden table instead.
"I might know why Arlam was left unattended." Without any trace of his usual eccentric way of talking, Roswaal rested his arms on the table, fingers criss-crossed in front of his mouth. "Something changed with Subaru's plans."
The atmosphere froze in an instant. Upon hearing the dreaded name of the king, Arneb groggily woke up, and Ley paused the horrid scratching sound his dagger made. Ram and Crusch kept their eyes on the man, probing him to continue.
"Our informant just recently reported an emergency meeting happening at his castle. Every significant underlings he has were called back, which most likely included whomever was in Arlam." He paused for a moment, letting things sink in. "Something big is about to happen."
King Natsuki Subaru has been pretty passive about them for the last few years. Well, mostly. Some of his heavy-hitters are quite the battle-maniacs, namely the corrupted Felt and her long-lost relative, Capella. Still, the king never made an explicit attack on their established bases, as long as it didn't reach a certain distance near the capital. Kalleha was one of such outposts, which were summarily taken over by two of his 'Cardinals'.
Said Cardinals are often wandering around the entire world, either subjugating wild monsters, executing criminals on the spot, or just travelling for the heck of it. An occasion that demands all of these Cardinals' attendance only happens once an entire year, that being the King's Royal Ball. The thing is, this event shouldn't happen in a whole month and a half just yet, which makes their recently dug report disconcerting.
"We need everyone's input for this," said Crusch with a much more agitated voice than before. "Where the hell is everyone?"
"They're at their designated stations." Roswaal hastily answered. "I told them in advance to stay on their positions and be alert, as soon as I heard our mole's report."
"Maybe they finally want a head-on fight?" Ley chimed in, smiling. The prospect of finally getting to go all out sounded ecstatic to the resident battle-maniac. "That would be the feast of the decade, tsu~!"
Crusch grimaced at that. "It's too early to assume that." Not to mention that they're severely outnumbered, and most likely outgunned. Even knowing that they have extremely strong individuals such as Ley, Roswaal and Ram, the seasoned general couldn't confidently say they'd win a confrontational assault. This doubt was the biggest reason why they haven't stormed the main capital yet all these years.
Unsurprisingly, the former margrave shared her concerns. "A full-on fight would be… ill-advised." He smiled at the frowning archbishop, chuckling. "Subaru has his Cardinals, which are composed of individuals with equal or greater strength than our best men. A prime example would be Reinhard himself."
"But we have a sword saint of our own!" Arneb quickly countered, huffing. It seems like the gluttony archbishop wasn't the only one backing the idea of a full-on fight.
"Arneb…" Crusch gave the little girl an admonishing look. "You can't compare her with Reinhard. Even she admits he's leagues above hers in terms of strength."
"But… but…" Grumbling, the rabbit girl finally backs down. She fishes out a piece of carrot under her dress and munches on it instead.
Ram clears her throat, catching everyone's attention. "If Roswaal-sama wishes it, I can keep the sword-saint busy for a while. It might not be for long, but I've been mastering my Oni God form and–"
"No." Before she could finish it, her master suddenly interrupted her with a firm tone. "You're strong, dear Ram, perhaps even already stronger than me."
The pink-haired oni's eyes widened at that. "Roswaal-sama, that's not-"
" But you can only maintain that form for a few minutes at most. Reinhard will keep up with you, and when your time runs out, he will kill you… or worse." Roswaal stared at her, conveying just what he was truly talking about. "Let Cecilus and the others deal with that monster, and conserve your power for when we really need it."
"... Of course, Roswaal-sama."
The meeting went unchanging from then on. Crusch and Roswaal discussed some more guesses on what could possibly be the king planning this time, but without further information, they quickly hit a roadblock. Only Crusch, Roswaal, and to a lesser extent, Ram, seemed to take part in the talk, anyway. Arneb was already drooling as she slept once again, murmuring something about hunger and food. Ley went back to drawing indescribable images on his side of the wooden table, only giving half-hearted responses whenever he's prompted for his opinion.
Eventually, the talk ended in a terse note. Crusch and Roswaal shook hands, while the rest quickly left the room. Arneb was rubbing her stomach as it audibly rumbled, the girl giggling as she walked to where her nose led her. With hands on the back of his head, Ley sauntered off to god knows where, most likely to vent his frustration of having been deprived a good fight back in Kalleha. Ram dutifully stood beside the door along with Frederica, waiting for the two former nobles to leave.
