Response to TheGentleman4530: Whether I do it or not, I mean, keep in mind, like I've said in the previous A/U that I am just like the rest of you guys; we all have our lives to live. If I'm taking a break, I'm letting you guys know in the summary section if I do such a thing. Speaking of which, I'm sure you noticed the percentage of completion for the next chapter. So yeah. You get the hint. Thanks for reading, my guy.

Response to Deewat23: Say no more. Here you go.

Response to Craftverk: I won't be getting in touch writing about the Re: Zero crew for a while. Except for one's point of view, we'll all about to read so soon.

Response to Guest #2: Thanks, man. Glad to see I'm not the only one craving for some Re: Zero and BB, my guy. Anyways, I don't know if I can match up to satisfy your expectation, but I'll give it a shot. Thank you.

Response to Guest #1: That brings up the question, will he ever return?

Response to Good Hunter: Good Hunter of the mountains, what is your knowledge?! Lend us your insight for our Sufferu, as he is about to undergo layers of agony!

Response to NarielV: I know. Tell me about it. Like I said before in the first chapter's A/U note, I, too, was wondering about the lack of BB and Re: Zero fanfic stories. It's kinda mind-boggling. Another matter of an issue for me, however, is how should these two franchises exactly play out together? I mean, I do have one grand twist in mind that I'm cooking up. Oh well, thanks for dropping a review. Appreciate your feedback.


Inclusive thoughts.

Every single syllable that rolled off his tongue slipped through the bangs. Tactile signals. Emotions kneaded his very essence. Efforts are committed to everything. The world was nothing more than a blank canvas.

It was as if the universe was creating a new world for him to paint with the scraps it would be able to offer. To achieve this, he had to draw some things in to be seen by his senses.

However, the darkness only turns his feet a little farther in front of him as he gradually begins to feel its pull. When the tide of darkness and fear gradually turns his feet a bit further away from the ground, he manages to slip the last inch or so, and reaches for one last light shining on the world of darkness.

A light that is so influential and compelling that, with only the last and most hazardous of moments to go, the battle to pull Subaru out of it. And now, there was only light. A dark light was pouring into his soul. The light that was now flowing through him was not just any light. It was dark, pure, and all-consuming. The only way to survive was to embrace it and allow it to engulf him.

This was all he could do. Nothing more. He took a stance against the darkness. There was only light before him. Not too bright, not too dim, just enough.

He snatched a single breath. And chop down. He declined headfirst into the chasms of absolute twilight. It was a mute downfall that could only be defined as a nightmare.

The light that spewed throughout his psyche at every wink seemed to lift him to a screaming halt. The wails he formulated and even the notions he amassed within himself at each of his definitive strides could not be discerned. His relative existence appeared to be nudged back and veered inward.

The light was now overwhelming him. To even breathe, let alone see, was all but difficult. How could Subaru survive? How could anyone live in such terrifying darkness? In a definitive and massive undertaking bustle to clamp at the light, was futile. The glint merely passed through him. He didn't even notice as his temperament was sucked away. Its glow that had gored his marbles was now scurrying towards him in a torrential cascade of the beam.

He was not prepared. He was unprepared. Difficult to infer. So he flung himself in the route of the torrent flash and was vacuumed down a mountain of pure light. Could he scream in anguish? It wouldn't do any good. He was a victim of a crime that he had not committed. The shadows fled right beyond him, gliding away to the hereafter of inferno.

"...Hah...?" Confusion was simply anxiety in a different cloak; it was when the brain defocused in an attempt to allow the dreaming brain through, the absolute problem solver. However, what the youngster required was the inverse: a chance to regain his poise, collectedness, and tranquillity, as well as enough space to point on what courses to sustain a passage forward to arise.

Though his eyes are loose, the teen can't speculate why; his heart is pounding, his mind empty. It's as if a hypodermic of adrenaline has been emptied into the carotid. Subaru felt like his eyelids weighed like a ton of bricks as he struggled to open them back up or even close them. They simply bob or flicker, but at no time could they be enforced.

