Disclaimer: Just so as no doubts about the setting of time exist in any regard, the events that take place in this fiction are set after arc 7. There will rarely be made only references to the events from arc 7, while anything more specific is purely part of this story.

Please pardon me if you encounter any spelling errors as you read, due to English not being my main language.
Please, enjoy!

No Delays

'…This, is bad.'

Hurried steps left tracks along the slippery road, with vivid drops of red left beneath their wake. Telling hints of a once possessed bouquet peeled off in their hurry. Orange petal after orange petal, stained with red, floated gently on the earthy bed.

Those little stains left were so red.

Plick, plock, plick, plock: the rain betrayed no signs of ending.
Muddying the ground bellow to a tar-like dark bog, as each step forced sediments around the feet.
A muffled echo of distant thunder by the horizons.
And a scent specific to only warm rain filled the air.

Yep… and today began so bright to boot! A shame, but… oh well, better hurry then!

The day in itself wasn't necessarily bad, per say, as just moments ago its sunny splendor was the fair reason that motivated Subaru to deliver his part of a promise; or rather act of solidarity; to one he respected most in this realm.

The small, green and young, thorns still stuck to the fabric of his thick sleeve. Hastily brushing them aside with the back of the hand proved not enough to shoo them all from between the thick weavings of his damp cloak.

"Should have stuck with a nimbler attire, but… this works well too." Mumbling his diverting assessment while trying not to appear all too odd as he trudged his return to the mansion, praying he would not be recognized at a first glance, Subaru steadily came in the area of his destination.

Throwing a quick look over his shoulder at the south of his path, still filled him with a moist and hot air just by imagining once more the jungle foliage he not so long parted from.

…

"▓▓▓" Treading by the exquisitely carved carriage set to be prepared by the domain's entrance, the ground dragon that was retreating to its shelter from the rain caught his attention with its rumbling call.

"I hear you, bud. Even with scales, who would like to stay damp all throughout the day, huh? Gets them all dirty." Glancing over the dull creme-colored scales of the earth dragon, Subaru subsequentially thought back to the jet-black scales and feathers he missed from his own companion. Usually at times like these he'd spend some quality time to ginger around Patrasche's scales with a cauldron filled with steaming water and a brush, right by the entrance of her stable to take in the coziness of the job. A contrast only accented by weather such as today's.

"Well… not much further from Flanders now. A couple of days away from the Capitol… but at least it's within the borders." Whispered the man as he worked at removing his hood and cloak before regretting to have left a pool once stepping inside.
"…Mhk… Fuck's sake! How the hell did water get in the boots?!" With a grumpy observation he shuffled over the steps of the entrance much like how a cat would quiver its soaked legs one at a time after an unwanted plunge in a basin. Finally catching a break from the large and weighty droplets once reaching beneath the outdoor roof, the knight fiddled with his soaking hair, that ended a bit too long for typical comfort after his piled advents since Priestella. "Fuckin'… timing, fuckin' expensive estates set bum-fuckin' away from cities… And fuckin' hair!" Roughly tugged Subaru at a tress that fell over his face.

…

"Ah! Please, Subaru-dono, do not let yourself be heard speaking so by others! It is not a complementing image by any regard. You yourself scolded Heinkel-sama about such!"

"…hk!"

Stiffening his jaw, Subaru flung his dripping head at the source of the calm voice. Although he couldn't deny he hadn't taken note of the not so subtle unapproving tone, much as how the statement deigned.

Before his eyes awaited the kind maid he'd taken to speak with, quite freely, at times when simply losing his focus over shallow points over walls.

"Ah… miss Carol…! Sometimes, ah, it just slips by. And, it's just you who heard me." Trying to make something of the sudden interaction, Subaru acted to conceal his fluster by giving a little forced smile as he busied on to unfasten his now heavy robe. "I'm pretty sure Grassis and Flam are nowhere near to heave heard anything, especially now with how the storm hides most noises."

