Chapter 3: A World familiar, Yet…
[When a person is born, the world around them is a chorus of scary unknowns. Slowly that world turns bright, able to be shaped into whatever way that person sees fit, laying their own path. When we are born, we are not given such a chance. Our eyes open to find ourselves at an almost complete understanding, our minds already exposed to the harsh truths of the reality we live in. The Traveler gave us the gift of high consciousness and the burdens which were chained to it. Centuries crept past as all of us "blessed" by the Traveler searched for our "chosen ones". I watched as many of my kin skimmed over mounds of corpses, deeming the deceased there unworthy. The ones who were gifted with our Light, rose from the ashes of their graves, confused and frightened at the current predicament. It didn't take long for them to discover the power that the Light granted them, it was as if watching a child, gifted with the power of mass destruction. I watched as small dictatorships, formed by the Risen grow, with no one strong enough to stop their cruel conquest; not even their own Ghosts. The only thing strong enough was another Risen. When I would find mine, I would make sure that they learned the true meaning of their power, never to let their ego rule over their reason. I spent so long looking for my own Risen, that I was on the verge of giving up hope entirely, until. A small beach down by Earth, in the Pacific Islands, I sensed something - hope. I found the remains of three humans, that had been dead for centuries already, their bones slowly withering away in the wind. When I chose my Risen and gave her the Light, I felt something different about her, something unique compared to the countless remains I scanned over. In her first waking moments, her mind was likely a hazy mess, not unlike a newborns. Once her mind had adjusted to reality, I could see her skim over her surroundings, looking at them intriguingly. She was bare, her skin a milky white, covered only by patches of cloth that I was able to cobble together by what I could find in her immediate surroundings. Besides her, she had finally noticed the remains of those who were not deemed worthy enough of my Light. Of the Travelers Light. When her reason had fully settled in, she screamed, not unlike the other Risen that I had seen. Unfortunately, it would be her first and most serene encounter with death. She ran away, understandably, failing to notice me floating behind her. She ran and ran until her legs could no longer carry her, finding herself in the remains of a small village. It took her a second during her moment of rest to finally notice me, screaming once again at the sight of me. She did not know who I was, what I was. She questioned me, threatened me, pleaded with me, things that any human would do under extreme stress. I told her the situation she had found herself in, giving her all the information about what had happened and what was to come. Rather than seeing her eyes turn sour, recognizing the power she held at the palm of her hands, I saw in her eyes a glimpse of hope. She must have realized what her powers meant on a surface level. She jumped around in excitement, till she stopped and shouted at me to know what her name was. I never thought of giving the Risen a name, I never saw any other Ghostgive their Risen a name. Before I could even say anything to her about names, she said that she would give me one. She gave me the name, Grain.]
[The shrieking sounds of a collapsing Vex gateway brought Erin back into consciousness. The large corpse of a Vex Minotaur had completely crushed her torso, leaving her chest a bruised mess, her lungs barely able to muster her breath.
"G-Grain, are you there? Can a girl get a helping hand here?" Erin coughs out, trying her hardest to grit through the pain she was feeling. She pushed fruitlessly against the large frame of the Minotaur.
"I'm here Erin, one moment, let me he…Argh-" Grain groaned in pain, a small stream of Light escaping him in order to heal Erin. Afterwards, he felt his strength give out and fell out of the air, letting gravity take a hold of his small frame.
"Oh shit! GRAIN!" Erin choked out. She felt her lungs being revitalized, but the weight of the Minotaur was still immense; still, she wasn't about to leave her Ghost alone. Using her invigorated strength, she lifted the Minotaurs body off herself just enough so that she could slide out from under it.
"Easy Grain, I've got you bud." Erin grumbled. She had crawled over towards him, his large eye frantically looking in different directions, signaling that something was very wrong.
"Erin, my Light, I… It's." Grain stammered out, his shell shaking in Erin's hands.
