Chapter 19 – The Gamble
*WHOOOOSH…*
"…" Subaru opened his eyes slowly, the blinding light that had surrounded his world dying out to reveal a plain and some mounds of green, pristine grass that swayed with the current of wind brushing against his skin.
"So you've come once more… Or rather, I invited you once again. In truth, coming into my Tea Party twice is quite the accomplishment! Be proud…" Echidna stated some meters away from the boy whilst sipping on her tea. "Natsuki Subaru."
"Echidna…" The boy looked around himself, realizing that his clothes had changed once more from his combat suit to his world's tracksuit. "Did you do something? I feel… calm. Far more than just now…"
"Hmm… Really? How curious…"
"It is curious… I was in the middle of a panic attack I'd say and then… I feel almost at peace…" Subaru thought aloud.
Were not for the fact that I'm still under tons of pressure…
"The tea you drank last time interacted with your Witch Factor of Sloth, stimulating into stability." The Witch confirmed with a confident smile. "Your mind had shattered all of sudden, and with it, your soul was on the verge of collapsing as well. So, my tea saved you… Any 'thank yous' coming this way?"
"…Will it work even back on the real world? Being this coolheaded isn't just a temporal trick?"
"It works! Well, so long as you remember what happened here. Now thank me!"
"What is there to thank?!" Subaru complained with annoyance. "I know your deal… The moment I leave, I'll forget about this! I'll just be jumping back to a freak out!"
"Too true… sorry about that." The witch attempted to lament his guess, but her words came off more as mockery due to her relaxed appearance.
"Ugh… Whatever… Not like you'd understand what made me freak out to begin with…"
From her perspective, I just completed my trial then boom, I freak out…
"At the very least… If I'm going to forget, can't we at least modify the vow?"
"The… vow? What do you mean?"
"When I come in here, I forget everything once I'm gone, right? Well, except for the Trial… I wish to remember you."
"…Huh?" Echidna blushed slightly as Subaru approached her.
"Echidna… Please, let me remember you!" Subaru stood mere inches before her whilst begging in a bowing pose. "I have to… I can't afford to lose my sanity! Not yet! I have people I must save, even if I'm not deserving of saving them… So please, let me remember you."
"…It's kind of unfair when you beg me like that…" The woman looked away, red clear in her cheeks. "Very well… You may remember me…"
"…Wait, really?! That easy?! YES!" The boy celebrated whilst hugging the witch.
"WO-WOAH!" Echidna blurted with surprise.
"Thank you Echidna! I have another chance thanks to you!"
"Ye-yes… Whatever you say…" As Subaru retracted from the hug, Echidna shied away back to her seat. "Seriously, you must have been truly desperate to act like that. A hug… seriously!"
"Yeah, yeah, seriously, SERIOUSLY desperate…" Subaru suggested while scratching his head with embarrassment. "So… Can I hang out in here for a while? Being that time is sorta bonkers inside your party, I need to brainstorm for a bit. Time is a resource I really, really need at the moment…"
"We could converse for a while, if that is what you wish…" Echidna indicated for the boy to sit down before her.
"Uh… Sure!" Subaru hastily obeyed, immediately grabbing onto the teacup by his seat and drinking its contents. "Thanks for the courtesy, by the way!"
*Slurp!*
"Hmm… Heroes really are brave… drinking my body fluids so keenly like that."
"PFFT! *COUGH-COUGH!*" Subaru choked on his spit as he vomited Echidna's secretions. "GODDAMMIT!"
"You forgot, didn't you?" Echidna teased.
"Like my previous visit, yeah!" The boy glared pettily. "Making me drink that crap twice…"
"Don't call it crap! Shame on you for doing it twice!"
"Tsk…" Subaru huffed with exasperation, but as he swallowed the last of the tea in his mouth, his expression grew apprehensive and cautious of the woman before him. "…Hold it."
"What is it?" The pale beauty raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
Subaru immediately glared while keeping some distance from the witch seated before him, clearly distrusting her as his memories finally caught up to his mind, a disfigured puzzle of tidbits of information finally coming into place. "You… all that has transpired up until now…"
"…" Echidna's eyes narrowed at him, even if her smile did not falter.
"You… You are using Roswaal to resurrect, aren't you?" Sporadically, his eyes grew dangerously angry. "Do-Do you even realize what that dumb fuck is doing to achieve that?! He's- He's summoning that rabbit! And he knows about Elsa too! Probably hired the assassin himself, the piece of shit…"
"And how did you come to this theory, I wonder?"
"Theory?! How didn't I?! After all, this IS your Tomb… And his family worships you!"
"I am dead, if you've forgotten that neat little detail… How could I order him around?"
"I want to say Roswaal has a Gospel, like the cultists do for the Witch of Envy…" Echidna's eyes shone with a mix of apprehension and fascination at Subaru's guess. "But I've no proof he has… Forget that! You have to order him to stop!"
"Assuming I could… How do you prove anything of what you just said? Can you confidently state that you can, somehow, read the intent of people or see the future perchance? That I can order Roswaal and Beatrice from outside the Tomb, hmm?" The witch suggested with curiosity.
"…Beatrice?" Subaru's had to hold onto his head as yet another piece of the puzzle came together. "I never mentioned her… So how did you-?!"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Although it sounded like a provocation, Subaru was able to grasp that the witch was actually goading him into comprehending his current situation.
"Wait… Beatrice's book… Her Gospel… Her mother…"
"…" Echidna sat in silence, staring at him.
"…It was you? H-Hold on… But… I never talked…" The boy finally understood certain details about Echidna. "How did you… How did you know I was actually having a panic attack? How much do you… Do you know about me?!"
"Would you like to test it out?" The woman smiled seductively, attempting to entice Subaru into talking.
"Test it out?! What do you mean?! I-!" He attempted to deny Echidna's request, yet her earnest, fully confident gaze shocked him. "I…"
"Go on…"
"…I…" The boy grabbed his chest, bracing himself for the incoming cold hands of pain. "I… Return by Death…" Subaru closed his eyes, preparing himself for the advent of the Witch's embrace.
Here it comes!
Subaru could already imagine it… The world going dark… His heart being crushed… The cold, cold hands of darkness...
Yet, after some few moments…
"Hmm… Would you mind going into detail?" Echidna prodded with interest.
Nothing had happened. The Witch of Greed was seemingly unharmed by what WAS supposed to occur.
"…Huh?" Subaru opened his eyes, staring intensely at Echidna.
"It's embarrassing… Being stared at so passionately…" The woman blushed once more.
"Echidna…" Subaru mumbled with a shaky voice. "I… I Return by Death…"
"Yes, I heard you the first time."
"W-Whenever I die, I rewind in time to-to a unespescif-fied moment…"
"Hmm… So that's how-"
"I Return by Death, I Return by Death, I Return by Death!"