"Mayhap, that be so. Yet, my point is noting to be disproven as mere convenience, Subaru-dono." Her approach was rather straight-forward. As in, she'd persist on the meaning of something to the point that it got through without giving much wriggle room to change it. That's how it was. "I trust you will wear pride once Sir Wilhelm arrives, as how I'd expect after your thrilling reminisces." Delivered the now-maid swordswoman with a welcoming smile and hint of satisfaction from an angle he had not wanted to understand for a while.

Carol and Wilhelm must've known each other since ages ago! 40 years and perhaps more, isn't something to be understood in the expanse of a few days of stay. Therefore, Subaru simply decided not to pry and leave things as is on this subject. It didn't seem to be an unpleasant one for the maid in question.
But after the events and exchanges he'd experienced along the old Sword Demon that were enough to weigh for lifetimes worth of companionship, at some point Subaru had to accept that the man he respected most in this world… hadn't exactly maintained the best of relations with others. Or tried to make any for that matter.

'Well, no… it's… difficult, I guess. I'm not one to criticize in any measure. There's a night and day difference between the failures that Wilhelm could have made and the ones I had made. It feels like a disservice and offense to think of Wilhelm not being like I know him. Yeah, there's only one Wilhelm I know.'
The thoughts rapidly filtered through his mind as if an instant reaction to the idea presented. And its answers were satisfactory for Subaru.

"Now, please: make haste and enter to change, lest you'll remain bedridden beyond your expectations of stay." Encouraged the maid with mirth as she quickly opened the door and pulled him along, dismissing the sound of distaste made by the youth once one of his soaked boots hit the entrance carpet.
"And… How have you made it?" Murmured Carol as she accompanied Subaru throughout the hallways. The expectation in her voice was filled with a certain heart wrenching nostalgia and a quick glance at her green eyes revealed their sharp focus and humid surface.
A wishful expression, judging by the inpatient appeal she exuded.

"…" Subaru made sure to gaze through the windows passing them as they advanced throughout the Astrea mansion. With a little conscious effort, he made sure his voice wouldn't fall at any point. "Oh… I hurried. But walked most of the way." Came the cheeky reply.

"Did you…? And, nothing else, maybe?" Probed Carol, with no doubt the same expression. The way it was laced with that, that, quintessence of a wish that felt distant as she spoke about it. It almost made him feel disgusted.
He'd chalk that lack of better definition to his exposure to Priscilla, but the point was:

"It's hard to tell what else could have happened around with the weather. Sorry, but I hadn't seen anything worth noting." Forged on Subaru with his stance of the matter. At last taking the decision to glance back at the maid beside to see whether or not he'd earned a slap across his cheek.
Not that Carol was the cruel type, as per say a stingy nee-san he sometimes couldn't help but argue with nonstop, but it was always good to expect the worst.
However, the reality of the situation was contrary to that image and denied him with another answer.
Her face was relaxed, her eyes attentive, the almost faint wrinkles of age hid the face of true reminiscent youth once worn in the past.

"Difficult to see through the rain, you say… Then, Subaru-dono, what would you say one should do in order to peer though it?"

"…"

"…"

She didn't show signs of pushing the subject for later.
And her gaze oddly enough did not avert itself from his eyes. He'd ponder later.

"Ah, well. For that. I'm sure it'd be pretty messy, no? Going out on time like this, it sure means to struggle through a few inconveniences. And, you may always wait for a better and sunnier day, right? A more proper occasion. So, it can be delayed. That's what you should normally think. But, delaying things-" At once he cut himself off before drawing a conclusion. His mind flooded by a moment in a shelter.
His back against the cold wall, his vision filled with rows of people, his body weighed by seeping wounds and his ears occupied by the admittance of someone that reached a true closure for a struggle he'd waged too long.

Those ashes were held so tightly. As if they'd never be let go, even beyond the end of everything.

"-is a pretty big mistake you might later regret. So, I'd say it'd be best to go now and look a little. Better not delay things when important." Delivered the knight with a sure smile, trying to step a little more forwards so as to leave a physical distance towards the spoken issue. As if trying to somehow gesture that it went away for good. And that was that.

"Mhm. I understand. That's how it is, then." Carol spoke gently with a far away look as she nodded once to herself, and after a spring of joy chose to not lag any second behind, moving in toe with the youth beside.
"Then, I see I was worrying over nothing earlier. I'm certain master Wilhelm would be pleased to finally converse with you and hear the adventures you've encountered!"

