As Emlia and Petra ran to Subaru's room, yells could be heard. Emilia didn't like what those yells were, and she picked up the pace. The yells became more audible as she got closer to Subaru's room.
"IT'S NOT ME!" Someone yelled.
"IT'S NOT ME!"
"IT'S NOT ME! IT'S NOT ME!" Someone continued to yell.
As Emilia and Petra get into Subaru's room, it was a sight that could break someone's heart. Subaru was being held down by Garfiel and Otto by his feet, while Ram and Rem held his arms down.
"I SWEAR IT'S NOT ME!" He yells like he was a madman.
"IT WAS NOT MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"Calm down Natsuki-san!" Otto yelled, but to no avail.
"Why must 'is happ'n to Cap'n…" Garfiel utters.
"I AM NOT A CULTIST I AM NOT ONE OF THEM I SWEAR! I DON'T KNOW THE CURE FOR CRUSCH!" He yelled once more, not calming down anytime soon.
"Damnit Barusu, you better calm down and you better stop your ramblings." Ra said as she was now struggling to hold down Subaru.
Subaru continues to struggle on breaking out from his current situation. His legs grew weaker and weaker until he noticed it wasn't responsive.
"WHAT!? WHY WON'T YOU WORK!?" He yelled trying to move his legs, but to no avail.
"Natsuki-san please rest now or-" Otto gets cut off as Subaru then proceeds to scream his lungs out.
"WHY DO YOU ALL LEAVE ME BEHIND!?" He yelled as loud as he could.
Emilia was shot with Subaru's cries. It was the same exact thing he had said in her dreams. All those times she left him. Back in the Capital, in the Sanctuary when she hid in the tomb, and now, when she had left him to the hands of Julius and Felix months before.
And because of her not intervening, this is now what has become of Subaru after months of separation. She was on the verge of leaking tears, as it pained her to see Subaru like this. After all what he had done for them, after all those times he saved them.
'I'm sorry.' She thought. Her being, filled with regret and sorrow as she looks at Subaru.
She is now on her knees as Subaru continues to struggle to get out of his condition. And now, she is shedding tears. Tears of anguish and deep sorrow. She truly didn't deserve him from the start, and even now after what she had done to him.
As the entire scene plays out, the door opens wide. It was Beatrice, and it seemed that she was in a hurry.
"What's happening I suppose!?" She asks as she breathes heavily.
She inspects the room, and soon enough, her eyes gazed at her contractor, screaming and trying to break free from being held down.
"Subaru!" She yells as she rushes to his side. She held his arm, but then felt something disturbingly wrong.
"What happened to him I suppose!?" She asks, frantically trying to help calm her contractor down.
"I don't know Beatrice-sama." Rem replied.
"When Ram and Rem walked through the hall, we heard a thud, then we started hearing Barusu screaming." Ram added.
'Did he hit his head!?' The panicked spirit thought, as she now tries to explore his memories through their contract.
As she did, she saw the disturbing reality that no sane person could handle. His memories were wiped from him, but somewhere deep within him, somehow there remains his memories. That fact alone made the spirit happy that he didn't truly lose his memories, but the dark side she saw.
It flashed before her. Everything he saw, felt, experienced everything.
It was…
Disturbing.
Unreal.
Impossible.
Unbelievable.
Terrifying.
The spirit didn't bother to continue to scan through his memories, as she saw hell itself.
Her face wore that off someone who had seen the end, and lived to tell the tale. As Emilia saw Beatrice's grim expression, she rushed to her.
"Beatrice!" She yelled out of concern.
"What happened!?" She asked the spirit, who gave a broken expression. Like that of Emilia when she first attempted to go through the trials.
"Be-Betty saw something…" The spirit stutters in answering. It was truly hell she saw. Under her contractor's kind-hearted skin, was the dark side no one else saw, but him.
Emilia was concerned about what Beatrice saw. From the spirit's current state, it was truly something that was terrifying.