"Yes, I heard you befo-"
"I RESTURN!" Subaru fell to his knees as he remembered the pain. Emilia's corpse, Rem's corpse, Ram's corpse, Petra's corpse, Meili's corpse and all the cadavers in Arlam. Otto's death, Puck, Garfiel's death, the rabbits, Ultron's legionnaires, Ultron himself…
"I RETURN BY DEATH-I RETURN BY DEATH-I RETURN BY DEATH-I RETURN BY DEATH!"
"…" Echidna remained silent as Subaru cried.
"I-!" The boy hugged himself as tears rolled down his cheeks, his forehead poised against the grassy ground for support, as he couldn't stop shaking. "I was unable… to save anyone…! This whole time… I Returned by Death trying to save them!"
"I know." Echidna said as she laid her hand on the back of the slumped boy, patting him for comfort. "I saw everything after all… Your life and your journey up until now… All I could do was watch…"
"Ghk!" Subaru raised his welling, saddened eyes at the smiling witch kneeling before him.
"But now that we are here… Let's talk shall we? About How you felt… what you felt… what you know… what you don't know… what you wish… everything that is you… Please, tell me about yourself… Natsuki Subaru." Echidna whispered with a kind, understanding voice as she smiled. "I want to know… After all, I am the Witch of Greed. The one who wishes to know everything."
After crying his heart out some more, Subaru was finally capable of calming down enough to talk with Echidna once again. Sitting down while basking on the silence, the breeze and the warm sunlight of the witch's dreamscape, the boy considered his options as he enjoyed whatever brief respite her timeless imaginarium could provide.
"*Sigh* It really is a relief this is more of a spiritual realm… I really needed the breather…"
"What a sad story… to be trapped between a rock and a hard wall like this…" Echidna lamented with some semblance of empathy. "I can't help but despise the vile witch that cursed you! No one should have to die more than once…"
"Thanks for the sympathy… But I find it hard believing you on that front." Subaru surprised Echidna with his wariness of her.
"You don't fully trust me still… A wise policy, after all you've been through."
"Moreover, it's because of said despised witch's hex that we even have a chance at confronting Ultron in the first place, in a cosmic sort-of way at least…" The boy continued pondering over the situation. "Return by Death… Is there a limit to it? Working while thinking I can simply die indefinitely is a bit…"
"If my theories, which are rarely wrong, let me state, is correct… I'd say there is no definite end to 'Return by Death'."
"But it's a theory still…"
"That power is based on the Witch's delusion. So long as said delusion exists, it shall never end. Unless, of course, Ultron kills us all…"
"You are already dead though?!"
"Ah, but I still exist between planes of the unconscious and reality, do I not?" Echidna giggled with pride over her stubbornness against death. "Said plane would cease to be if the android destroys our universe."
"Return by Death… But your theory still does not explain why the Witch of Envy gave ME of all people such a power…"
"Is it not because she does not wish for you to die?"
"I-I understand that… But why me? And why now? It sure could have come in handy when Thanos snapped me out of existence." Subaru sighed with dread at the memory, remembering vividly how the Mad Titan turned him into dust.
"You said it yourself just now." Echidna clarified with a smug grin.
"Huh?"
"He 'snapped you out of existence'." The witch specified. "As in 'you ceased to exist'. Rather than just death, it was more akin to your very essence being 'deleted' from reality. Ergo…"
"There was nothing for Return by Death to return…"
"And do not forget to include the fact that she also gave you such a power the moment you came to our world. You didn't have it before… theoretically, at least."
"That's right… I mean, at least I don't think I had it." Subaru concluded with slight satisfaction. "Yeah… Surely Strange would have detected it when we met or something… He HAD the Time Stone when we met and all."
"Return by Death seems to exist solely for the purpose of preventing your death… But that is not what you are planning to use it for, right?" As the boy tried to relax, Echidna once more inquired him.
"Not much I can do… My life isn't that much in comparison to saving others."
"Hmm…"
"I let so many people die during the Whale hunt… And even more after it due to the Witch's Cult surprise attack. Felix… I couldn't save him. His name was devoured, a-and many others as well! That is just…" The Avenger mulled over his regrets and self-hatred as sorrowful eyes appeared on his face. "If I can use Return by Death to save others… Why shouldn't I?"
"So that's your answer, huh…"
"Well, even Return by Death isn't infallible to Ultron… So, no reason trying not to use it until it works no more. If it helps save the universe… then I can bottle my own feelings on the matter as much as needed." Subaru, although trembling in fear over the idea of dying over and over, attempted a façade of unshakable confidence and resilience before Echidna. "The multiverse is at stake. I need to return to the Capital, amass an army and stop Ultron, but-"
"No one will help you." The witch concluded Subaru's sentence in his stead. "Because the people of this world could not even begin to fathom the scale of the threat before them."
"I can tell that introducing them to the existence of the Infinity Stones would be troublesome… Even Emilia and Ram, who were there when I first explained the fight with Thanos, failed to grasp the extent of their power. Introducing them to the concept of the multiverse out of the blue would be…"
"They'd call you insane, which they have done so before."
"Especially so because of your trial." Subaru spat with resentment.
"Well, it isn't exactly my fault that this all happened at such an inconvenient time, right?" Echidna pouted.
"No… I guess I am being unfair… Sorry." The boy grumbled an apology before looking back at her.
"Though, the multiverse really IS quite the unbelievable concept…" Echidna suggested while sipping back on her tea. "Even I have trouble wrapping my head around it all…"
"Oh, come on!" Subaru chuckled with amusement. "Smartest woman in the Od Laguna and you had ZERO theories on the multiverse? I don't believe you."
"I never said I didn't have." The witch answered back with her own confident giggle.
"So… you DO have some knowledge on the existence of other 'yous'."
"Indeed…" Echidna locked eyes with Subaru as her gaze turned intense.
*WHOOOOOOSH!*
"Wha-?!" Subaru stood up in surprise as the world around them turned into a copy of the endless firmament. "This again?!"
"The multiverse is dangerous." The witch affirmed.
"!" Subaru's eyes widened in alarm as strange, amorphous figures spawned behind Echidna.
"It is host to creatures beyond human comprehension… Whose shapes alone could drive even the sanest man to utter madness." The silhouette of a creature with one brilliant, crimson eye and multiple tentacle-like limbs appeared behind her, glaring at Subaru while threatening to reach for him before dissipating like smoke.
"Beings older than time. Ravenous… and waiting." A gigantic face made of stars, ripples in space and fluctuations of dark energy stared back at Subaru with menacing purple eyes for a moment, readying some sort of attack before fading away as well, leaving behind a black hole.
"Creatures so cruel and devoid of emotion… Even we witches would seem like Saints in comparison." A black hole morphed into the shape of a longhaired man, a galaxy spiraling into its center until suddenly exploding and becoming some sort of crimson cape for the figure that seemed demonic in nature. The stars behind the man shone in vibrant reds, oranges and yellows, increasing in number until becoming more and more like the picture of a hellscape than that of space.