"Easy there bud, just rest a little." Erin cupped her precious friend close to her chest, hoping to ease his pain.
"Where are we? The Light, I can feel it fleeting."
"I don't know where we are. That Vex back there pushed me through one of the gateways, and now we're here."
Erin looked around, the area in which they appeared seemed so similar to their home, yet also so unfamiliar. The ground on which they stood had the same consistency as sand.
"T-this isn't Earth, Erin." The Ghost stammered out, seeming to get some of its previous composure back. It slowly rose off Erin's palms and extended its shell, allowing a brilliant light to extend for what seemed several miles. "My scans don't even show this as being part of our solar system!" He exclaimed, frantically looking around, hoping to find some semblance of civilization.
"Chill, Grain. We're still alive, so that's something, right? This place may not be Earth but it sure as shit looks like it. We might be able to find a town or something."
"My initial scans picked up life signs further west. I suggest we exercise caution if we decide to investigate."
"Well, it'll be better than just sitting around here, besides…" Erin points behind her Ghost, dozens of footprints could be seen walking in the perceived direction of the life forms. "I think the Vex might just beat us if we don't get a move on. Gonna assume the Transmat Grid aint set up."
"You guessed correctly," replied Grain, turning towards the footprints, "We'll be walking towards the Vex platoon, so keep your eyes up."
"Heh. They always are, Grain."
"I'm sure they are. Let's get going."
Grain turns himself away from Erin, slowly floating down the old road, towards the signs of life. Erin follows closely behind, her rifle at the ready. This time, the Vex would not catch her off guard.]
[A small town was set on the edges of the vast Augrian Sand Dunes, abandoned to rot due to its great distance from the other major cities of Lugnica. A small carriage appeared at the entrance of the town. It was rare for its citizens to have any outside visitors, let alone a carriage of such magnitude. The back door of the carriage creaked open, and from inside, a small light could be seen emanating from the middle that highlighted several individuals inside. The shadow of a slender woman blocked the view of the innards of the carriage, soon followed by a man's well-built figure.
"W~ow, this place is a mess." A high-pitched voice of a child exclaimed.
"It's to be expected. This town is so far from the big cities that it's bound to look like this I suppose." an equally high-pitched of a different child voice called out.
"Hmm, Ram's first impression of this town are not pleasant." An older, more firm voice called out from inside the carriage.
"Oi oi, we can save the discussion for the trashiness of this town for after we leave, just stay put for a bit, okay?"
A muffled voice yelled from outside, his mouth concealed behind a large cloak. "Emilia, we should hurry, this sand storm's getting worse." He waited for a smaller figure, her cloak adorned with large rabbit ears.
"Of course Subaru, I'm eager to explore this place with you."
"Ah, Emilia-tan! You play with my feeble heart too much." The man jokingly replied, causing the hooded woman to blush and wave her arms with an "Ehh."
The man smiled back, beginning to walk down the run-down sidewalk. All around them, dilapidated houses were gazing back at them, their windows giving a glimpse of the terrible conditions of the interiors.
"Emilia, this place seems so unnecessarily barren, so ruined. Doesn't the kingdom send maintenance crews or any officials to upkeep its towns?" Subaru questioned the pretty half-elf. To him, this place looked like a town plucked straight out of a spaghetti western. "All that's missing is one Clint Eastwood to make this place feel uncomfortably familiar," he mumbled to himself.
"Eh, I don't reaaally understand why this place looks so bad. Perhaps it cannot be helped...looking at the map, this town is on the edges of the Sand Dunes… and just south of here is the largest forest in the kingdom. Plus, this place is very far from the five major cities so traffic here is almost nonexistent."
Emilia gave her impression of the town, trying to rationalize as to why this place had nearly been deserted. She looked around, making sure her hood would not come off. An elegant woman like Emilia would certainly cause a stir in the town's inner workings, worse off if they realized her troubled lineage. It also helped that the hood acted as a sort of cover for the intense winds of the environment.