Befitting of their former status, the two kept on discussing things even as they walked out of the room. Roswaal, with his usual way of talking once again, talked about minor reports from the various other members of their coalition, while Crusch kept an attentive look, nodding from time to time. Being a maid, Frederica quietly followed behind the two, while Ram kept her position beside her master.
"Perhaps a concentration of…" The green-haired noble stopped as soon as she saw something amiss. When she saw Frederica, Roswaal and Ram looking at it with varying amounts of shock too, she knew she wasn't seeing things.
All around them spawned many specks of light, the little orbs flying to and fro. It's a reminiscence of a spirit user communing with said beings, although the four knew for a fact that neither of them were a practitioner of that art. Despite the innocent-looking atmosphere it brought, they all instantly tensed up, anticipating a surprise attack of some kind. It certainly wouldn't be the first they had.
" ... The resistance!"
It took everyone a bit to process what Paradox just said. It wasn't a specific person they'll meet like they used to, but an entire organization? They waited with bated breaths, searching for the telltale signs of teleportation on the empty stage. Yet once again surprise took them as the familiar sparks of light didn't appear in front of them, but around them.
" Oh, and since it'd be a real hassle lugging around a sleeping body all over, I'll be keeping Subaru with me for now." Beatrice didn't even get to say a single word before she felt her contractor vanish behind her, prompting her to lightly fall on the seat. " Don't worry, he's much safer with me than with you!"
Reinhard widened his eyes in realization, but before he could shout to everyone in worry, the world around them had already changed. Instead of the homely interior of the theater they're so used to, what greeted them was a very long wooden hallway instead.
Lamps lit up the entirety of the passageway, although some natural light also spilled in from the few windows on the left side of the hall. A long red carpet was draped over the floor, it being the only decorative object visible to their eyes. The entire place was cold, spartan and barren.
Everyone turned their head left and right in confusion, wondering just what in the world happened. No one recognizes this place as anywhere in the theater, and the sheer change in temperature also dissuades them from thinking so.
The sword saint unsheathed a normal sword, warily looking around them. "She teleported us away…" As if to back up his words, the loud howling of the snowstorm outside screamed louder right after.
Upon hearing his voice, every other knight and combatant immediately tensed up, wary of the new place they were in. Roswaal remained unperturbed, unsurprisingly, while Anastasia and Emilia were pushed behind the backs of their camp members. Petra huddled up close to her sister figure Frederica, who in turn hugged the girl close to her person.
But one of them would visibly freeze up as she stared in front of herself, taken aback by what or who she saw. Ram's wide eyes stared back to her own, the other long-haired Ram giving her a similar look of shock.
As if a veil of some kind was finally lifted, the rest of the two groups finally saw the other. They stood a good few feet away from each other, both looking quite shocked, although armed and wary nonetheless. The original cast could see another Frederica, Crusch, Roswaal and Ram on the other side, all four looking quite different and similar at the same time to the ones they're used to.
For one, the foreign Roswaal didn't have his makeup on, and was wearing a different suit altogether. Despite this, the underlying sly vibe he has was all the same, and his clothes, though different, still had the same wackiness it had as the original.
Frederica looked mostly the same; her uniform, her hairstyle, even her whole posture and aura. But on closer inspection, one would notice that her skin looked much paler than it originally did, hinting on her lack of exposure to the sun. Either she rarely left this building or the weather outside was nigh-permanent, maybe even both.
The other Crusch wore the same green military outfit she originally had, and aside from her tied-up hair, those were the only physical differences they could find. Yet even a child could see the clear dark look encompassing this woman's face; a face that one Wilhelm, with a heavy heart, understood to be that of a soldier who's been through too many wars.
The last of the four, Ram, looked the most different by far. Anastasia and her camp recognized her dress to be that of a Kararagian descent– a kimono to be precise. Her hair was much longer than the original, too, reaching up to her lower thigh from what they could see. And to top it all off, the huge collar on her neck connected to a chain stuck out like a sore thumb on her otherwise elegant look, giving her the image of a high-class slave of some kind instead.
"My my, now thiiiiis is a surprise," the other Roswaal broke the ice, a small smile etched on his face. "I didn't know we were getting viiiisitors tonight."
"It's them!" The distressed-looking Frederica glared at a wide-eyed Reinhard, a confused Felt and Emilia, and finally an amused Anastasia. The demihuman gritted her teeth, the telltale signs of her transformation showing.
"Calm down, Frederica." The other Crusch held her hand out to the maid, although her other hand still pointed her sword at the newcomers. "Take a minute and feel them out for a bit. This isn't them." She turned her eyes back to the group, gaining its previous sharp look. "Although that begs another question, who are you people?"
