Interlude 2: Resolve Reforged
9 Days Later
Day 347
Subaru thrashed around in his bed. His flailing arms turned his blankets into twisted knots, and sweat soaked the sheets. His eyes were shut tight as he mumbled an incomprehensible phrase over and over again.
After several minutes he finally stilled, his eyes flying open. His breaths came in deep and ragged gasps as he stared at the ceiling, trying to calm his mind from the disturbing images that had been plaguing his dreams since last night.
Subaru stared up at the ceiling, fists clenched in anger and fear. Despite his attempts, memories of the disturbing dreams continued to fill his mind.
The dream was dark and murky, difficult to make out exactly what was happening. A massive shadowy blur shook the sky, the very ground trembling with its passage. A strange mist filled the air, and the distorted shapes of people lay writhing on the ground, their hands forming rigid claws as they grabbed in desperation at their heads.
The mist shifted around, swirling in unnerving patterns. Through a temporary thinning of the mist, Subaru had been able to look out and see a solitary hilltop. The soft green grass was swaying gently in the breeze- an image of complete serenity at complete odds with the massacre that lay on top of it.
Dozens of corpses lay, scattered and strewn across the grassy slopes. They had been torn apart, massacred by an unimaginable force that had severed limbs from bodies.
At the very top stood three figures. One of the was an unfamiliar man dressed in perfectly white clothing that matched a white head of hair. A smug smirk graced his expression as he looked down imperiously on a sight that made Subaru's blood boil.
Crusch lay collapsed on the ground in front of him. Her uniform was torn from battle, and her sword had been sheared in half. One of her arms had been hurled dozens of feet away- and, cradled in her arms, was the unbreathing corpse of Wilhelm.
Despite the pain, despite the horror, Crusch stared up with defiance at the white haired man. Despite her mortal injuries and broken blade, she still had the same fire in her eyes. Moments later the white haired man raised his hand and brought it down in a severing motion.
The dream always ended here. As the memories continued to roll through his mind, Subaru stared at the ceiling, desperately telling himself that it was all in his mind, that this horrific nightmare was just a figment of his imagination.
And yet he couldn't seem to shake the feeling that there was something more to this- something more than just a dream.
Subaru reached over, fumbling around on his nightstand. Slipping his hand underneath a stack of books, he pulled out the small black tome that had begun everything. With a surprisingly tender motion, he pulled it towards him, clutching it to his chest.
If this dream was true… then Subaru knew what he had to do. Even if the book was lying about his supposed ability- that was a risk he was more than willing to take, so long as there was even the slightest chance that he could use it to save Crusch.
Standing up, Subaru shook off the last vestiges of sleep. Looking over at a metia on his desk, he saw that only two hours had passed since he'd fallen asleep.
A bitter smile graced his face as he walked over to pick up his sword. Ignoring the pervading exhaustion- ignoring every part of his body which screamed for rest- he began his daily training, slowly guiding his body through the forms that Wilhelm had taught.
Inside, a resolution was formed. If he didn't hear that Crusch was alive within the next 3 days- then he would follow the guidance of that book.
Author's Notes
Hey everyone! Apologies for the delay (one whole week, I know... so awful :)). Sorry for the short chapter, but don't worry, I got another one coming at you later today, in maybe 6 hours or so. It's already written, and let me tell you, it's a doozie (nobody uses that word anymore, do they... oh well. Guess I'll just pull an Emilia). Anyway, the new chapter will be the second longest so far, so a lot bigger than this midget here.
Anyways, I wanted to let you all know about some bad news and some good news. The bad news is that the reason I wasn't writing as much this week is cause I was feeling pretty sick... but the good news (for the fanfic, at least) is that I've got a 2 week leave from work, so lots of writing should be coming up soon!
I'm actually planning on marathoning the rest of this story in that time. I've estimated the total word count will come out to be around 120k words (will likely change while writing), and I'm hoping to get that all finished by the 7th. That's around 6k words/day, so if everything goes well, you can expect a new chapter each day- perhaps two!
Anways, thanks everyone for reading this, and apologies for such a long AN. Hope you enjoy the rest of your days!