"Damn, so basically this town is stuck between a hard and an even harder place, that blows," Subaru exclaims, pulling up a small piece of cloth in front of his face. "Speaking of. This damn sand… blegh."
"Subaru! Are you alright?" Emilia coked her head to the side, her eyebrows furrowing in worry.
"Yeah I'm alright, just this sand is clogging up my throat." Subaru tried to speak through constant coughing, the sand storm taking a heavy toll on his esophagus.
"Ah...if you say so. It's currently "sand time" isn't it? There's no one on the road right now."
The wind wasn't strong, but the consistency of the sand meant that it had turned into pieces of dust. In the hazy yellow maze, the pair wandered aimlessly trying to find a building that they could enter. The citizens of the town were well accustomed to the "sand time" phenomenon, most already having boarded up their windows and doors.
"There, Subaru! I think I see a shop open." Emilia pointed at a small building, small pieces of sand accumulating quickly on her slender arm.
"That looks like a bar. Let's hurry before we turn into sand statues." Subaru pulled at Emilia's cloak, urging her forwards.
"Clean the sand off quickly." At the entrance of the bar, the pair quickly shake off all the sand of their body. Afterward, once they've shaken off all the sand that they could, they walked through the small double doorway. Inside, rows of empty tables could be seen covered by small layers of sand, most likely due to Subaru and Emilia's sudden entrance.
"Welcome, in the sand wind." The shopkeeper whilst polishing large glass cups greeted them in a low gruff voice. His tone was unwelcoming towards the two visitors, probably because they kicked up a large gust of sand into his shop.
"You should watch how you enter other people's businesses."
"Ah! We're reaaaally sorry, we could help you clean up our mess if you'd like," Emilia exclaims, waving her hands in an apologetic gesture.
"No, that won't be necessary. If you wouldn't like to order anything, I suggest you leave." The bartender barks back at the apologetic Emilia.
"U-um, right. Then...one hot milk, please?"
"And you, boy?"
"Ah, cold milk for me please." The young boy squeaks out, guiding the young half-elf to an empty, somewhat clean table. The pair took off their heavy cloaks, allowing them some room to breathe properly and absorb their surroundings in peace.
"This doesn't feel very prosperous. Is business terrible during the "sand time"?"
The shopkeep lets out a low rumble, putting down his set of glasses. "Even at the best of times, traffic here is extremely low. At this point, running this shop is just a hobby for me."
"Huh, so as outsiders and customers we must be regulars eh?" Subaru exclaims, trying to start a small conversation.
"Not so sure about that, even if you dress up like regulars. Here you go, miss." The gruff man replies.
"Oh, thank you, sir."
The shopkeeper hands Emilia the cup of hot milk gently. Its ceramic exterior was adorned with small figures Subaru didn't quite understand.
"Hey, do you mind hearing me out for a few minutes? There's only one other guy here so it wouldn't be a problem for you right?" Subaru raised his hand, trying to catch the man's attention.
"Even if I did, it's taboo here to start talking to someone in the middle of working. ….." The gruff man lets out a sigh. "What would you outsiders like to know?"
"To put it bluntly, we want to know about the Augrian dunes." Subaru pointed his finger at the barkeeper. His calm and laid-back demeanor suddenly shifted, his brow furrowed and his eyes squinted towards the young pair at the table.
"I don't know what kind of prank you're trying to pull, but it isn't funny. Don't bother going if you plan on treating it like a picnic. You'll just end up killing yourself, kid."
"Hey hey, what are you talking about? Do we look like we're just fooling around?"
"What do you think my warning was, a joke? This place is the "desert of death" where people go and never come back. It's not a place to take your woman out on a date."
"We certainly do think that our methods of traveling are a valid method of approach, so I'm not that concerned. Emilia-tan, you tell him too."