Her smile was sincere. And her eyes seemed clear.
Although Subaru gave no straight answer towards what he knew the true intent of the original question was. He also chose to rather be 'rude' and barge right in the old swordswoman's retentions and tackle what he'd caught on since his dialogues with her.

'Honestly! Is everyone with a sword at their hip incompetent to speak honestly about what eats at them? Christ!' Peered Subaru at Carol as she matched her pace to his. Indifferent and uncaring to the ocean of hypocrisy he drowned in.

"Ah! But then:" Suddenly, Carol's hand jutted to grasp his damp sleeve.
A quick hiss of discomfort wheezed through his teeth at the rapid contact. Steeling himself, Subaru played cool and relaxed his wrist, making sure to come across as a reaction to the suddenness of the moment. Hopefully the wraps beneath hadn't taken in too much water.

"Speaking from experience does not do its justice if not properly mentioned." Carol's tone was lifted momentarily of its professional appeal. That's how he knew, that he'd done one thing wright. Though that didn't mean he'd exactly accept her recent meaning.
"I believe that overcoming issues of oneself such as realizations are of far greater worth than merely knowing of them though warnings alone."

"Huh?! Oh… yeah… well, I guess. Though, not that I'm one to know much about it. So, it's more of an educated guess, I'd say." Patched Subaru a deflection. "So, it should be held on before giving me merit like if it were any great revelation or anything of the sort."

"Mhh…" Carol's expression was unreadable.

"Ah, but please don't disconsider what we've just talked about. I learned that from someone myself, so, it's best to say that person had better lessons to give and follow that what I'd give normally." Quick to find an explanation to something that could have come off as sweeping aside what he'd just discussed, Subaru felt a little more at ease.

"Truly?" Carol's expression continued to be one of difficulty to unpack. Her slight movement of the brow seemed almost telling of something. "It seems that, mayhap I was in the end right to a specific degree. That, is quite saddening to know." Her expression was something noteworthy to Subaru! The stoic look she sported was difficult to unpack. After all, he wasn't certain he understood what she may have meant.
"How curious…" Although stoic, an uneasy smile ephemerally flashed over her mien. "That you'd be so alike to her…"

"Carol? If there's some-" But Subaru's words would not be finished over that thought.

"Please, think nothing of it. Merely an old woman loudly expressing delusions. …However, I'd like to ask:"

Subaru's eyes relaxed as he felt the change in discussion.

"Mn, go ahead. I'd have no problem to answer." So he made sure to reply to what might be her final doubts of the issue she and Wilhelm shared to some degree.

"What color would you propose? It would not do for I to bring nothing different, correct?" Her question was gentle and her voice just as soft.
Thumbing once over the young, green, thorns stuck throughout the sleeve of his arm she'd just grasped, and letting go, Carol stood before him waiting an answer.

"Ah! Hm! If that would be the case." A once over her visage gave Subaru enough of a suggestion that would go nicely to complement the place he'd just returned from. Green. Looking at Carol's eyes, and inadvertently making it impossible to himself from recalling the faces of Garfiel and Frederica. …And, even worse if he continued to think to much about it, delving within shades of the visions, he could easily recall the mien of Meili!

Right! Looking at Carol's eyes the same way that no doubt the one she shared countless battles with and confined in would've looked at, Subaru reached an answer.

"Succulents. If I can only at times bring anything, and others too in the same vein. …It wouldn't do for that place to be barren at times as if waiting."

Not looking at her expression, he could only hear Carol approve verbally with a certain relief to her tone.

…

Moving on towards his room, wanting to change out of these clothes, he still could hear the muffled steps behind following him.

The conversation had just ended, obviously. But she still stuck around.

Peeking back, Subaru only saw an easy expression that continued to follow him.

"I… I think I should talk again with Heinkel to see how things progressed with-" Subaru didn't continue. That line was simply his way to try and mark out the obvious end of this interaction.

Well, not to get him wrong, he never had a problem with company, quite the opposite in fact, yet… there were specific difficulties in those moments brought up by things he had yet to really deal with and it just resulted in him feeling uncomfortable.