"Entities so ancient and powerful… Our own lives aren't comparable to seconds under their gaze." The demonic man disappeared as the black hole at his center expanded into multiple colors, a multitude of armor-like figures composed of galaxies standing menacingly in front of the pair now.
"Or so hungry and uninterested of others' lives… To the point that they would not hesitate in devouring worlds whole to satisfy some necessity beyond our ken." The galaxies clashed against one another until forming the figure of yet another armored man, some sort of horns sprouting from the sides of his helmet as a silver meteor danced around him.
"And even beyond these… all-seeing, all-feeling presences that judge our every move, unbeknownst to us…" All previous creatures spawned behind the Witch of Greed and began clashing against one another… until a three-headed humanoid silhouette made of golden stars appeared, raising a hand and making all others cease to exist before disappearing just as quickly in a spectacle of light and incommensurable cosmic power.
"That… Is what I know about the multiverse." Echidna closed her eyes at last as a somber neutral expression painted her face, the landscape around her and Subaru returning to a scene of green pastures.
"D-Damn…" Subaru sat back down with an aghast expression. "Those… Are your theories…?" He asked with a shaky voice.
"I managed to make many breakthroughs that, regrettably might I add, never sat and wrote down." The witch admitted with reluctance. "Even if I couldn't create portals by just shaking my fingers, like that Doctor Strange from your memories, I certainly had the theory for the mystic arts nailed down… I felt many presences as I studied the secrets of magic. Enough to determine how despairingly limited the power the Od Laguna alone grants us is in comparison. Drawing energies from other dimensions… That could allow for powers beyond those of this world's standardized magic systems even…"
"Strange made his portals thanks to that ring-thingy he had though…" Subaru mentioned as Echidna explained.
"Quite the useful metia, might I add."
"Eh, I'd say the word is relic rather than metia."
"Point is Ultron now classifies as one such entity. And if he wishes to destroy the multiverse… He really could do so."
"And I'm left with little to do, being that his robots are basically unpredictable…" Subaru lamented with frustration. "They've had different timings every loop. Sometimes they'll appear right on the same day as I spawn, and others…"
"Even earlier…"
"The lattest they appeared was when Ultron first arrived. I need help here Echidna… Can you really not do anything? Anything at all?"
"About Roswaal and Beatrice? Not much I can do there. I am dead, remember? And their 'Gospels' aren't exactly Gospels but… Tomes of Wisdom. At least something close to that."
"So Roswaal does have one…" Subaru clenched his fist with frustration. "What do those books do anyways?"
"They guide them to their preferred futures… To their objectives. At least that is what they believe them to be capable of… But then again, you ARE unpredictable by this world's rules."
"But wait… Beatrice's book was empty!"
"Then it would mean there is no path to her preferred future."
"Are you serious?!"
"I'm sorry that my answer does not satisfy you, but there isn't much I can say beyond what I've said already." Echidna pouted as Subaru sighed with disappointment.
"Dammit! So what can I do now?!" The stressed-out Avenger scratched his chin while scrambling his head for an answer, a solution to his problem.
"…There might not be much I can help you with right now in regards to Ultron… But maybe I can help you in avoiding the dangers of Sanctuary and Roswaal?"
"Wait… You can?!" Subaru's lit up with hope before realizing with whom he was talking to. "Hold it… You are not going to just, like, pull something from under the rug now, aren't you?"
"…It depends." The witch winked at him. "The Great Rabbit… Along with the White Whale and the Black Serpent. The Great Calamities created by the Witch of Gluttony, Daphne, over 400 years ago."
"You have intel on that monster?!"
"Of course I do. Do you forget who you are speaking to?"
"Right…" The boy rolled his eyes with reluctance.
"The White Whale is technically stronger than the Great Rabbit. But the Rabbit, as you saw, can multiply to a ridiculous amount."
"Making it harder to kill… Ugh, this sucks!"
"Because it can add to its numbers so exorbitantly, its attacks always end with the entirety of the villages and fields it raids razed to the ground. In order to kill them, you'd have to eradicate every single one of its copies at the exact same time."
"Its main thing is that they can eat a lot huh? And such a insane condition to kill them all…" The boy remembered his death before another troublesome thought hit him. "Shit… So back then, the Rabbit devoured everyone in Sanctuary as well… That's so cruel!"
"You are glaring… Are you that angry that Roswaal is trying to resurrect me?" Echidna questioned without much care for his emotions, pinning all fault of the situation on Roswaal to reduce Subaru's hostility towards her.
"Of course I am!" Subaru quipped back with anger, falling for her ruse. "That fucker… Even if it is his bloodline's long-standing wish or whatever… I just can't figure out what summoning such a beast would serve for! He's just nuts!"
"Regardless of whether it is for my resurrection or not, Roswaal is the one making the decisions in an attempt to drive you into a corner."
"His ancestors must have really owed you, and he must genuinely cherish his ancestors to do something like this… Fucked up as it may be…"
"Yes… His ancestors…" Echidna, who had been lying about her true intentions and reach while trying to appeal to Subaru, swallowed bitter truths as they threatened to spill from her mouth. "You could say his family is so influential because I helped them."
"Regardless of that… What else can I do now? I can't hack the satellite because Ultron is guarding it. I'd just be triggering the invasion again. And if, and it is a big if, the bastard is monitoring my movements… I cannot do anything risky like getting into a fight with Roswaal or Elsa… After all, the invasion also occurred after said fights in previous loops. Talking Beatrice into teleporting me to the Capital is also a no-go though."
"Why so?" Echidna wondered with confusion and wonder.
"She's expecting someone… 'Betty's one'…" Subaru lamented as he remembered the crying little Spirit gazing at him with expectation. "Whatever 'Betty's one' is… It's not me. It couldn't be me… I…"
"…If you lied to her, she'd probably agree to flung you into the Capital."
"…But lying to her…"
"I ask you this, Avenger…" Echidna sipped on her tea before staring Subaru straight in the eye. "You must save the world, right?"
"…Y-Yeah…"
"Then what is a lie in comparison to that?"
"…I've lied a lot already." The boy looked away with shame. "About my identity back on Earth… About Return by Death here… I… Lying to a little girl, promising her something I couldn't possibly deliver… I don't have the heart for that."
"Then the universe Is doomed, end of discussion." The woman concluded with a satisfied smirk. "Welp, it was a good run. Sure, we didn't make it far as a species here in the Od Laguna. But what can you do about it? Nothing much, I'd say…"
"You are so fatalistic! Don't give up so easily!"
"Then throw away your morals already and lie."
"I don't lie because I want to, okay?!" A furious Subaru shouted, shutting the witch's complaints down.
"Hah… You care too much about them… Even though they are liabilities at best in this crisis…" She shook her head with defeat.
"…" The boy remained glaring to the ground, thinking over by himself.