No one moved an inch for a few moments, them still reeling at the fact that they were transported to the world of Lust instead of the other way around. Still, Reinhard realized it'd be for the best if they answered the other Crusch's question as soon as they could, to clear up any misunderstanding they might have otherwise. Sheathing his sword to show he meant no harm, the sword saint quickly made his way to the front of the group. He offered a polite smile to the four, but much to his dismay, the other Frederica only looked more on guard instead.
"I am Reinhard Van Astrea, the Sword Saint…" the demi-human looked like she'd slug him any second now. Reinhard coughed. "of my world, at least. We apologize for our abrupt appearance, but I assure you we are not the same people you may know here. We're…"
He felt a hand grasp his shoulder, prompting him to turn. He saw the smiling face of their Roswaal, subtly pulling him as he walked over instead.
"I believe we'll have a much beeetter time talking this through over a table. Wouldn't you agree?" He nodded his head at his doppelganger, who only gave him a small smile back.
"Indeeeeed, that is true. Ram."
The quiet oni seemed to blink for a bit before straightening up, turning to her master. "Yes, Roswaal-sama?"
"Guide them to the meeting room. I'll be contacting some of our… friends." The former margrave turns around, waving his arm dismissively. "Frederica, go fetch the other two generals in the base."
The blonde maid seemed to look back and forth between her master and the foreign group of people. "… Of course, Roswaal-sama."
The last of the four heaved a heavy sigh, straightening her suit and sheathing her sword. "I'll keep an eye on them with Ram."
The original Crusch couldn't help but smirk at that. At least her other self was honest, unlike their Roswaal who loved to beat around the bush as much as the original.
Crossing her hands over her stomach in a polite gesture, the kimono-clad Ram gave them a small bow and turned away. "Please follow me, dear guests."
With uncertain looks passed between each other, the cast walked after the oni. The entire way, the original Ram never let her gaze leave her long-haired lookalike's direction, frowning all the while. Her twin, Rem, looked in on her sister with worry, as the words of a certain king resurfaced within her mind.
Everyone looked around in curiosity around the so-called 'Meeting Room'. The huge rectangular table in the middle was quick to catch their attention, along with the large map tacked above it. It was held by four daggers on each corner, with many small cubes put on specific areas along the parchment. A quick peek confirmed most of their guesses; it was the map of the entire world.
"Please, take a seat." The kimono-wearing Ram spoke on her seat, catching everyone's attention. "Roswaal-sama will be here soon."
The otherworldly Crusch wordlessly took hers on the far-left side of the table, while Priscilla made the far-right one hers. Felt quickly followed, pulling the nearest chair to her side, then finally Crusch, Anastasia and Emilia, who sat next to each other. Frederica, having finally taken her eyes off of her other self, gently pushed Petra to another chair, while Roswaal was offered one for himself by his ever loyal maid. The rest was content to stand behind their respective ladies.
An awkward silence quickly permeated around the room.
Emilia turned left and right, biting her lip. She wanted to say something to break the ice, but the suffocating atmosphere and the deathly glares being sent her way (courtesy of a very agitated other-Frederica) kept the half-elf on edge.
Crusch and her other self has been staring at each other for a while now, with neither saying a word. The green-haired noble couldn't help but feel like she was being judged, somehow.
Anastasia was still smiling, as she has been ever since she realized Paradox transported them here instead. This was much, much better than she anticipated. Learning all of everyone's differences, the why's, how's, everything– Isn't that just exciting? It was all so overwhelming that she could momentarily forget about the creeping feeling of dread at the back of her mind.
"So? What's gonna happen now?" Felt, having grown bored of the prolonged silence, quipped. "Are we waiting for the clown to come back?"
Both Ram gave her admonishing glares, the two perfectly on sync. Instead of heeding their wordless warning, the young candidate could only snicker at them instead. "Wow, you too really are alike."
The two sneaked a glance to the other, once again at the same time. They turned their heads away as soon as they saw their own eyes.
"Let's get this thing over with." The older Crusch spoke, finally done with her own staring contest. "I am Crusch Karsten, Head General of the Resistance. That is Ram over there, a fellow general and one of our ace fighters." She glanced at the glaring Frederica, coughing. The demihuman finally lets down, heaving a deep breath. "That's Frederica, Roswaal's battle maid. She's not a combatant, but can hold her own in a fight. I don't advise angering her more than she already is."
The head general turned back to everyone. "That's for our introductions. Now, who are you people?"