"Mhm." Carol's content visage was unshaken. The soft murmur simply given as a quiet way of acknowledgement.

"And. I'll need to make sure Reinhard is there as well. Yes. …I'll have to focus to make sure she wakes…!" The knight's last rummage for excuses went as a fluctuation between a meek and certain response.

"It's always ideal to make use of our all, indeed."
Yet Carol hadn't budged a step. Rather, it almost felt like her replying was meant to accept whatever he'd speak.

…

Reaching the entrance to his room, after what weighed on him like hours of an awkward silence, Subaru could breathe with relief.

"Alright then, Carol. If it'd be alright with you, could you please check up on Rem and Felt? I know Rein, -uh, Reinhard, keeps a close eye on Louis while with them, but, I'd just like to tell me if they're ok before I meet with Heinkel" Subaru quickly corrected the slipup, not knowing how it would strike someone working under a great noble house of the kingdom like the Astrea to hear how basically a random guy used casual terms with its family members.

"As you request. Though I believe they should still sulk by the windows if before seeing them was any indication." Amused the maid with a visible smile. "And please, take your time Subaru-dono. Once again, it would not do to see you in any form disheveled or unwell." The genuine request made in turn was spoken such that it almost struck Subaru in the cranium with a wave of regret towards someone so far beyond this world to reach. It was almost nauseating, and the building sensation of sickness was close enough to force him to at once shut the door in the poor woman's face and gun it for a sink or anything close by in the bathroom.

Therefore, being wise and keeping his back towards Carol, Subaru forced a "Thank you" and smoothly managed to slip within his room and close the door behind him without looking back once.

His hand ran over the material of the clothes prepared just for him.

They were: quite nice. Simple. But very welcoming. It was almost uneasy, how it fit to his modest tastes so well.

"Right… Blessings… Would've come in handy earlier, those…" Grumbled Subaru with a dash of salt in his tone as he stared at nothing in particular with a clear expression. It was almost more of an observation rather than a regret.

These clothes.

At first, he should have refused them. Not really out of anything like modesty. Not when just before the ones you wore turned to shreds and adopting the vagrant style wouldn't exactly scream friendly! So, what was it then instead that should make him hesitate enough to put them off on being worn?

"Rein did make a hell of a job at picking them, huh?" Subaru grasped a handful of the black shirt while pacing to and from the bathroom connected to his room.
The deep dark of the clothing was quite mesmerizing. It's few and thin ocherous lines that streaked along it were just right and pleasant. And the white shirt that would hug him beneath this overlaying one felt reminiscent.
A trusty knight's attire, much alike with the one he had back home. All that was missing was the current-day white, decorated, garb.
"That and the long sleeves. Shit… what do I do now?"

Of course, they were chosen with much consideration to his once well-known clothes. That idea brought a smile to his face.

Then, why would he have felt uneasy at first?

…

Changing out steadily from the damp traveling garbs he wore and depositing them on the tile floor of the bathroom, Subaru took the remaining piece along.

Ah! That must've been it!

"We really hadn't hit it off on the best of notes, had we?" Speaking as such, the knight slowly looked at the thick pants that draped once unfolded.

Almost fully white. It made up for the lack of it on the upper part. Still in sync with his nostalgic fashion to maintain a grasp on a past home.

The sides sported 3 thin straps over the thighs. A touch over revealed to be leather. "No doubt to hook up whatever prizes knights would get, huh? Isn't it pretentious? Wait, no, that actually fits Julius to tee."
The belt loops snugly held in a one good and sturdy belt around the waist band, just what he'd require for his whip and knife. Maybe more could be placed along:

"Though, that'd feel like a cheap lie. Mhh." Scrunching his brow, the knight thought over again issues he'd yet to really answer to himself. It was a mater of pride, wasn't it?
"Should I ask? I am here, after all. No better place to do that. But… not know. No, can't do that now."
Placing the pants away while neatly placing the maroon boots that could reach just beneath the knees along, Subaru recalled the reason he felt somewhat 'struck' by their existence.