As Beatrice composed herself, she stood up, and calmly pointed her palm to the still screaming boy.
She casts a spell, and moments later, the boy has fallen back to sleep. As if nothing had happened. And now everyone lets go of the sleeping boy, and steps back a bit. No response came from the sleeping boy. He had peacefully laid there on his bed, as if nothing had happened at all.
After that commotion, everyone decided to leave him be for the moment being. Well, except for the spirit and the half-elf as they opted to remain and watch over the sleeping boy. And all the while Petra tried to stay, but thanks to her red-haired superior, she reluctantly complies.
But Rem too, decided to stay behind. She doesn't have anything to do as of now, so she'll spend some time with her Subaru-kun. And so she did.
Time carries on as they watch over the sleeping boy, the trio where left to their own minds. How they regretted things to become like this. How painful it is to have Subaru like this. How-
"It's disturbingly silent I suppose." Said the spirit, who broke the silence.
"Sorry for the lack of interaction Beatrice-sama." Rem apologizes. "It's just that, I wasn't expecting to see Subaru like this." She added.
"Me too, it's just, after everything he did, after saving us time and time again, this is what he gets…" Emilia joins in, her mood is just as bad as Rem's
"Hmph! Even though he lost his memories Betty's Subaru is still her contractor, in fact!" Spat the spirit at both women.
"But Beatrice, he forgot-" Emilia gets cut off as Beatrice yells at her once more.
"Subaru is still Subaru in fact! Even though he lost his memories, he's still Subaru I suppose!" The spirit yelled. The spirit had reprimanded herself over and over again. Failing to notice the contract was still intact when Subaru's name had been eaten by gluttony and now. And now here she is, after thinking she had failed her mother, now she failed her contractor.
The three girls had one thing in common. Regret. They regret what has happened. They regret that this was the payment Subaru got after changing them as soon as he entered their lives, his payment after he saves them multiple times.
But in the end, they have different ways to handle the situation. Rem felt anger, Emilia felt sadness, Beatrice, Beatrice hated herself. She felt like she was the biggest offender out of all of them. He had freed her from her shackles of the past. But Beatrice chose to leave him, abandoning him.
As the girls gave grim looks, Subaru started to wake up from his slumber.
"Agh, my head…" He utters as he holds his head.
He took a good look around and saw the three girls sitting beside him.
"Oh, good morning Emilia-chan, Beatrice-chan, Rem-chan." He greeted them.
"Agh, why does my head hurt?" He said, "Did anything happen earlier?" he asks.
"A-Ah, nothing much!" Emilia replied, brushing off what happened earlier.
"Huh, then it must be because of the dream I had." Subaru said, scratching the back of his head.
"Oh, what dream did you have, Subaru-kun?" Rem asks. Surely it wasn't a dream from what happened earlier.
"My dream, my dream.." Subaru utters out. "Oh yeah, It started off in a snowy field.."
"Mhm, go on." Emilia said.
"Then I saw a cute white rabbit, and for some reason it had a horn." Subaru said.
Now the three girls have caught on. A rabbit with a horn. The Great Hare.
For Emilia and Beatrice they knew what happened to the foul creatures.
"Okay, then what happened I suppose?" Beatrice said, trying to make him continue his tale.
"Well, I approached it, and the next thing I know, my hand flew off as I tried to pet it. Then I yelled out of pain, then looked around, and there were more of them." Subaru casually said as if it wasn't something to worry about.
But for the girls, it wasn't a dream, it was a nightmare.
"W-What happened next?" Emilia stutters.
"Well, they all charged at me, then they proceeded to eat me." Subaru said.
The thought of being eaten by that damned rabbit sent shivers down their spines.
"What happened next I suppose?" Beatrice asked as she tried to keep up her tough act.
"Well, then I woke up with Emilia-chan in a tomb of some sorts. And yeah, that's the end of my dream." He said finishing his tale.n
"I-I see." Rem said.