Painful gasps at this moment require that he cough, splutter, and slobber. The spasms in between the bouts of coughing forces him into a further breathing session. He was inhaling and puffing out quantity, but was far from huffing well. Everything hurt. Everything felt insanely apprehensive.

His vision was blurry; every single splotch into the periphery was flashing. The real world's nuances were all strewn. The nightmarish setting was filled with wind gusts of pinpoints that were blowing away thoughts that wanted to gently flay any possibility that the youngster opened his mouth and let a cry out.

There were no words that could express his state of mind. Strained out from the utter dusk, Subaru's breathing rate was beginning to steady. When the visage was all clear, out of all conceivable possibilities, the greeting of the Japanese boy's vision could be described as surrealism.

Resting his head on his palms, Subaru sealed his eyelids tightly together with fingers that did not want moisture.

Yet, only this was enough. It was not to protect himself against the harsh and harsher effects of an eye stinging because of that inexplicable light, but to keep his eyelids from leaking. Because upon opening them, the sight that was distressing merely became an affliction.

From taking up residence in a murky underground cell, hours of having his day in an abandoned room spent the most grimed and vulgarity, to now, coming to be welcomed by a complete makeover of view.

"...Haaa?..." There, his words came out as a choked whimper. There, his words came out as a choked whimper. Little by little, as if he were an old person whose body was gradually draining its vital essence, he moved his limbs and stiffened his back. It was then, he was laying on something; something bitter.

Its telltale confided in Subaru upon reverently kneading his fingers along the entire length of the back and sides of the level surface, groping about the material for even a length beneath it. As he hastily began to dig, he dove blindly into the material, like a child, who was exploring what lies beyond their ken.

The stupefied adolescent peeled off this coating of fabric, affording him the recourse to handily fumble beneath and evaluate the fact that it disclosed to be a steel-made table Subaru was resting on.

On the ground of this, wide awake he was, gaze was far afield staring intently at the overhead interior surface that covers the upper limits of a room ceiling above, as if looking at the mighty shadow that could emerge from the distance at any moment.

"..." Just as it appears, the place that greets the prone boy had no ambient light, like a pocket of the mere sky with no discernable in-growth in it.

It was as if it was an isolated and barren outcrop of stars that would be stared at as if gazing at a distant constellation. Except, unlike star-gazing, there were no lights that could be discerned between the soft light flickers overhead.

Not a single flame of a candle or beater lamps. Instead, similar to an unfilled and empty canister of light that is just there to behold, was this space.

Unlike its previous voided underground debris scenario, this was a finished room, an eye-catching timber structure compartment Subaru noted he was in. However, there was no carpeting, rugs, or fabrics to cover the floor.

The only furnishings present in the room were on display as his eyes raked over, shelves and cabinets made by crafted from sturdy and stable lumber. Almost all of it was made of pale oak, an even mix of splinters and smoothness.

It was as if the room contained a half-awake and half-lazy memory of what was once the timber place from days of yore alight and awake. He felt like he could smell its natural atmosphere, along with the aroma of its organic wooden nature. It felt almost as if he was in an established building that long-long time ago saw use.

Even so, what's glaringly conspicuous beyond Subaru's glimpse was the spectacle from around him, aside from the room's criterion furnishing, what demolished the norms of this gloaming hut was that a pole stand posted by his side, stretching practically above him but manufactured with a basis to wield a sole bag that itself tolerates quantities of some sort of juice.

The bag, on closer inspection, was somehow translucent where its texture was etched with grooves which it came across to be ageless with its sheer durability, keeping itself in purely the contour of what is carried within it, maintaining the bag of this fluid substance.

"...Isn't...that..." The aforementioned bag was hung from the hooks at the top of the pole to one commonly found back on Earth, being to be dubbed as an intravenous bag. This is why now, regardless in a cloud frame of understanding has resigned Subaru at sixes and sevens in its appearance with an incredulous mood.

Lines in reasoning to warrant such reaction were not difficult to bear. As someone such as Subaru, so formerly accustomed to experiencing the natural elements it was the norm to learn to live in and experience such necessities and conveniences accepted by the mainstream.