Once again sharing looks, the royal candidates (aside from an uncharacteristically quiet Priscilla) wordlessly discussed who should answer the noble. Sighing, the original Crusch sat straighter on her chair, coughing.
"Greetings, head general… Crusch." She will never get used to this situation. "We… We don't think our names are much different than the ones you know of around here. Like you, my name is also Crusch Karsten, from the noble house of Karsten. If you don't know someone from our group, point them out so they could personally introduce themselves."
The three otherworldly girls understandably looked suspicious. Their eyes roamed from one face to another, as if scrutinizing them down to their very detail.
"Are you also Emilia Natsuki?" Frederica suddenly voiced out, making said half-elf stiffen in response.
"J-Just Emilia." The girl nervously looked back at the blonde maid's face, offering her a nervous smile. 'So it's true, I really am married to Subaru in this world…' Emilia thought to herself, feeling conflicted. Has she done something horrible for her to garner such hatred-filled looks? Maybe she was just naturally being associated with Subaru's deeds, being his wife? She couldn't tell which was better from the two.
"Who is that little girl wearing Roswaal-sama's maid uniform?" The demi-human asked next, pointing to a surprised-looking Petra. Blinking, the little girl and her older-sister figure looked at each other, confusion visible in their eyes.
"She's a junior maid," the original Frederica answered after a few seconds. "Do you really not recognize her?"
"I'm not aware of any new maid working under the master's wing," said the other Frederica, looking just as befuddled as they are. "What's her name?"
The said young maid's heart broke upon hearing her words. This world's Frederica doesn't even know her… Did they even meet? She couldn't imagine a world without her older sister figure in it, or her not working as a maid in the Mathers Mansion. Without the former, she wouldn't even have gotten close to her crush.
"I'm… Petra." She gave a small smile to the blonde maid, futilely hiding her sadness. "It's nice to meet you, Frederica-san."
"I see…" At long last, the everlasting glare on the blonde maid's eyes vanished, replaced by a confused yet genuine smile nonetheless. "It's nice to meet you too, Petra."
"Petra?" On the sidelines, the other Ram could be heard mumbling to herself. "Why does that name sound so familiar…?"
On the other side, Crusch's camp and her other self were amicably interacting with each other, although the original Karsten still couldn't shake off the surreal feeling of talking with herself. Felix and Wilhelm, noticing their lady's predicament, stepped closer to the general to catch her attention instead.
"Are you also Felix?" The other Crusch Karsten asked, staring at the blinking eyes of the demicat. In response, the blue knight beamed widely, nodding.
"Yep! Felix Argyle, at your service!" Secretly, he analyzed the other Crusch's reaction, testing whether the act he just did was also normal to her Felix. From her exasperated sigh, it obviously was.
"... And Wilhelm." For the old man, she only gave a small nod, although her quiet respect and recognition of him spoke volumes of what she actually thinks. The sword wielder easily understood this, only smiling and returning her gesture.
"Where's the other Felix?" The cross-dressing knight asked in his fake bubbly attitude. He has some words to say to his counterpart, remembering the scent he smelled around Subaru when they met him.
"In the barracks, tending to some injured soldiers."
Barracks? Injured?… The look of apprehension was quite palpable on Felix' face, remembering a certain fact. He almost forgot that this world was in the middle of a war. Realizing that there were people out there who needed his help almost made the famed 'Blue' bolt out of the room, but remembering they were in the middle of a strange land, he restrained himself, knowing he has to stay by his lady's side if something happens.
To the right side of the table, two figures approached the mulling Ram, the sleeve of her kimono covering her mouth. She was so deep in thought that she only noticed them when they were just a step away from her personal space, giving her a little bit of surprise.
Looking up, she recognized them to be the other oni twin sisters. Seeing her sister's face almost made her flinch as she usually did.
"...Hello. Do you need something?" The long-haired oni still had reservations trusting these unknown people, but she wasn't going to completely brush them off either.
"We would like to have a talk with you," the blue-haired maid spoke for the two. Ram didn't look like she was talking anytime soon.
"Of course. What–"
"In private, if possible."
Ram visibly grew wary of the twin"s intentions. While the one who looked like Rem seemed casual enough, it was her counterpart"s serious look that was making her feel on edge.
"... After the meeting, I will ask Roswaal-sama for permission. If he agrees, then we will." If anything goes awry, she can probably defend herself. Her Oni God form wasn't just for show, after all.
As everyone started mingling with each other, a loud cough halted all conversations within the room. Everyone turned to the voice's direction.