"Fuh...Fuh… It's reaaaally warm…. What did you say? Sorry, I wasn't listening!" Emilia was gently holding her cup, lowering her head in apology.
"Behold! The power of E.M.T!"
"...I'm gonna give you some words of advice. Stop your crusade of stupidity and go home, before you end up killing yourselves."
The bartender looked at the two on the table, watching their silly interaction. Whatever hope he had in the two quickly left his heart. He was trying to stop any more fools from killing themselves in the desert, years of watching hopeful youths marching to their death had made his heart grow heavy.
"We don't have the option to leave. Our only way is to move forward. On top of that, our best choice would be to choose the safest path. You understand, right?"
"No! You seem to be the ones who don't understand. Listen up. Those dunes are a hopeless deathtrap. The damn witch's miasma drifts everywhere in the mabeast den, and you can't even get close to the tower."
The shopkeeper sneered at Subaru, who had an intense look about him. He points at the slightly ajar window, the glass barely holding up against the rising storm.
"Every year we get idiots like you who try to cross the dunes, and every year they die. They aim for the sage's tower at the sand sea…but not a single one has reached it. Nothing would be better than them coming back alive, but the majority either get eaten by the mabeasts or turn to husks in the scorching heat."
"So you're telling me that no one has ever reached the tower?"
"Not a single one. The number of idiots that have tried to go there hasn't decreased. If a person has ever reached it there's no way they wouldn't have introduced themselves. Didn't you hear? Even the so-called "Sword Saint" couldn't get through."
He was right, even the supposed strongest in Lugnica's lands, "Sword Saint" Reinhart couldn't conquer the tower. Subaru also remembers how immensely difficult it was for Reinhart to get to the point where he did, which shook his confidence quite a bit considering his current group.
"Well, we're not planning on going to the tower without a plan, that's for sure. That's why we're here, to gather as much info as we can. Going to the town's bar would be the logical first step, don't you think?"
"Is that so? Why would you go to a place that sells you liquor?"
"If you ask me to explain in detail why, I probably can't, but people get talkative after drinking some alcohol. Eventually, after a bit, they would start spreading various rumors."
"So you're relying on idle gossip. It is beyond ignorant to go in there without any plans, but even leaning towards inane plans isn't any better."
"Mhm, your reasoning is impeccable."
Subaru gets a harsh taste of reason, slumping back down on his chair whilst drinking his milk. Usually, whenever he spoke with proper adults, their pace would be too overwhelming for him. The shopkeeper himself also was accustomed to talking with reckless people challenging the tower. At this rate, they would end up returning without gaining a single clue.
"Anyways, for you to even bring a girl to a hell like that is…"
"Fuckin' stupid… hic fuckin detestable…" A drawl, slurred voice roared from the end of the bar.
"Huh, hell did you say?" Subaru replies, throwing a sharp look at the man. The bartender sighs at the sound of the man's insults.
"Please ignore him, he's a common drunk, just let him spew his nonsense. I should apologize for being so naggy earlier."
"That's alright Mr. Shopkeeper. You've shown enough care for us and yet Subaru here keeps complaining. Thank you for the help you've given us, even though we aren't even acquaintances."
"Thank you, but I still stand by earlier points. I come across youngsters like you too often."
"Are there…" As Subaru was about to ask a question, a loud cackle was heard by one of the tables.
"AHAHAHA! You're just gonna get yourself killed, moron! Go back home and sit your arse on your pompous butler, ya gimp. Seen tougher-looking boys come through here, found bits and pieces of em scattered across the edges of the dunes. What makes you think you'll last even a second with your subhuman bitch over there?"
The three amid their conversation were harshly interrupted by the drunkard. Subaru and the barkeep both looked over at the man, Subaru had his mind instantly filled with the thought of going over and laying a beating on the man for insulting him and Emilia, the barkeep however was having several flashbacks to the troves of times this scene played out before him, sighing in frustration.