That was then, right before a grand phenomenon transpired, and he was catapulted into another world. A parallel fantasy world; isekai. Or so how Subaru perceived it as much.

A set point in the historical timeline stands he found himself in a middle-age period, a world flourished with magic that ensues regularly in everyday existence.

The forenamed bag on the teen's sight is an intravenous bag, an IV bag for short, serving to transport liquids internally and externally by connecting it with a tube with a needle inserted in a vein — Intravenous therapy.

This was merely what it was for on Earth, a medical technique that distributes fluids, medications, and nutrients directly into a person's seam.

Such medical appliances holds not present in a different world full of magic nor were never used during Subaru's voyage in his outer realm experience since they had their means similar to that of intravenous therapy practice.

It was the core reason why Subaru was so utterly nonplused by the piece of a device generally found in Earth, precisely in a hospital. Hence why taking this into account, knowing, Subaru's awareness sparked by this IV bag was inevitable. And what Subaru's confused look was a reaction to this realization.

"—!?" Enabling his bewildered effect into the tremendous collision of the indication, from a supine position, Subaru jerked himself up onto a sitting position, flailing. A mistake that consequences made itself known, as his simple effort to sit, fell short and came to be followed by a strong retrimming from the jarring impact.

By the time realization arrives, the foolish youth embarked on his descent under the impetus of gravity whirling an arm to pointlessly recoup harmony, Subaru's entire physique pitched toward the floor.

"URK!" A sudden and quick-tempered cry escapes from the adolescent's mouth. It was a reflex action that came from a desperate attempt to avoid the sudden fall, but with the body pitch, it was the utterance that came out, like those desperate yells in a film when the hero's face has just touched the asphalt.

A simple sound that was in vain, as a cry fell on deaf ears that were no good to even listen to. Though, it also could have been because it was uttered in an unfamiliar language.

Subaru's irked dismay was all laid on his face. Yet, he remained seated there in a state of discomfort.

He had tried to stand up; to no avail. The act of his rising had to be done by the willpower of pure energy because no amount of physical strength would cause the body to push its feet upward. Not that the boy had an excuse to give for the fact, previously being confined to a position that had him in such disarray.

"—Hnn...Ghk! Ggh...!" Subaru's head was turned as he reclined on the floor, and attempted to course the impact and how to filter its conclusion. But, his efforts had little effect on the force that hit the top of his head and the pit of his stomach.

His throat was all scraped up, the lower portion of his face was bruised as he grimaced with quips of words with its two-toned mix of irritation and pain.

He tried his best to balance the support of his torso through the weakening of his legs, flailing his upper body with every thrust of his arms which he had the bravery to do. Nothing, utterly nothing, caused the movement.

While he tried using all means and means to possess momentum with his body to rush to stand up, he was in the end, petrified to admit, he could not do it.

All that went wrong, are the simple and systematic steps that involved the act of the raising of Subaru's body upward. And so on, each action, each motion of the act, be it little or big, made it effectively unbend and bend. All pain and torment came with a vengeance.

Reflection of Subaru's forehead wrinkled a few times and muttered several times curse words as he turned himself around and inside out by writhing and swirling his whole spherical body, repeating the cycle with the same outcome repeated several times. Subaru's rear was burning, the back of his head was aching, it felt like it was going to be blown off and all the joints in his arms were all on fire and crackling.

But that was not to mention its elbows as they were started to echo to a quiet cracking sound and felt as if they were being pierced through by daggers.

Just as his desperation had reached its zenith, the sound of shoe leather whomping on a wooden platform broke through his thoughts.

"What in the world do you think you are doing?!" There was a confrontation that came from above, a feminine voice in contrast to the ambiance of the soothing timber had reverberated throughout.

Apart from him swaying erratically while spewing curses peppered with his fervor to stand up, Subaru said nothing in return. But for how simple he thought he looks, certainly not enough to feel safe from this current situation. Especially when he opened his eyes and found a silhouette of a petite stature marching their way towards him from above.