"I'm glad you aren't as hostile as we first thought, but this is all still rather confusing." Said general Crusch, the woman massaging her temples as she did. "What in the world is happening here?"
At her words, Emilia sighed. Explaining everything without sounding like a lunatic would be… challenging, to say the least. And she didn't like how she was slowly getting used to repeating these things, either.
Lugnica's Castle, Royal Advisor's Chamber. Midnight.
A pair of glassy, sapphire eyes gazed over the darkened city, a hand put over the cold glass of the room's single giant window. The moon was nowhere to be found tonight, and judging from the rumblings of thunder she could hear from the distance, a heavy storm was about to come.
"... They're here." The girl's silky voice cut through the quietness of the night, her platinum hair and white 'dress' contrasting heavily with the darkness of her surroundings. "Fufufu… how interesting."
Not moving an inch, the girl ignored the loud creaking her door made as it was opened behind her, the only indication she was even aware of it being the slight curling of her lips.
"Pandora." The familiar voice of one Natsuki Subaru spoke. Said girl tentatively turned her head, a small smile visible on her face.
"Yes, my king?" She did not miss the slight narrowing of his eyes, nor the deepening of his perpetual frown.
"Tell me everything you know about our alternate dimensions," he quickly walked up to her as Pandora fully turned to face him. The two having quite the difference in height made it so that the smaller girl had to slightly crane up as she looked him in the eye. "Specifically the one called 'Envy'."
Ah, of course that's the reason why he suddenly visited her. Pandora feigned surprise, dramatically putting her hand over her parted lips. With her eyes still looking as flat as it usually did, however, it only came out as sarcastic, which, knowing the petite witch, was probably her intent anyway.
"What brought this on?" She tilted her head, smiling. The man in front of her visibly tried to hide the twitching of his eyebrow.
"Paradox, as I'm sure you're aware. Now stop playing games with me, witch."
Much to his continued annoyance, the witch of vainglory only lightly giggled at his frustrated expression. Oh how Pandora loves pushing this boy's buttons. Some things really will never get old.
A sudden crack of lightning flashed outside her room, blanketing the whole place in blinding light for a moment. As things slowly dimmed on, Pandora found her neck being tightly held by an irate Subaru, making her blink. Looks like she's gone too far once again.
She was unceremoniously pushed back to her window, the freezing glass touching her back sending small shivers down her spine. Of course, that wasn't the only one that tingled her senses to life– the smoldering leer of the furious king in front of her gave her just as much stimulus, if not more.
"Answer me, Pandora." She felt his hold tighten even more.
Against anyone's expectations, the diminutive woman could only smile fondly despite his rough treatment. Slowly, she brought her hand to hold his offending arm, pulling it so it was holding her left cheek instead.
"I will tell you everything you want to know." The witch nestled into his hand, her eyes slowly closing as she did. "As always, forever."
She missed this burning warmth of his body. She missed how the entire world seemed to light up when he was with her, as with all the dead emotions she thought she had forgotten coming back to life.
"But in exchange, please hold me close." She hugged the now calm figure of Subaru, her head resting comfortably on his chest. "Closer than we are now. Closer than anyone else."
Before he could do anything, Pandora herself pulled back, taking a few steps back until she hit the window once again. Before the quiet king's eyes, another crack of thunder flashed behind the witch, but he dared not look away.
With only her dark, slim silhouette visible for a moment, he saw her flimsy piece of cloth be pulled lower and lower, until it completely fell off her body.
Not long after, the pitter-patter sound of the rain slowly made itself known to the two. One moment it was naught but a drizzle, and the next, a loudly roaring storm. A brief pause momentarily materialized between the two, with only the sound of the harsh winds outside quelling the deafening silence.
Natsuki Subaru breathed a heavy sigh. Loosening the tie around his neck, he grumbled, cursing under his breath.
"The bed. Bend down and grit your teeth, 'cause you're pissing me off."
Pandora could only smile hearing his words.
=-End of Chapter 2-=
Author's Note: This chapter only took a lil' bit over 3 weeks, while the first one took several months. If it's sub-par, you know why! (It's also over 2k words shorter. Sorry.)
To avoid needlessly bumping up my word count, I'll be replying to any question asked on chapter 1 and from hereon via ffnet's admittedly scuffed PM system. It'd be much better if we could chat through discord, though (more info on my ffnet profile).
I'll be uploading this on ao3 too after I get my invitation. Ao3 says it'll be done on aug 6. Support the story there too, pretty please?
That's all. See you next chapter.
This chapter was beta-read by Boe Jiden#0408. Thank you, Mr.(?) President(?)!