"Oh, there's one more thing!" Subaru said. Once again grabbing the attention of the three girls.
"I've spoken to a girl with black clothes and white hair." Subaru said as the girls were analyzing who might that be.
'Black clothes and white hair?' Rem thought. She couldn't find any one that could fit that description.
But for Emilia and Beatrice, they found a person that could exactly fit that description.
'Echidna…' 'Mother..' Were the thoughts of both half-elf and spirit.
"Did she say anything to you Subaru?" Emilia asks, hoping the witch didn't do anything to him.
"Actually she did say something to me." He said.
"And what did she say to you I wonder?" Beatrice asked.
"Well, she said something about how it's a shame I don't know who I am, and that we should visit the sanctuary." He said.
"The Sanctuary, Subaru-kun?" Rem asked as she was confirming what he said.
"Yep the Sanctuary, she said to meet her there."
"Uhm Subaru?" Emilia said.
"Hm? Yes Emilia-chan?"
"Did she tell you her name?" Emilia asks. 'Please let it be someone else, let it be someone else.' She thought.
"Oh yeah, her name was Echidna, she said she is the Witch of Greed, or whatever." He said.
To the three girls, their hearts sank. For Emilia and Beatrice, they were now racing for what she wants from him. For Rem, she isn't giving her hero to a witch.
Subaru took notice of the three girls' demeanour.
"Uhm, is there something wrong?" He asks them.
"N-no, it's nothing!" Emilia defended herself. "We were just deep in thought, that's all." She said.
Subaru shrugs it off. "Alrighty then. Let's eat, I'm starving." He said, to which the three girls agreed. But as soon as he tried to stand up…
"Huh?" Was the response that left his mouth. His feet were not moving.
"Well that's weird, I can't move my legs." He said, as he tried to move his legs again, and again, but to no avail.
"Uhm, can I get he- WOAH!" He said as he instantly got carried by Emilia, bridal style.
"I'll carry you Subaru." Emilia said as she picked him up, as if it was programmed in her.
"Th-Thank you Emilia-chan but this is humiliating for a man…" He utters.
"It's not humiliating!" Emilia refuted, "You're getting carried whether you like it or not mister." She added.
"A-Alrighty then." He said as he covered his face.
And so the group went to the dining hall and ate their breakfast, even though it was now the afternoon. The day went on, Subaru getting another tour of the mansion that he had forgotten about, some important things to keep in mind, and whatnot. But as the day drags on, thanks to the whole eye-color changing back in the capital, from black sparks of light, to a visible figure, to a human figure, like that of what Subaru had told them earlier.
The witch is now taking her form, and Subaru is the only one to notice.
It is now evening, and Emilia and Subaru are having their time, recalling past events. It was to help give Subaru some context on who he was.
"...And then after saving everyone from the Sanctuary and from the assassins that attacked the mansion, we held a knighting ceremony, and you became my knight." Emilia said, as she loves to remember that night. Where Subaru became her knight, at an event full of splendour and so grand.
"Woah, I became a knight?" He asks, not believing what she had said.
"Mhm, you're my knight mister." She responded with a wide smile.
"Not only did I get to kiss a beautiful woman, I get to be her knight!" He yelled in joy. He was like the Subaru from before, before his acts of heroism and such.
Emilia just looks on, happy that Subaru was in a good mood after recalling her tale. Her tale in this life.
Subaru, the tale of the Subaru only he knows, was the tale of this current life. He hadn't heard of his countless deaths. The times he died horribly, from the witch cult, from Julius when sloth took over his body, and the great hare. It was now a memory gone in the sands of time. A memory only the dead witches could reveal. And yet, Echidna will now intervene in the whole mess. Either making their heart's break, or falling into madness.
As Subaru looks around he once again sees the figure, truly manifesting. It was Echidna.
"My my, look at what happened to the knight of the silver-haired half-elf." She said,
Emilia shoots up and looks around, there was no one there.