"Oh good heavens, such a mess...You poor patient..." The voice drifted over the lumber of the small hut, with only a swoon echo of its call. Startled beyond belief, Subaru sloped his head to the direction of the person above him, nevertheless muddled at where he was.

"Huaaa..." An unstable endeavor of struggle and fall, Subaru exhaled softly and found himself suctioned in a shallow breath followed by another drop.

"...Don't speak..." The voice reverberated in the confines of Subaru's very ears, their conduct, their manner, and their mood slither with gentle concern. It was coming from an entity rather angelic form of a person. "Soothe yourself. You are in safe hands." While he couldn't see them suitably well, their remark could easily be inferred from its tone of voice. As this news had a string of reassurances left to it all.

As broadly his thoughts and wishes hoisted Subaru to ask this invading blanketed shadow figure what it meant by that. Yet the only thing the person said was as they persisted crouching by his side, their intricacy of compassion called out this single word, "Here..."

There and then, the tone changed into one of sincere sincerity of things and pulled Subaru's arms to them which he decided to venture forward. And according to Subaru's weight alone, due to their assertiveness, they managed to drag him into a sitting position with ease.

"...Hueh?..." This abrupt act of his being dragged by this entity had one of confusion. Not the act itself, rather, the intent to the intention behind the act. Would he or would he not be contented with the actions that the mystery person doing it? Which was Subaru's delayed puzzled query.

And then, of course, all he could grasp was their face, damped in the dark which was of smooth fairness and shaped flawlessly.

"Breathe into this." The face before the adolescent had clasped something fabric against Subaru's nose and cheek, urging his olfactory system to amass the current breath as its overtures. It was the most intimate mode of breathing, in its pure and simple form. Subaru inhaled and exhaled the sustenance of the stuff the index fingers were pinned against the sides of its nostrils.

Feeling rather relaxed with the silent gazes that stared at him, Subaru, once again went astray on a new train of thoughts than that of his current conversing.

The face, he thought it was a face of the opposite gender, appeared to be the kind of bewitching beauty with toned-down cheekbones and an oval-shaped head which gracefully floated over slender bone and supple porcelain skin.

Its tone of voice reverberated with a feminine level and lacked the slightest trace at masculinizing shrieks. The body projected with classical ballet and a posture of elegance which stood at the beck and call of a younger woman.

"No harm will befall you as long as you are here." The young woman continued to speak up, with a smile of assertiveness on her face that suggested there was no reason for them not to trust one another, with every word spoken from her, showed her genuine disposition to alleviate the young teen.

And so Subaru could also imbibe the serene whiff from where it originates. Whatever she intends to do, would be done. And it would have to be done by her, meaning, no one would step in and take control. And only at this point, did he find certainty and affirmation, what exactly he was being wary of.

"...I'll clean—... again... The trans—..."

No matter how much lightning and thunder Subaru had ever undergone, this was the first time when that feeling of factual tranquility trickled in through his very pores, giving rise to hold on to his body hardly so.

And he could understand the touch of the women's hands of the youth, tapping and stroking his posterior, it was a sensuous yet solacing impression on the back that wouldn't end.

It would, unfortunately. The safe-or-so touch that served its caresses will reach its conclusion signaling its end upon which Subaru's earholes came to be a drone, and his head felt that it was expanding, as grimy specks hugged on the corners of Subaru's vision until it formulated a reminiscent of a smog burrow, then the world slanted and after some blurred turmoil, Subaru succumbed to the smother of twilight.


[oOo]


In a directionless realm, a place out of time, a point to slope without consequence. Dusk in a habit prevailed as an oasis, become a stone-faced validity where gloom was one with hardship, and even loss had no meaning. Obscure locations stitched fabric of perception an immersive knot of intent where darkness was at a spiritual edge.

Silence unfolded its claws at the knees of a weightless gloom, where a swirling aura gave a voice to a haunted morass of eminence, and passion flourished with a heady hedonism of purpose, where only challenge yet knew peace.

In that vast world of nothingness where the concept of light is this voided world's antithesis. Abruptly, there was a small change. The change brought about an empty world filled with thought and spoken words. It dropped from a pair of lips, possessing a tongue to grant its speaker the ability to express themselves disrupting, changing, affecting, transforming the silence of its wake.