Reinhard picked them, sure. Just let him quickly clank his heels together and the best fit answers, blessing and all! But! Perhaps what hurt at first when gifted with them was the source.
After all, they came straight from the custom-tailor of the current head of the family!
In other words. Those were a Heinkel design.

"Don't know what hit worse: the parallels, or the end results?" Derisively smiled the knight at the thought without any care at even attempting to stifle the urge. Appearances be damned, the lively and cheery behavior could rest on the backburner for a bit now that he had some solitude.

In the end… Subaru came to see a different Heinkel nowadays.
Afterall, he had hope again.

He returned to tend to what was rightfully his responsibility, and decided to stop skirting around them under the weight of alcohol.

So, in the end, what hit Subaru so deep about the situation that man caused?

Was it the kindred spark he recognized between them? As in his own words put: 'Takes a failure of a son to know a failure of a son'?

Was it that dark complex that nudged him to act against Heinkel's choices and corner the poor drunk one night and force his guts out in tears by confronting the truth?
Usually such confrontations left him attached to many he'd come to influence. Ultimately, he never was one to take off his shoes and apply pleasantries when barging in someone's heart.

Or maybe… was it the idea of hope?

In the once recent days, there was no secret how the master of Astrea had completely lost himself and any respect by drinking his woes away and lashing out at anyone under whatever excuse would fit. And not much to say over the decomposing domain of the family and good as shattered ties among them.

So then, was it his reemergence to be the father he long ago stopped being at the fall of it all? His departure of vices that only dragged further down his lordship? The attitude he'd adopted henceforth towards others? The choice to stare in the face what he'd wronged, and work for that coveted second chance? Even if… it was not wrong to call him undeserving of it at times?

Yes. That must've been it.

That had to be it!

Someone that seemed irredeemable, had proven wrong that concept.

But, oh, well…!

He wasn't all bad, in the end, no?

At least, he wasn't in truth a mass murderer with the body count that could reach the skies, right? What pretentions did Subaru have at dreaming about hope?

…

"From a failure of a son to failure of a son: You are hereby banished from this faction, Heinkel…" Murmured Subaru with a budding laugh as he persisted in the lathering of his arms, keeping his gaze low from the mirror.
With that, it was official! The guy had graduated from the thing that always haunted the space in the back of his head. Someone achieved what he'd always wanted, if he were to look at it from the depths of his soul.
He was his own man!
The soap foamed with each brush.
Free and able to tackle his own hardships without pathetically needing others.
Lathering soon became scratching.
Someone to be relied on.
The scented bubbles corroded into something rusty.
Someone to prove loved.
The stains beneath would not disappear.
Someone capable!
And it became absolutely unbearable how abysmal his own path amounted to.
Someone not stuck in fuck-over-hell!

"FUCK SAKE!"

Flinching zealously away from the large sink, Subaru hurled whatever came in grasp from his belongings once he'd had enough 'cleaning'. A tress of hair reacted along from inertia and clapped over an eye and cheek. He should've put some effort into appearing tidy, but he couldn't care less about disheveled perceptions right now. Although the sensation it gave rise to almost earned another wave of disgust once the thought of his 'disguise' passed him.

The thing clattered uselessly on the tiles as it spun in circles. It's bright and ever lustrous surface teasing him by presenting its forever untainted shape while he only gathered blemishes.

…

Skulking over with a weighty step, Subaru picked up the dagger ennobled with a thrice struck beast's head.

"Mhh. Have a little restraint. Now's not the time."

Saying so, the tarnished knight whipped the blade clean over his equally tarnished leg and arm before returning to the sink.

He couldn't afford to lose focus now. Not when he had priorities today!

Subaru wasn't tied by oath or covenant to try this much.

He wasn't forced to.

He already did perhaps more than anyone else ever did for this matter.

But… just doing enough wasn't just enough. He always could do better. But, unfortunately 'could' did not always mean 'would'.
He didn't always get a checkpoint that enabled him to put that ideal into practice. "Just look at Rem", he'd always remind himself.
"Just look at the whale hunt." He'd intone at times. "Don't forget Priestella too. And not to mention the cities in Vollachia!" persisted the haunting visions.