"…Alternatively, we could work based on that theory of 'no conflicts' of yours."
"Huh?"
"You say that the satellite is guarded by Ultron, right?" The Witch smirked. "If your theory is correct, then you are the one it is the most wary off. Why would that be?"
"…Ultron was designed as a Peacekeeping program… And he despises the Avengers…"
"Peacekeeping… Maybe we are doing some wild assumptions here… But each invasion in which Ultron did not appear… Were they not triggered by conflicts with YOU as the center?"
"Are you saying…?" Subaru acknowledged Echidna's theory with some hope returning to his eyes.
"You said it yourself. The legionnaires always spawned as you were fighting someone… Or after you did."
"Are you saying that… Ultron himself isn't the one monitoring us, but his basic drones?! His core protocol machines?!"
"My guess is a yes." The woman affirmed with a nod. "We are working on a whole of conjecture still, but I assume… He's still outside our universe, travelling around realities with that program of yours. Therefore, he left something behind to… 'Guard you', we could state."
"Sentinels that follow the core protocol of preventing conflict, what Ultron was originally programmed to do!"
"So maybe, just maybe… If YOU specifically, Subaru, can avoid any sort of conflict until reaching the Capital…"
"If I don't have to attack or fight anyone…"
"Then you could very well do this. Just avoid fighting, run and hide like a coward and… Boom! Lugunica saved!"
"I doubt it is that easy… That would involve leaving Emilia and everyone in Sanctuary to die to the Rabbit. Moreover, Petra, Frederica, Meili and Beatrice would all die to Elsa… I can't avoid conflict!" The Avenger stressed tiredly. "At the very least… I need more info on everything going on to feasibly avoid all the nonsense without dooming anyone."
"If it is information you need… That I can most certainly provide!" The Witch stood up with cheer clear on her face and eyes.
"Echidna?" Subaru narrowed his eyes at her.
"Natsuki Subaru… You need all the knowledge you can get to succeed, right?"
"Well… Y-Yeah…" Echidna's smile unnerve the young man.
"Then would you like to meet the Witch of Gluttony and ask her yourself about her beasts?"
"The Witch of Gluttony?" Subaru wonders with doubt. "But isn't she dead?"
"So am I?" Echidna shakes her head with disappointment. "Am I not proof enough that it can be done?"
"I suppose… However, this is your Tomb. It follows that you can do it, but not other witches."
"Doesn't mean I cannot call her."
"So you are going to summon her ghost or something?"
"More like… I shall swap places with Daphne." The white-haired woman described. "Within my castle of dreams, we shall switch places so you can freely speak amongst yourselves."
"That sounds… useful." Subaru commented with a grin.
"Nevertheless… It is a tad-bit risky…" Echidna suddenly warned, making the boy instantly sigh with disappointment.
"Yeah, of course, there's always a caveat…"
"Don't let her harm you." The Witch of Greed stressed. "Although you are not capable of death within this imaginary plane of the soul and mind, these two are in real danger of collapsing were you to be harmed, leaving your 'self' in the real world as a husk."
"Damn… Like-like the sleeping-beauty curse?"
"Similar… But worse."
"Shit… You are making me kind of fearful here…"
"But ask you must… If you wish to form a strategy for the half-elf to fell the rabbit in your stead."
"Too true…" Subaru rubbed his right temple repeatedly, weighing his options. "Fine… I'll meet with her. Just… Is there any other warning I need know about?"
"A firm resolve… I like that!" Echidna grinned with satisfaction. "A last warning though… When talking with Daphne, do not release by any means her restraints. She's the Witch of Gluttony for a reason, so she's far, FAR more dangerous than what her appearance could lead you to believe…"
"So no touch… Got it." He commented before gazing back at a glowing Echidna. "Uhm… Echidna? You are looking kinda sparkly-"
"Also… Avoid her eyes. Do not look her in the eye… Understood?"
"Uhm… Su-Sure…"
"Good! With that said… Presto!"
*CLAP!*
*POOF!*
"Huh?!" Subaru grunted in annoyance at Echidna's antics. The witch clapped her hands, turning herself into a cloud of smoke before vanishing in the process. "Did you seriously just say 'Presto!' before disappearing?! How much of my memories did you see to try such a shitty magician trick?!"
"Oh!" As Subaru complained, a little girl's voice surprised him from behind. "HEY THERE!"
"Huh?" Subaru turned around to see a little girl non-older than Meili. Her defining characteristics her short, green colored hair, and her white one piece dress, adorned by a crown of blue flowers on her head. "Are you…"
"Typhon! The Witch of Pride!" The child introduced herself with a toothy grin. "Chidna told you, didn't she? That you'd be meeting another witch!"
"Chidna… Echidna? Wait, Typhon?! She told me I'd be meeting Daphne though?!" The boy freaked out with surprise.
"Geez… You are so rude not welcoming me just because I wasn't who you were expecting!" Typhon pouted.
"That's the normal reaction to not meeting who you were promised to though…"
"And your name is…" The little girl squinted her eyes at the boy, ignoring his quip.
"Ignored?!"
"Hum… Baru!" Typhon smirked again with satisfaction. "Your name is Baru!"
"It's-it's actually Subaru… But…" He barely could bring himself to correct her when she smiled so vehemently. "…Yeah, it's Baru."
"So…" Ceasing her pout, Typhon's smile returned as she locked gazes with Subaru. "Baru… You are not a bad guy, aren't you?"
"A bad guy?" Reminding himself of his anger, how he had treated Emilia and everyone else, as well as his actions up until now… Subaru regretted that he couldn't answer her question so easily. "I'd like to say I'm not… But I'm not so sure anymore…"
"Prove it!" The girl extended her hand towards the teenager, prompting him to instinctively react the same before pausing mid-movement.
"Hold on… Is this okay? She told me to…"
"Not to touch Daphne, but I'm Typhon!" The little girl giggled, countering his argument.
"…I suppose so…" Resigning to her simple yet correct logic, Subaru shook Typhon's hand.
"Sin can only be repaid with sin." The girl muttered just loudly enough for Subaru to barely hear her.
"Hm? What was that?" The boy squinted his eyes at her, not really understanding what had happened. "What?"
"Hehe!" As the girl chuckled whilst taking a few steps back, Subaru noticed something odd about her… Or rather said, about himself.
"Ho-Hold…" Subaru's arm had grown longer… No… It had detached from his body, Typhon still gripping his hand tight as the boy's right arm separated from his torso. "HOLY SHIT!"
"You didn't feel any pain?! Wow!" Typhon celebrated. "You are not a bad person at all then! I knew you weren't! Good for you!"
"M-MY ARM!" Subaru cried in a panic as he lurched forward. "G-GIVE IT BACK-!"
"Uh-uh-uh!" The girl shook her head, trying to calm Subaru down. "Don't disturb Chidna's castle with so much noise! It didn't even hurt, so why are you crying?"
"DAMMIT, I'M NOT-!"