"...He gone..." It fell in a cauldron of amethyst in a voice where thought terminated itself without oblivion. The sounds of the void blazed in an abiding discord, offering a lapse of thought a descent into the spoken word where silence gave way and warring against violence and serenity to thrust its arm out and possess the doom of time and its silent pursuit.

How it explained the dawn of an awakening stillness, a point where silence, a harsh tone, a note of longing, and strident passion, conjured from its voice that its harmony rising above the vast silence.

"...He's gone... He's gone..." More words were heard, more spoken and a formula began to be added to the realm of the dark. Its voice, like a mythical cloth, spread across the abyss, as if it belonged to a timeless, different space, an indescribable depth of perception.

"...He's gone... He's gone... He's gone..." Words that enchanted them from the primal's heart

Words that came from a mourning voice like hope was nothing more than a stolen dance with the purposeless lost and abandoned that forged a unity of purpose with the emptiness and this newfound loneliness where the rising silence became the voice of a physical presence that ruled the nothingness.

"H̷e̷'̸s̴ ̵g̴o̶n̴e̴.̸ ̴H̵e̴'̵s̵ ̷g̸o̶n̴e̵.̸ ̶H̵e̶'̴s̴ ̵g̷o̵n̵e̴.̷ ̴H̵e̶'̸s̵ ̸g̵o̶n̸e̸.̷ ̴H̴e̵'̶s̴ ̶g̷o̸n̴e̴.̷ ̵H̴e̶'̷s̵ ̷g̸o̵n̷e̶.̶ ̸H̶e̵'̷s̸ ̸g̵o̸n̷e̷.̴ ̵H̴e̸'̴s̵ ̵g̵o̶n̶e̷.̴" A repetition that gives way to doubt, the shadow and doubt of its change. It rises in space and moves forward towards the valley.

Where the void becomes a monumental work that they made, a whole world that was created with no beginning and no end, where stillness, equilibrium, lull, and pause lend an understanding to the arrival of an immaterial, unspeakable voice, which is more than present.

This voice, with its words, its sight, its height, its melody, its habitat, their reserved voice resonates as a weightless burden of sovereignty.

"H̸e̴'̸s̷ ̸g̶o̴n̶e̶!̸ ̶H̶e̶'̴s̶ ̶g̷o̸n̶e̴!̵ ̸H̴e̵'̶s̸ ̶g̶o̵n̷e̶!̴ ̷H̷e̴'̴s̶ ̸g̷o̷n̷e̶!̵ ̶H̴e̸'̵s̸ ̸g̷o̸n̷e̵!̸ ̸H̵e̸'̶s̴ ̶g̴o̸n̸e̷!̵ ̷H̶e̸'̷s̸ ̴g̵o̶n̷e̶!̸ ̸H̷e̸'̸s̵ ̴g̷o̸n̸e̸!̸ ̸H̴e̶'̸s̷ ̸g̵o̶n̴e̷!̸ ̶H̷e̴'̶s̸ ̴g̵o̴n̸e̸!̵" Its vocalist is moral yet abrasive, bearing with it a fragile, ponderous resonance, with a fullness and a musicality that leaves space to hush, and then the word "gone", until the words disappear in a crackle of a flat.

A voice no more, an end to a story, the moment of a woman and a howl to a lost heart that now resides at the core of an echo that lives for the sake of the memories of a life that came to be, a woman that knows his heart, a woman that has a sound and a goal that knows the meaning of silence, a woman that now lives for the sake of the coming moments that take her to the point of an ending.

In the emptiness of the void, a promise is made to the silence, and a story begins, where an anguished heart searches for the disappearance of a lost soul; a dearest seized soul.