"Look here you son of a bitch, you got something to say about Emilia, you say it to my face."
"Oh looky here, we got a tough little boy in our bar. Go run along back to your little mistress, that's all you damn knights are good for anyways."
"How did you…"
"I can hicc see the bitch witch twin from a mile away. We get news here about what's going on contrary to what the kingdom wants others to think. You got a lot of nerve, showing your cursed face so close to where your twin got buried. You know what happens to pretty little elves so far from home, don't ya? Go home… Actually, no, please go into the dunes. I'd rather have the other more realistic candidates win. Don't need a fraud to run this place into the ground more than it already has been."
The tension in the room was now boiling. The man had stood from his table, waving around his bottle of whiskey, pointing at the two outsiders and laughing at their expense. Subaru was gritting his teeth in rage, his fists clenched as much as they could be.
"That's it, now you've asked for it, asshole." Subaru began to approach the man but was stopped by something. A sudden chill began to engulf his body, no, the entire restaurant. He could hear from behind him that Emilia was slowly rising from her chair, bits of snow and ice circling her body.
"Oh would you look at that, the Ice queen is ready to give a show to little old me. Heh, as if I could be stirred by such a foul thing."
The tension in the room was palpable, it felt as if there was no air left to breathe. Emilia was readying herself to teach this man some manners, while Subaru was completely frozen on the spot, unable to move due to the intense air around him. It felt as if the room was ready to explode, until...
"ENOUGH! Hans, leave, NOW! You two, stay here."
The loud yelling of the barkeeper shattered the tension in the room, causing Emilia and Subaru to snap into reality. Emilia released her magic, causing the ice to melt into small puddles of water throughout the restaurant.
"Tsk, fine, suit yourself old man." The drunken man stomped his way out of the store, giving one last glare at the two newcomers.
"My sincerest apologies, he's the town's drunkard, you're not the only ones who've faced his scrutiny."
"Why do you keep serving him, if he keeps acting like this?" Emilia asked after composing herself more.
"I have no choice. He's practically the only person who pays enough to keep me afloat. I don't have the freedom to choose who I serve drinks to."
Emilia nodded her head slowly, "I see...we should leave. We've caused you more than enough trouble." she pulled out her small purse, rummaging through to find the correct amount of coin to pay him. Meanwhile, Subaru kept his eyes on the drunk man. He was still seething with rage at the comments the man-made towards his precious Emilia. He was looking out the window, the storm was slowly subsiding revealing more of the decrepit town. The drunkard was stumbling aimlessly down the street, bottle in hand, singing some unrecognizable tune.
"Subaru, are you alright?" Emilia's voice broke Subaru out of his trance.
"Yeah, sorry. Just...that guy really pissed me off."
"It's alright. We've caused enough trouble for Mr. barkeeper...we should really get going."
Subaru was getting ready to leave the bar when he caught the sight of something. Down the road, rows of bright red lights could be seen lighting the center of the town, where the drunkard had stumbled to. He couldn't tell what they were, but he didn't want to take the chance. He's learned from the media he's absorbed that red glows don't mean anything positive.
"Wait, Emilia, don't go outside! Close the door, quickly!" Subaru urged Emilia, who was standing confused at the entrance.
"Subaru, what are you saying? We really shouldn't be causing anymore trouble for him." Emilia points at the barkeeper, who had his eyebrow raised in confusion.
"I'm not trying to cause trouble. There's something out there."
"Listen, kid, I'm not really in the mood for any more shenanigans, I was calm before but I am starting to get frustrated." The barkeeper exclaimed, crossing his arms while glaring at Subaru.
"I'm not messing around! There's something out there, something dangerous."
Emilia and the barkeeper exchange a look of worry, slowly beginning to approach the window that Subaru was looking out of. Subaru waved his hand over, pointing towards the bizarre lights in the storm.