"Sin will become a wedge that allows no escape."
*CRA-CRACK-CRACK!*
"WHA-?!" With but a few words from the little witch, Subaru's body crumbled into pieces, looking more like a jigsaw puzzle than a person now.
"Poor you… Even though you are not a bad guy…" Typhon lamented as Subaru crumbled to the ground. "You see yourself as a sinner? You have such a good heart, but you are so cruel to yourself…"
"…!" Subaru couldn't retort back or even speak anymore as he had become a bunch of broken rocks.
"Then… Now it's the turn for…" Typhon glowed, much like Echidna had done so before, until…
"FIRST!" A woman yelled in the distance, above Subaru's pieces. "TO STRIKE ALL THAT DEFIES REASON IN THE WORLD!"
What the hell is going on?!Subaru desperately thought in his mind.
"SECOND!" The woman yelled again, sounding closer now. "WHO CARES ABOUT COMMITTING EVERY HEINOUS EVILDOING?!"
*FWWWWOOOOOOOOM!*
The sound of something falling at ridiculous speeds from the sky alarmed the boy.
"THIRD!" The woman shouted once more, now sounding as though she were a few meters away from Subaru. "WHETHER IT'S UGLY OR BEAUTIFUL, IF YOU ARE HERE IN THIS FLEETING WORLD, DON'T EXPECT TO MAKE IT BACK UNSCATHED!"
*BOOOOOOOM!*
"…!" The woman landed, producing a dust cloud and a crater from the explosion of magical hearts as she crashed onto the verdant fields before Subaru.
"MY FISTS ARE MY ANSWER! AND RESTORE THE WORLD THEY SHALL! MY FURY, MY RAGE! LET MY ANGER CLEANSE THIS FILTHY WORLD!"
*SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK!*
The woman punched Subaru's broken pieces mercilessly until… The boy had returned to normal. So healthy he looked, in fact, that it seemed as though he had never crumbled into deformed parts to begin with.
"…Uh…" Subaru froze for a second, not knowing what to say to the woman. He wished he could say 'much appreciated', but something about her felt… odd. "…Uhm… Why are you bawling your eyes out?"
"I AM NOT CRYING!" The crying woman denied.
"No, no! You clearly are!" Subaru pointed to her eyes. "That's tears falling from your eyes and down your cheeks! You are clear-as-crystal crying!"
"I SAID I'M NOT CRYING! I'M JUST INFURIATED! YEAH, THAT'S IT! INFURIATED OVER TYPHON!" The weeping woman explained. "THAT IDIOT!"
*SMACK-SMACK-SMACK!*
*RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!*
"WOAH!" Subaru muttered in alarm as the ground beneath his feet shook. As the woman stomped down her feet in frustration, the earth below trembled. "STOP THE EARTHQUAKES, PLEASE!"
"WHY DID SHE HAVE TO HURT YOU?! THAT STUPID TYPHON! SHE SHOULDN'T HAVE HAD TO HURT YOU! I HATE THAT SHE HURT YOU!"
"Okay, okay! Chill!" Subaru tried to calm her down desperately. "Th-thanks for saving me but please calm down!"
"Minerva!" The woman yelled again as she began staring intensely at Subaru.
"Uh-What-?"
"I am Minerva! The Witch of Wrath!" Minerva shouted as though her life depended on it. "A name you have no business knowing!"
"I know it now though?! You even said it twice, you brute!" Subaru protested to her irreverence, making the witch blush with embarrassment.
"Don't correct me so! And next time make sure you aren't so stupid, or so help me I'll heal you into oblivion!" The woman threatened.
"Why are you making it sound like healing is a threat?! Are you nuts?!" As Subaru complained about her antics, the witch disappeared in a glow of sparkles, leaving behind a weird, awful smell. "Gaghk! What is that smell?! It's like a sewer drain… Urgh…!"
"That…Fu~… Would be… Fu~… Me…" Yet another woman spawned from behind the boy, this one lying down on her side, slumped over the grass. Her pink hair covering a curvaceous pale-skinned body, her sleepy gaze coming off as seductive instead of tired. "I… Fu~… Do not make… Fu~… A habit… Fu~… Of bathing…"
"Ah… I get it." Subaru nodded while covering his nose, looking back at the woman. "You are Lust, aren't you?"
"Wrong… Fu~…" The woman shook her head slowly. "Sloth… Sekhmet…"
"That would explain why you take so long in forming a sentence… And why you are so lazy you couldn't be bothered to take a bath. Might as well call yourself a NEET."
"How… Fu~… Rude… Ua~…" The woman tried to fake a cry, but it came out as a yawn instead because of her tendency to speak slowly.
"Y-Yeah…" Subaru shook his head for the umpteenth time that day, wishing to move on from the ridiculous situation. "Look, I don't wanna be rude or anything, but can't you, like… Call Daphne over already or something? I feel as though we've deviated quite a bit from what I set out to do…"
"Impatience… Fu~… Begets… Fu~… Failure… Fu~…" The woman warned.
"It's not so much impatience as I'm just… Pressed for time."
"Not… Within this… Fu~… Realm…"
"You are… Not entirely wrong there…" Subaru reluctantly admitted to the truth of Sekhmet's words.
"Time… Fu~… Flows differently… Fu~… Within Echidna's… Dream Castle…"
"Yeah, I know as much…"
"So you… Fu~… Should make… Fu~… The most of it… To strategize…"
"Wait… So you other witches KNOW about Ultron?" Subaru concluded at her words. "Did you witness that robot through Echidna as well?!"
"If the universe… Ends… Fu~… I won't be… Fu~… Able to… Nap no more…" With those parting words, the Witch of Sloth departed in a similar glow to Minerva before her.
"Okay, okay, Typhon, Minerva, Sekhmet… Are you all- Are you all done?" The teenager looked around himself, searching the endless plains for the next surprise. "Echidna! Come on, this isn't funny! You said that you were introducing me to Daphne! Not the entirety of the witches' football team!"
"And what would Subarun wish to ask of me?" As soon as he voiced his complaints, Subaru noticed the presence of yet another child behind him.
"Did you all really agree unanimously to the 'behind you!' joke?! Or are you just that good at improvisation?!" He glared pettily at the girl as he took a better look at her appearance. Chains tied her to a coffin with spider-like legs, her eyes covered by a blindfold. Her grayish long-hair tied in twin pigtails as she rested on the abomination carrying her body. "So you are Daphne of Gluttony, aren't you?"
"Hmnnn…" The bounded girl salivated as she nodded in affirmation, unveiling a carnivorous toothy grin as her coffin retreated a few steps.
*CLINK-CLINK-CLINK!*
"This is bad…" She moaned. "You give off such a sweet, deliciously delectable scent… It makes me want to eat you…"
"Uh… Yeah…" At a loss for words yet again, Subaru heeded Echidna's warnings and looked away from the girl.