"W̶h̸e̷r̵e̷ ̸a̵r̵e̷ ̵y̷o̶u̷?̷!̸ ̴W̷h̷e̵r̷e̶ ̷a̵r̷e̵ ̶y̸o̵u̴?̵!̶ ̷W̸h̸e̵r̶e̸ ̸a̷r̵e̸ ̶y̶o̵u̸?̵!̵ ̸W̷h̸e̴r̷e̶ ̷a̴r̵e̴ ̶y̸o̸u̶?̸!̵ ̶W̸h̸e̸r̸e̶ ̸a̷r̵e̴ ̸y̷o̴u̶?̴!̸ ̶W̴h̸e̷r̵e̸ ̵a̷r̴e̶ ̶y̸o̵u̵?̴!̵ ̷W̸h̵e̵r̸e̷ ̴a̵r̵e̷ ̵y̴o̷u̴?̴!̶" Amidst in the vacant landscape, dead in the dry layer of the unknown, a heart torn apart, the wails of indistinct disturbance. The heart echoes its fragility while transmitting its heartfelt lament in the chasm, a profound hole gouged out into the living space of the space that was self-inflicted. It fell and sketched thoroughly the vacancy of the [Shadow Garden].

"W̸h̴o̶ ̵d̸i̶d̴ ̴i̶t̵?̴!̶ ̵W̵h̵o̵ ̷d̴i̴d̴ ̸i̷t̸?̷!̶ ̷W̸h̵o̸ ̸d̴i̷d̷ ̶i̸t̸?̴!̵ ̷W̶h̴o̶ ̶d̴i̸d̵ ̸i̶t̵?̴!̷ ̴W̶h̷o̸ ̴d̵i̴d̶ ̶i̴t̷?̶!̷ ̴W̵h̵o̸ ̴d̵i̵d̴ ̷i̸t̴?̴!̵ ̸W̵h̵o̴ ̵d̸i̵d̴ ̵i̶t̵?̶!̵ ̵W̶h̸o̶ ̴d̵i̶d̴ ̵i̵t̸?̴!̸ ̵W̸h̶o̵ ̷d̶i̵d̸ ̷i̵t̴?̴!̴ ̶W̶h̴o̵ ̸d̶i̴d̸ ̴i̴t̸?̸!̴ ̶W̶h̵o̵ ̷d̵i̸d̵ ̴i̵t̷?̶!̴ ̴W̶h̶o̷ ̸d̴i̵d̶ ̶i̴t̸?̵!̸ ̷W̴h̷o̴ ̸d̶i̴d̶ ̶i̷t̶?̶!̴ ̴W̴h̵o̸ ̶d̶i̷d̵ ̶i̴t̸?̷!̵" Inconsistent prying screams, an overwhelming frenetic and redundant outcry to know who did it.

A voice whipped in the crack in her essence, yet her heart is a casualty of the wrong that was perpetrated endlessly to her. The one and only loved — Her joy, her pride, her remembrance of her sweetheart, the capacity to think of happiness, and occupancy in the recess of the ultimate midsts anticipating for her one brimming nonpareil luminary speck.

All were obtained off from her.

Her — The Witch of Envy, Satella. Perdition she is now, having lost life from the glow of her color, of her spark, of her mind, of her desire, of her seventh heaven, of her fright, of her heart, and of being so devoured for her invaluable glint of life of a boy, the splendor of the idylls in all his angles.

"W̴H̷O̶ ̷D̷I̶D̵ ̷I̸T̷?̴!̷" Red-hot silver buzzer could be heard shrieking this question in any corners, or any space, but no more it could be heard in a recluse piece of history.

It was impossible that a question, a question such as this, could be hearable in the vacuum, in a silent auction so vast where it could sing to the suffering of a life torn apart, through a spurt vocalizations of a soul torn apart. In the void, it is only uttering, whimpers of a heart that shrieks; maim in silent grief, implicit but still to appear.