"Who are you? Show yourself!" She yelled, as she looked around.
On the other hand, Subaru was looking at the woman who Emilia cannot see.
"You again?" Subaru said as he looked into a certain direction. "Aren't you the woman in my dream from before?" He asks, which caught Emilia's attention.
'Echidna…' She thought.
"Echidna, show yourself!" She yelled.
"My my, aggressive are we? I'm just here to check on the boy." She said, still not manifesting from Emilia's perspective.
"What do you want!? We are not in the Sanctuary anymore! Aren't you supposed to be dead?" She said,
"D-Dead? What do you mean, Emilia-chan?" He asks, rather confused about the situation. "She's right there…" He said as he pointed at where she was.
Emilia looks at where Subaru is pointing and still she can't see her.
"H-How do you see her?" She asks him, but all she got was a gesture from Subaru saying "I don't know."
"Never wondered about the blinding light when you tried to heal him yesterday, hm?" She utters out.
Emilia started to think about what happened. The light, that absurd light from yesterday.
"What about it?" She asks, still in her tough act.
"Let's just say the jealous one wanted to protect her beloved from death." She replied.
Now Emilia was connecting the dots. 'It doesn't make any sense!' She thought, 'How is Subaru her beloved when he is here destroying her cult..?'
"That's impossible." Emilia replied. "Subaru is here and disrupting her cult, how is he her beloved?" She asks, hoping to outsmart the witch.
"Hm, I think we will need a long chat back at my tea party." She said she snapped her fingers.
Reality has changed, they are now in a grassy field, next to a table set filled with tea cups, treats and a teapot filled with Echidna's bodily fluids.
Both Subaru and Emilia are standing as Echidna was just sitting at her seat, taking a sip of her tea.
"Why don't you sit down?" She asks, inviting them to sit in front of her.
And they did comply, sitting down and they took a sip of her tea.
"Mhh, this tea is good!" Subaru complimented, to which Emilia took a sip as well.
'It does kinda…' She thought.
"I'm glad you liked my bodily fluids." She said as she smiled.
"Wait what…?" Was the reaction of both half-elf and black-haired knight as they heard her.
"Yes it does have my body fluids for it prevents you from suffering the effects from meeting a witch, and it helps authorities to settle down within the holder." She said as she took a sip once more.
"Authorities? But we don't have authorities." Emilia said as Subaru looked confused at what they were talking about.
"Uh, what are these 'Authorities'?" Subaru asks.
Echidna smiles. 'So he truly forgot himself.' She thought,
"Authorities are the opposite of Divine Protection. Authorities can corrupt someone's mind and can be passed down, unlike Divine Protections, those are given by Od Laguna. Both are powers beyond magic." Echidna explained.
"I see." Subaru simply replied.
"And as for your question you half-elf, remember when Subaru killed sloth?" She asks Emilia.
"Yes and what about it?" She asks back.
"Once he killed a sloth, his authority transferred to him." Echidna said, pointing at Subaru. "I remember you calling it 'Invisible Providence'? Is that correct?" She added.
As Emilia was taking in every information, she was denying reality.
"No! Subaru does not have an authority!" She yelled at the witch.
"Oh believe me, he does." She replied, rather calmly.
"Then why is he not turning mad!?" Emilia had enough, and just wants to end this.
"Because he is compatible with every authority." Echidna replied, but the magnitude was immense. Emilia was left silent at the response.
"Do you want to listen now?" She asks them, to which she earns a nod from both elf and knight.
"Your knight is compatible with every authority because he is an anomaly for this world's rules." Echidna said.
"What do you 'mean this world?'" She asks rather confused at what Echidna was implying.
And what she said next was something Emilia and Subaru couldn't believe. It was too unreal, it breaks the means of their understanding, and hearing it from the witch whose knowledge was vast was something they didn't expect to hear.
"Your knight is not from our world."