"What are those? They look like glittering rubies..." Emilia questioned, somewhat enamored by the brilliance of the lights.
"Someone riding through sending some rubies? Don't think I've ever seen anything like that in this town. Something seems fishy." The barkeeper placed his hand on his chin, rubbing it while thinking of what they could be.
"Hey, let's keep our heads down, yeah? I don't like those lights." Subaru could not explain to them what was going through his head. In reality, he was terrified, the countless science-fiction media he'd absorbed had taught him that large red lights usually meant that whatever they were attached to were highly aggressive.
"Umm, alright Subaru. I'll trust your judgment." Emilia kneeled next to Subaru, peering through the window with him.
The storm was steadily subsiding, revealing the hidden figures behind the sand storm.
"Oh fuck, get your head down now!" Subaru pulled the tall barkeeper down onto his knees, which caused the man to grunt in irritation.
"The hell kid, what are you doing?"
"Shh, don't let those things hear you." Subaru raised a finger to his lips, hushing the two next to him.
"S-Subaru…. What are those things?" Emilia stammered out, pointing at unveiled figures.
The once hidden red lights had now been revealed. Large, mechanical creatures adorned with those red lights inside their heads. They varied in size; some were human-sized, some levitated while others were as big as the larger earth dragons.
"What the fuck are those things? Is the tower finally expanding its territory?" The barkeeper asked in a hushed tone, his eyes bulging out of his eye sockets.
"I've never seen anything like them before…. Subaru?"
Emilia placed her hand on Subarus's shoulder, trying to calm him down after seeing his body subtly shaking. Subaru knew exactly what those things were, or at least the closest thing to them. They must've been robots from some indescribable place who have found their way into this world just like he had.
"Emilia, we need to stay quiet. We cannot afford to make a single noise."
Emilia noticed the tense look on his face, realizing the direness of the situation they'd found themselves in. Instead of verbally responding, she nodded her head in agreement.
"Fuck, this is bad, really bad." Subaru thought to himself. He was struggling to find a solution to this problem. The rest of his group were still outside; granted, they were inside a carriage, though he knew the carriage would not hold against the firepower from those machines. Emilia's combat prowess was strong, but he didn't know how she would react to these new enemies. They had large long-ranged weapons, so he knew that keeping their distance wouldn't do anything to aid their survival.
"Oi oi, hell you doin' taking up all the road…"
A loud voice startled the occupants of the bar. The drunken man was throwing curses towards the platoon of machines in the streets.
"Move out of the damn way, you're taki-GAAAH!"
During the man's ravings, one of the large machines walked forward and pierced through the man's torso with his arm. His back was completely blown out by the force of the machine's arm, pieces of his spine were strewn across the street.
"Aghh, you….. Fuckers." The man was holding onto the machine's hand with his fleeting strength. Blood was gushing out of his mouth and the large hole in his chest. Before he could say anything else he was thrown violently to the ground, loud snaps were heard as his bones shattered against the hard ground of the street. Subaru and Emilia watched as the man was writhing on the ground, clinging onto the last remaining bits of life that he had.
"Don't even think about it kid, you're going to die if you go outside." The barkeeper put his hand on Subarus's shoulder. Subaru hadn't realized it but he was subconsciously getting ready to make a run for it with Emilia back to the carriage.
"There's a back room. We should hide there until they leave." The barkeeper points to a large door at the back of the shop.
As they were slowly creeping towards the back room, Subaru looked through the window once more. The large machine had stepped on the drunken man, crushing his skull and torso, amd liquid from his skull could be seen coating parts of the machine's foot.
"O-Oh no…" Emilia looked out the same window and gasped at the sight. She tried to cover her mouth after gasping, but at that point, it didn't matter. One of the larger machines turned its head towards the restaurant, motioning to a few of the smaller ones to follow it.