"Chid-Chid said you wished to talk… What is on your mind? Subarun…"
"Your Mabeasts… The 'Three Calamities'!" Subaru shouted. "You made them, didn't you?!"
"The whale, the bunny and the snake? Hmm, yeah, I did~."
"What the hell did you even make such brutal monsters for?!"
"A reason for their existence?" Daphne tilted her head. "To end hunger, of course~." She grinned from ear to ear.
"HUH?!"
"The whale is really, REALLY big… Isn't it?" She had begun to explain whilst drooling a steady cascade. "It could feed a lo~t of people in one go."
"Feed…?" Subaru narrowed his eyes in confusion.
"And the Rabbit!" She continued, undeterred by his befuddlement. "If it can multiply indefinitely, then everyone can hunt them down to their hearts content! No one need be hungry again!"
"You are ignoring the fact that the Rabbit is the one devouring everyone!" Subaru argued back with anger. "What about the Serpent, huh?!"
"I figured with the snake…" Her voice turned from playful to serious for some moments. "If there is no one left to feel hunger… Then world hunger should cease to exist, right?"
"Killing everyone defeats the purpose of ending hunger, you moron!"
"You don't get it, do you?" Daphne smiled once more as Subaru insulted her. "How selfish do you think it is to eat another without expecting the possibility of being eaten yourself, huh?"
"But grouping people with cattle or hunting game isn't exactly a reasonable assumption, isn't it?"
"How come it isn't?" Daphne questioned again. "After all… We are both living beings… Part of the same food chain."
"…" Subaru stood silent at her logic. For how twisted it was, it was not necessarily wrong.
"Appetite is central to our existence. To deny your gluttony… is to deny your humanity. Ad to deny your humanity… is to die."
"Maybe you are not ENTIRELY wrong… But even so, the way you've gone about it is utterly wrong-!"
"You've not experienced hunger to the extreme… Until you do… You cannot see the world as the bunny or I do…" With one-sided denial and a smug voice, Daphne mocked Subaru.
"That's-!" Subaru, in his irrational anger, disobeyed Echidna's recommendation and turned to look back at Daphne… Making the absurd mistake of locking gazes with her uncovered left eye. "…Shit."
"Hehehe…" She chuckled as her golden eye penetrated into Subaru's soul through his dull brown-black eyes.
"…ACK!" Pain suddenly hit Subaru as he raised his hands to his face in an attempt to cover his gaze. Chunks of Subaru's forearms… were missing, leaving behind nasty bite marks, steady streams of blood flowing down into the grass to his feet. "WHAT?!"
"Would you look at that? You didn't even notice as you gorged on your own flesh…"
"MY OWN-?!" Subaru's mouth felt weird, as if he had stopped chewing something mid-way through. "BLEGH!" He vomited his regurgitated sinew.
"Hoh…"
"My-my…" The boy sweated cold as his mouth dripped with his own blood. "What did you do?!"
"More like what did YOU do?" Daphne chuckled yet again. "You disobeyed Chid-Chid in your anger, staring straight into my left eye and experiencing my hunger, forcing yourself into eating away at your own body to satiate your desire. That… is the world my Rabbit lives in."
"Your Rabbit is nuts… Hngh…!" He spat in disdain as he crouched from the pain.
"Now do you understand how it feels? How cruel you are being to it?"
"I only understand that I must take it down no matter what now!" In a surge of indignation and courage, Subaru stared back at Daphne again, their eyes clashing once more as the Witch smiled.
"You don't learn, do you? Ufufufu…" Daphne laughed as she predicted Subaru to eat at his body's expense again. However… "!"
"It won't work twice… I made up my mind, so I'll beat your Rabbit and you for sure!" Subaru shouted as he stood back up, a righteous yet brilliant glare shining in his eyes as he kept staring down at Daphne. He wasn't devouring himself again… He just defied her power by standing still, overcoming his hunger through his desire to save everyone.
"Ah… No… This is bad…" Daphne trembled in a mix of excitement and happiness, her coffin prancing around erratically.
*CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK*
"I'm at my limit here… It makes me want to look with both eyes… To eat you whole…"
"Hey, hey… Don't go vanishing on me!" Subaru argued again, ignoring her threat. "You still haven't told me anything concrete about your monsters!"
"Haa… The Rabbit is sensitive… Haa… to large quantities of mana… Haa…" The salivating, ravenous girl exclaimed desperately while turning away from facing Subaru. "If you can lure them…"
"I can kill them all in one go…" The boy concluded. "But what if some split up?"
"They… Haa… Won't…" Daphne moaned. "It's a hive mind… Haa… It's not smart enough… Haa… That it can work like the Wolfgarms… Haa…"
"Now that's useful!" Subaru celebrated. "With this… I've already made sure the Whale was destroyed… So I'll make sure the Rabbit dies too! No complaints from you, right?!"
"They were created under… The principle of survival… The winner eats… The loser gets eaten…" Daphne concluded as she began to glow. "If they die… It is their own fault."
"Sheesh… What a cruel 'Mom'…"
"If you can really take them down…" Daphne looked back at the boy with a satisfied smile. "Show me…" She vanished without a trace, Minerva replacing her instantly after.
"You again?!" Subaru yelled in shock.
"YOU IMBECILEEEEEE!" Minerva shouted as she rushed at ridiculous speeds towards Subaru, preparing a fist of fury to smack him over the head.
"WAIT! WA-!" Subaru tried to stop her to no avail.
*SMACK!*
"BLURGH!" The witch punched him, making the boy drop to the ground. "No… Pain? Wait, my arms are healed again! Thank-!"
"I TOLD YOU, YOU MORON!" Minerva cried as tears fell off her desperate eyes, glaring heatedly at the boy on the ground. "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO LOOK HER IN THE EYE?! ARE YOU STUPID?! I'M SO MAD AT BOTH YOU AND DAPHNE! URGH!"
*RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!*
"STOP THE EARTHQUAKES!" Subaru shouted in a panic.
"UGH! I'M LEAVING! I'M ALREADY UPSET ENOUGH AS IT IS!" Minerva shouted while drying her tears. "ECHIDNA! TAKE OVER!" Minerva vanished, the Witch of Greed appearing some meters behind where she was standing moments before.
"My apologies." Echidna stated as she walked towards the crouching Subaru. "I really wanted to bring Daphne over immediately… But Typhon sort of jumped in here instead."
"The Witch of Pride… Damn, this place is kinda bonkers." The boy stated as he stood up.
"Did it take you that long to figure it out?" A surprised Echidna mused with wonder as her chair, tea table and parasol sprouted from thin air, the witch sitting down and relaxing in front of the teenager.
"You are creepy in your own regard, don't misunderstand." Subaru quickly reinstated as he took a seat as well. "But in comparison to your, uh, 'colleagues'… You are sort of the 'normal one'."