Honestly, by now it became an eyesore.

"Better not delay things, eh." Repeating the very same line he'd given to Carol earlier, Subaru made sure to focus and endeavor to wake Louanna. He wouldn't waste the opportunity he had of not fucking up irreversibly!
The chance, no, success of forging back what once should have been a family, now a pissed over jigsaw of fragments, was inexcusable!

Subaru would give… he'd give… whatever he'd be asked of in order to have his family again.

The matter of which family was in question was another matter in itself now.

Funny how this whole situation hadn't failed in bringing to Subaru's mind a very specific taste of irony. Reading about it some years or so ago only now proved its truth and effectiveness to apply. That author was certainly an asshole to a degree only he'd know.

"Every happy family is happy in the same way. Every unhappy family is unhappy in their own ways, huh."

Gulping down his insecurities for now, Suabru halfheartedly finished by fastening the last boot and readied himself to reach again for that dark thing within that would answer his desire. He had enough context over the symptoms and his plan was ready. Maybe Felix could intervene in this occasion as this illness wasn't of mundane origin. But he certainly could. Naturally, no?
If it were about struggling through misery and dealing with equally detestable means that exposed his pathetic self, he'd be good at that.

Leaning off the lavish bed, staring at the door, Subaru felt a churning deep within. His expression shifted as he mulled over and over clues only he seemed to attempt at tying them so. His perspective had yet to be tackled by anyone it seemed.
And that thought was as scary as it was relieving.

Louanna fell suddenly to this illness. The 'Sleeping Beauty' curse Rem had not long ago suffered. He should expect by now the citizens of Priestella and Joshua to be just as awake.
Yes… they were busy with the real problems. Right. They had no time to waste on secondary issues. He knew. He was aware.

…Still stung though, didn't it? Why couldn't he overlook that impression as nothing to consider?

"Anyway! …Louanna suddenly fell under the curse. Suddenly… Just like those five. Those five are here today in these positions because of those 'sudden' woes. 'Sudden'. Just like Theresia's disappearance too." Subaru continued to stare ahead without wavering once his stare.

There were many times these fragments seeped in his conscious. With time they only became more pervasive and intrusive. Naturally, he kept them all to himself.

"Crusch, Priscilla, Felt, Anastasia and Emilia." He fell in his usual pose whenever thinking, pinching his chin with a hand, choosing to appease his growing ire and unease momentarily by clearing his string of mysteries. "And the royal family too. Suddenly, fallen ill. Parents, suddenly having died… And with everything that burst in Priestella: conclusions seemed to point again at the witch cult."

Subaru drummed his fingers along a thigh, the right one. The blackened blood beneath almost felt like singing to his touch and thoughts from beneath the layers of skin and weavings. The alien feeling never went away.

"Mnn… hgmn…" Struggling momentarily with the idea, the only good choice was to move on before making up wild presumptions.

He had much that he'd like to say, out loud, if possible!

There were many things left unanswered, but if he were to sit and think of them, he'd no doubt lose himself in them.

The idea of getting lost, feeling lost or experiencing great loss. Such a miserable acceptance.

"…" Clenching his hands in his lap, the knight teased out other dark extensions that dwelled within who would now respond ever since his dire need back weeks ago. Subaru could properly call on that detestable thing. That thing he hated.

He didn't like it. Even if useful in more than straight forward means.
It did save Emilia's life as proof of that. Yet, he still loathed it.

He was just a kid again, back then…

"Wasting time here." Grumbling with a look of reluctance as he raised from the bed's rim, Subaru straightened imaginary wrinkles in his clothes and trudged to leave the room.

Wriggling his tongue through him mouth, stretching out in a way as if to test the flexibility of his stiff cheeks, Subaru made certain to level his expression in something happy.

The door creaked and he left the room behind, ready to answer a task decided unto himself.

…

Behind the closed door, in the cozy room, among the ragged traveling clothes where red drops painted stark white tiles, abandoned in the rags: young thorns poked their head out through the damp fabrics.

Physically they no longer kept company to their wearer, but they would loyally remain there if only in name and concept, beneath that warm and peaceful look.