"Damn it! Quick, into the room now." The barkeeper urged in the quietest voice he could muster. The two newcomers followed the man's directions, turning away from the window and running into the back room. "Lock the door, and you, kid, pull the shelves in front of the door." The barkeeper pointed at Subaru, who began dragging a large cabinet across the floor.
"I hope the others in the carriage will be alright. Ram and Julius should be able to hold them off until we get back, right?" Emilia continued her thought, asking Subaru in a worried tone.
"Yeah, they should be fine. As much as I hate to admit it, Ram and Julius together might fare better than us at the moment."
"Ah...I hope so too."
"Shh, I hear them." The barkeeper leaned his head forward to watch the interior of the bar through a small hole in the wall.
He could see several human-sized machines walking around his restaurant, bright beams of light emanating from their singular red eye. They were holding bizarre weaponry that the barkeeper had never seen before, this realization filled him with an even greater sense of dread. At this point, his outlook on his survivabilities were seeming very slim.
"Kids, there's a small pathway in this room that leads outside. Take it and run. Run as far away from here as you can."
"No, we won't leave you to die." Emilia murmured. "I will not let them get away with what they've done."
"Ay, Emilia-tan, are you sure this is a good idea?"
"We have no other option Subaru, we can't leave the others out there without our help!" Emilia stood, forming swords composed of her ice magic. "I'm ready to demonstrate how much better I've gotten at fighting."
"Guess it can't be helped then. We should get to the carriage fast, Beatrice and I will help with taking these things out." Subaru sighed at Emilia's determination. Now he knew that they had no choice but to confront those things.
Outside the room, the sound of loud metallic footsteps was heard smashing the wooden flooring of the bar. Emilia readied her weapons in front of her, streams of ice slowly surrounded her body, enveloping the room in ice. The bartender stood up and slowly began to pull back the large cabinet.
"I hope you know what you're doing, kid."
"I won't let you down, Mr. Barkeeper."
The machines were getting closer, and Subaru could hear their mechanical whirring outside their door.
"On the count of three, I'll open the door. Emilia, get ready to unleash hell on them."
"Right! I'm ready." Emilia nodded, hunching over in anticipation for Subaru to open the door.
Suddenly, a loud noise akin to that of shrill shrieking was heard from outside, making the three inside the room widen their eyes in surprise. None of them knew what could have made that noise. Regardless, this was the perfect chance for them to attack while the machines were confused. While the machines were distracted, Subaru shouted "GO!" and pulled open the door. Without hesitation Emilia leaped onto one of the machines, stabbing it in its red eye with one of her swords. Quickly she pushed off the body and began to attack the other machines in the bar. Emilia ducked and weaved through the incoming fire, using her sword to block some of the projectiles. She effortlessly decapitated the machines; however. they did not fall.
"Huh?" Emilia stammered, turning to see the headless creatures begin to rush towards her, their arms outstretched and surrounded by a purple veil.
"THE STOMACH, GO FOR THE STOMACH." A muffled voice called from outside, accompanied by the sounds of loud banging. Subaru emerged from the small room when he heard noises he could recognize. They were from firearms, seemingly large ones at that. Subaru had no idea what to make of this, but he couldn't think now; Emilia was getting swarmed by these machines. Quickly pulling out his whip, he struck one of the headless creatures, grabbing the attention of the others. Emilia saw this opportunity and cast forth more of her ice magic, freezing the creatures solid. In one swift motion she crushed the ice that incased the creatures, leaving them collapsed into small pieces across the floor.
"Wow…" the barkeeper gasps out, he had exited the room after he heard all the commotion subsided.
The floor was melted ice, combined with what seemed to be a white viscous liquid, with some kind of steam could be seen slowly streaming from the substance. The barkeeper reached out to touch it with his finger but Subaru intervened.
"Don't touch that, we don't know what it is! It could melt your fingers off."
"I can't just leave it there, its gonna melt through my floor."