"Owch… So you still distrust me after all of this?" Echidna slipped some obvious crocodile tears as he spoke. "You hurt my maidenly hurt once more…"
"Again with the 'maidenly heart' bullcrap…"
"What will you do now, then?" Echidna wondered aloud. "Do you have a concrete plan on how to tackle the situation at hand?"
"More like a gamble…" Subaru shook his head. "If Emilia cannot really perform the trial…"
"Then you will do it in her stead?"
"…Possibly…" Subaru nodded weakly. "Even if she hates me…"
"You are capable of hurting the half-elf, yet not of lying to Beatrice? How moronic…"
"Hey, at least I'll be telling the truth when taking over for Emilia! I draw a line at dishonesty… If only because I don't wish to lie anymore…"
*TREMBLE!*
"Wha-?!" Subaru felt himself shaking uncontrollably for no clear reason. "What is…?!"
"Hmm… It seems we've used up more time than we expected." Echidna grumbled with disappointment.
"Time… But didn't you say it flows slower here?!" Subaru freaked out. "Shit! Is Ultron attacking?!"
"Not probable… If you died on the outside, then you'd disappear from here as well."
"Then what…?"
"It could be that the half-elf is trying to wake you up?" Echidna theorized.
"Oh… Well, if she needs help calming down… I should help her. At least for now." Subaru sighed with relief.
"Having said that… Being that you'd been here twice already, the amount of times you'll have the opportunity of entering my Tea Party to plan out a strategy will become scarcer."
"Is it that difficult to return here?" The Avenger frowned. "Well… I could always return here if I end up having to do the trials."
"That is an option, too…" The Witch of Greed reasoned. "So? About my earlier theory… Will we accept that as truth and act from there?"
"This has all been such a headache… So my own gamble is that I must avoid conflicts and leave the fighting to others?" Subaru sighed with exasperation, having to agree with Echidna's words to even glimpse at a semblance of hope. "I'm so pathetic…"
"Not much else you can do yet…" Echidna attempted to reassure.
"Yet… Hopefully we are close to a proper solution to all this."
*TREMBLE!*
Subaru trembled again. "Uh-oh… I'm probably close to waking up… I feel funny… And not the 'Ha-Ha' kind… About the consultation fee…"
"Consultation fee?" Echidna raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you mean the payment… Yes, I did mention that when we first met, didn't I?"
"What do I do? Doubt physical money works in a metaphysical plane…"
"Hmm… Extend your hand." Echidna ordered with a smile.
"My hand?" Subaru obeyed, to what the woman hastily shook his hand as he raised it. "What is it?"
"I'll take this as payment." Echidna carefully caressed the handkerchief tied to his hand. "What a sweet little girl that Petra is… Tying this in the hopes that you will return to her."
"I guess that's the motive… I'd feel bad about giving this to you, in that case." Subaru lamented while scratching the back of his head.
"Don't worry… This isn't a physical plane, after all." Echidna reminded. "Once you are outside, you'll still have it on you."
"Oh… Then what is the reason to… No, wait, forget it." The teenager stopped caring about it. "I… Don't really want to know."
"Good!" The world and Echidna turned vibrantly white for Subaru, a blinding light enveloping all. "Bye-bye, Natsuki Subaru. Make sure to save the universe… Or return once you need counseling!"
"Yeah!" Subaru nodded with rekindled hope. "You might be sketchy… But if I'm doubting again, I'll come back for sure! So make room in that table of yours! Ah, don't serve any 'body fluids' flavored tea next time though!"
*WHOOOOSH!*
And with a breeze of cool wind, Subaru ceased to be within Echidna's fields.
As soon as Subaru left though, Echidna stood up, her face turning into deep irritation as she-
"So… How much longer do you intend to spy on me, you two?"
*WHOOOOSH!*
"What a flashy portal. The Sorcerer Supreme, I assume?"
"Not of this universe. Having said that, I should have expected this… That you were capable of seeing us this whole time, Witch of Greed."
"And the giant-headed creep by your side would be…"
Uatu… The Watcher. An eternal witness to the infinite realities of the Multiverse.
"Hmm… I should feel honored over meeting a cosmic entity, and yet… I cannot shake this deep-rooted anger at you for spying on me this whole time."
"Don't take it personally. The one we were observing in fact was Subaru, not just you."
"So you observed even as he was eaten alive? My, my… How disgusting you are."
You talk as though you were any different. You observed from your Tomb as well.
"All I could do was watch, wasn't it? I am dead, nothing I could really interfere with…"
"That's a lie and you know it. You could have influenced Roswaal's or even Beatrice's Tomes in an attempt to help him."
"And you could've jumped in to save him as well. You have no leg to stand on in this argument, you two."
I've seen a situation like this millions of times before… Unfortunately, his pain was destined to happen-
"Destined to? Is it not your fault that such an abominable force was released into the multiverse to begin with? When you say that it was 'destined to happen', it sounds more like an excuse so you can sleep well at night. You hideous thing."
…
"Do not think I don't know. Doing nothing as Ultron evolved, observing silently until eventually, you made such a stupid blunder of remaining visible that it resulted in the machine acquiring a higher level of consciousness. All when you had the power to intervene… Yet you did not. Do you realize now the stupidity of your Oath?"
You are quick on the uptake… Using your realm of the unconscious to read our recent memories the moment we entered your Tea Party.
"I had assumed we needed to drink your tea first."
"That's the requirement for those INVITED… Which you are not. You were uninvited, so I have no reason to be cordial or proper with intruders. Your memories were up for the taking… Until you guarded them, that is."
"You'd do well in not underestimating either of us, Echidna. Our mental blocks and powers are more than you could handle, especially as a soul without a body."
"And you'd do well of explaining the reason for your inaction. If not for me, for this universe's sake."
Altruism rarely fits you witch. Did you not abandon such an ideal the moment knowledge itself became more important than saving the world in your mind? Add to that the fact that your universe is at stake… And you would still use this situation to bargain your way into his heart through a contract? Dancing around the truth with odd lies and putting the blame on Roswaal just so he will trust you? You are despicable regardless of the reality.
"You are one to say that, hypocrite… You Watchers are actually just as cruel, if not even worse, than us witches. After all, you've done nothing but look on with nigh indifference as the menace you are trying to stop has killed Subaru repeatedly… Across more than one universe, even. In addition, undeniable is the fact that you will do nothing but watch once again, if you've yet to appear before him. At the very least, the contract that I wish to offer when he next returns will aim to add my knowledge to his strategies. Something he'll sorely need when convincing everyone around him."
If Ultron does not drop by to destroy your universe in the meantime… You are putting your hopes in the hands of chance and dumb luck.
"You are quite sadistic towards us lower beings, aren't you? You hideous bastard."
By human standards, I am not a good person, Witch of Greed.
"Oh, of that I am sure…"
Strange…
"We are not good people, Echidna. Essentially, Uatu is the one with the plan; I merely trust him as well."
"That does not make you any less of an accomplice."