"Please Mr. Barkeeper, we will help you clean up later but right now we need you to stay indoors. My knight and I will deal with the rest of these creatures." Emilia formed another sword, rushing out of the doors in order to face the remaining machines. Subaru snaps himself out of his small thinking haze and follows Emilia out of the bar.
"What the…."
When Subaru exited the restaurant, he was prepared to battle alongside Emilia against these new adversaries, her ice powers and his whip skills alongside Beatrice's magic would lay waste to them. These ideas of a great battle were crushed, however, when he saw that all the machines outside were dead. In the middle of the road, there was a cloaked figure, surrounded by specks of purple dust. The cloaked figure turned towards Emilia and Subaru, her gleaming armor being a stark contrast to the deep brown sand. Her pants had large, purple tinged arrows sticking out of her pockets, her shoulder had a bright purple glow which seemed to break through her armor. The hood she wore obscured most of her face, but Subaru could tell easily that she had some sort of helmet on her. To Subaru, it looked like they had just appeared out of some weird fantasy film.
"Uh, excuse me, ma'am! Thank you for helping clear out these….creatures." Emilia bowed her head in reverence towards the cloaked figure. In response to Emilia's gratitude, the figure pulled back their cloak, revealing a sleek, metallic helmet. A deep purple emanated from the helmet's visor. The figure nodded back, then raised its head to scour its surroundings. Not far, a small group of people were running towards them, a little girl, a woman in maid clothing and a tall man whose bright purple hair contrasted against his white clothing, were seen approaching the two in the streets.
"Barusu, what trouble have you caused this time, useless knight! You've made Emilia-sama save you once again, I hope you know you always hurt Emilia-samas chances in the royal selection with these disgusting acts of cowardice."
"Ram, this is serious. We just got attacked by creatures we've never seen before. You can rail on me later but right now, we need to figure out what the hell is happening." The maid blurted out, giving a nasty look towards the confused adolescent.
"Subaru, you can't get into these kinds of fights without Betty." The little girl crossed her arms, letting out a small "Huff" towards Subaru.
"Ah I'm really sorry my little Beako, but this was a surprise attack, I promise i'll make it up to you later." Subaru kneeled down, picking up the small girl while petting her head.
"We were also attacked at the carriage, Emilia-sama. Ram-sama and I were able to defeat them before we arrived here." The tall knight interjected, turning towards the mysterious figure. "We should offer our thanks, you took out a large group of these things, saving many lives. If I may kindly ask, what is your name?"
The figure turned her head to look at Julius, her helmet seemed to slowly vanish off her head. Long locks of blonde hair came undone once her helmet fully dematerialized. "The name's Erin Dayton, pleasure to meet you," she raised her hand to shake Julius's. Behind her a small object appeared, the shell it encased itself in began to spin and whir, a singular large eye made up the center of its body expanding in curiosity.
"Before any other formalities are exchanged, can I ask you fellas something?"
"Of course, what is your question ma'am?" The tall knight asked, shaking the outstretched hand of the stranger.
"...Where exactly am I?"]
Author's Note: Hello, welcome back. Finally, some interactions between the Re:Zero and Destiny crew. I want to quickly say something about the "Oc's" that are in the story. Of course I don't want this story to be all "Oc's", I personally don't find them too interesting. However, Destiny only really has "The Guardian" as it's main staple character, all others characters are busy running their games like Shaxx with the Crucible, Saladin with Iron Banner, etc etc. So instead I wanted to add a few of my own Guardians into the story, rather than having our overpowered main character in the story, because if they were in this part of the story they'd most likely clear the tower in three to four days. Obviously I don't want the whole story to just be Re:Zero characters talking to "Oc's", the "Oc's are mainly there just to add some more life to the story of both of this fic. I'll try my hardest to merge both the official characters and my own into the story as best as I can. Thank you for reading Chapter 3, I'll see you in the next one.
Also I updated Ch.1 a bit, nothing too crazy, but a few fixes to the structure.