"Indeed, it doesn't. I am not absolved of any fault over his pain."
"*Sigh* …You think of the Natsuki Subaru of this universe as a chrysalis. Something that has yet to blossom. And you are awaiting for the moment he makes some sort of breakthrough before recruiting him."
…For my strategy against Ultron to work, he needs to rise from his lowest to his highest.
"Strategy… Sounds more like a reckless, all-out gamble to me."
You could say that… We are not so different in that regard.
"So you are trusting 'dumb luck' as well, huh… And that panic inside my Tomb was not yet his lowest?"
"That insanity… I've experienced pain similar, so I can tell his panic was not for show. But even then… Not quite… Not yet…"
"Surely you can find someone else to fill his spot then, right? There is bound to be millions of champions across the multiverse you could recruit."
Yet so very few are capable of the ultimate sacrifice for others in such a scale… Even if I scoured the Multiverse for the 'one true champion'… Their hubris would speak to their doom.
"You expect him to die now? How cruel…"
Not to die… But with the willingness to put his life on the line, yes.
"And you yourself are not capable? You ARE here talking with me instead of fighting that construct by yourself."
Any other choice would just result with us losing, nothing to show for our efforts than dead universes… Or Ultron sealed away. And the latter alternative dooms the multiverse anyways, for we'd only be borrowing time until the machine's inevitable reemergence. In all honesty… I'm out of options. My own predictions only go so far when you consider Ultron. It's a miracle he hasn't spied us within your Tea Party as we speak.
"Most likely because, as a soulless machine, he cannot tap into all the powers of the Soul Stone… But even that is just a matter of time given how quick he is to evolve."
"Soul Stone… Infinity Stones… So if we wish to vanquish Ultron, you need Subaru to rise from his ashes, huh..."
"You look as though you have something on your mind, Witch of Greed. Staring so intensely at the Eye of Agamoto…"
"About as much as you do in yours, Sorcerer Supreme… Torturing a boy that's already on the verge of mental collapse…"
Echidna, I'd rather you not try to attempt to rob Strange's Time Stone… The situation is dire already as it is.
"I won't steal anything! How rude!"
"Then what is it that you want?"
"…My second trial examines the present. Provide me with something that'll make him crumble."
"You would help us? Even after knowing what we are trying to do?"
"None of us are good people… We are all sinners here. Of the worst, most despicable kind. One who preaches sloth as he observes myriad realities crumble into oblivion. One who ruined his own world in the pursuit of his lust, who was too prideful to realize his mistakes. And the other a woman that has ruined countless lives in her greed. Even if we are trying to save the Multiverse, we are bound to destroy something, or rather, somebody along the way... Might as well make sure this one can be corrected."
"It's unavoidable. We are unsightly like that, in the end…"
You might speak true to our twisted nature… However, it also sounds like you are trying to satisfy your curiosity with what you are asking of me, Echidna.
"I am and I will not deny that… But I am also genuine in my desire of not fading into nothingness because of that machine."
…I can provide a multiversal motor. A device that will allow you to glimpse into other realities at your leisure. Construct a trial from that…
"And with this, I'm agreeing to play the villain in your little charade, to paint you as his saviors as I destroy what semblance of confidence remains within him… I'll help you bring Natsuki Subaru, Spider-Man, to his knees. As such, make sure you allow him to rise again from that. I'm allowing you to use me for your objective… So I expect you don't disappoint on your end either."
"We are all monsters for this… But I assure you, we will not."
It is cruel… But in the grand calculus of the multiverse, Subaru's suffering is incomparable to what his resurgence can bring. That is… My gamble.
As this conversation transpired…
Subaru woke up with a jolt, the pain from his injured knuckles and bleeding forehead hitting him like a truck as he regained his senses.
"Oof…" The boy moaned in discomfort. "Fuck… That hurts like a mother-trucker… Owch…"
I'm such a spaz… Injuring myself like this…
Subaru shook his head with shame whilst wiping away the disturbing thoughts. "So… where am I? Oh, right… The Tomb… I just talked with Echidna and… Am I… Huh?" But as his mind came up to speed, he noticed a certain presence was missing from the cold stone room. "…Emilia?"
Emilia was not in there with him.
"Oh shit! Did she- Did she run off or something?!" Subaru stood up quickly, sprinting full speed ahead into the tunnel and out of the Tomb.
She for sure is not in a good mental state right now! If she fled like that… Shit!
"Emilia!" Subaru shouted as he spied the night sky and the forest from the Tomb's entrance. "Emilia, where are you?!"
But as he approached to the outside, he noticed a most ominous sight. The forest… Was flooded in shadows. A liquid-like magical substance that was so dark, the moonlight seemed to refuse even shining over it.
"What the…" Subaru mumbled in confusion. "Sh-Shadows…? Wait, Emilia! Otto! Ram!"
The boy yelled into the night to no avail.
"Is anyone there?! Please… Answer me!"
But as he screamed, yet another shadow materialized behind him. Ignoring his panic… The shadow hugged Subaru's back.
"!" Subaru froze with terror as cold, obscure hands fondled him all over. "Wh-what…" He managed to croak before falling silent and staring over his shoulder in fear. "Who…?"
The shadows took on a more humanoid form… A cloaked form… A woman's form… A form similar to Emilia… If not Emilia's silhouette altogether.
"U-Uh…"
Subaru's eyes widened in fear as the shadow grew amethyst's spheres, simulating eyes of their own. Memories of all his deaths and of the pain of his 'curse' coursed through Subaru's heart and mind as he gazed into the amethyst eyes of the shadow, prompting him to recognize the creature hugging him… As none other than…
"You-You are-!"
"I love you." The shadow spoke.
"I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you."
The Witch of Envy had arrived to Sanctuary.
"I love you."
AUTHOR'S NOTES
WOHOO! WE ARE CLOSE TO THE CLIMAX… Is what I'd like to say, but there's still a bit of suffering left. Poor Subaru…
To be precise, the following will be Subaru trying out his new 'plan' of avoiding trouble. The poor guy just has everyone pinning him down, huh…
Also… Echidna KNOWS about the existence of the Cosmic Entities… Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you?
And to anyone complaining about Uatu's or Strange's characterization… Well, we've seen that they aren't exactly the most empathic people around before, anyways. Strange Supreme, specifically, destroyed his whole universe in his obsession, not bothering on listening to advise until it was already too late. Moreover, if you've read the comics, Uatu has witnessed pretty heinous shit and still did nothing about it… Not unless it was completely something he genuinely thought merited his intervention. And if his plan, or gamble, takes Subaru's suffering into account… Well, don't expect him to be a Saint or do a 180 and act all 'holy' afterwards. His race is called 'The Watchers' for a very specific reason.
Having said that, I welcome any and all criticisms and ideas in the reviews. Feel free to theorize or comment on what you wish to see, and I'll consider it for the future. See you all in the next chapter!