"W̵h̶o̶ ̸w̴a̵s̷ ̶t̵h̴a̷t̵?̸!̸ ̵W̵h̸o̵ ̵w̶a̴s̴ ̴t̴h̴a̵t̴?̵!̵ ̶W̴h̸o̸ ̴w̷a̶s̶ ̴t̶h̴a̴t̶?̷!̵ ̷W̷h̶o̶ ̶w̵a̵s̷ ̴t̴h̸a̷t̶?̴!̸ ̶W̶h̸o̸ ̴w̵a̴s̵ ̴t̴h̷a̶t̸?̶!̶ ̷W̸h̸o̴ ̶w̷a̴s̵ ̸t̶h̶a̷t̴?̴!̴ ̴W̵h̸o̸ ̷w̴a̸s̴ ̵t̵h̴a̶t̵?̸!̵ ̴W̶h̶o̷ ̴w̵a̶s̵ ̷t̶h̷a̶t̴?̸!̴" In immensity, these words seem to be a mere incitement to a napping volcano; but in truth, the words possess a new reek; they possess a meaning of stench that stokes the soul to an atrocious inferno.

Her courage swiveled but knockdown to an abysm, thoughts of culmination and commemoration of an unforeseen presence of another, Satella was lessened to be an onlooker. Induced to ripen into a witness of a phenomenon. Even for a single moment, Satella sat there, in morbid silence, in a disorganized cloud of her spirit, counting the minutes, the seconds, and the moments till she could not see him anymore.

Her love, whom she could talk with when it rained and froze, that she could flee to when it was frozen and frigid, that she could rely on when its back was to the wind and rugged, that would save her when the source of all her happiness was missing, and she had lost him.

Satella failed Natsuki Subaru. Satella's marvelous sparkling star was taken from her — A heavenly formation, a radiant beacon of exotique; Satella's celestial glamour ventured to a grim, cold wind. All that lingered for Satella, was knowing in her heart that her dear is gone, embezzled.

She sipped in long swoons the bitter musky tears that flew from her engorged eyes, Satella tore her solace undertaking to permit the emotions out in an unstreaked venom of bone-chilling hhich The witch's crestfallen eyes drank the imperceptible air yet there was nothing to melt in memory. She tasted the trace of what she carries within the hopelessness of silence.

"...Those creatures..." Bemoaning the blues with an unhealthy tint.

Those creatures Satella spoke of, those wrinkly grotesque-looking critters, the one's held accountable for Subaru's disappearance. Satella could never ignore the significance of a soul-stirring indignation of their sort. Inaudible but for their haunting groans, each and every one of those critters numbered an unfathomable few in the great vista of the cell. Likewise, their shrill, shrieking choruses were impossible for Satella to overlook, bringing about for an intolerable cacophonous ordeal.

But even in the midst of readying herself jumping into action, Subaru's disappearance was left a mystery so will be the event of Satella's aimed intervention verified to be unachievable.

Aside from this recent adversary, the Witch of Envy has yet to trace of what truly happened. The one validity will be receiving such damning evidence from her infallible conclusion and diagnosis of her sweet star absconding out of plain sight; someone, something out there managed to devastate a cardinal catastrophic witch's supervision of her incarcerated loved one.

An unknown origin that made itself known, unseen, impossible to discern who it was or what exactly is, though through their distinct atmosphere, it was proclaimed that it was something beyond reached. Beyond hand reach of comprehension.

The [Shadow Garden] very first external interference — their smell, and moreover a distinct aura, which is so unlike from anything Satella has ever sensed. It was a mystifying pervasive feeling with a unproven origin, and a foreboding uneasiness of something hidden. Satella felt the profundity of its hums. A devastating presence maintaining a sine wave resonance imperceptible, even to the sixth sense, that prowls around the eyes of death, while seeming to have no exact regard aim.

This immediate raid that came short into her enclaved landscape has propelled her into contending with an assailant of broadly confounding leverage, a threat of undeterminable conception, and a menace of contradictions. Successfully the clandestine interloper's impact breached to this dark veil of the [Shadow Garden] beyond reach, the ambivalence of who or what it might be muddled its way through to fruitfully nimble the jealous witch's influence, consequently executing her role to powerlessness.

Remnants between herself and her light was no more. The strand between Natsuki Subaru and Satella severed at its roots, and broke asunder itself, the darkness blossoms to its beauty.

"...Where are you, my love?..."


[OoO]


"..." Since the moment of his awakening, Subaru's vision trapped under the jet mass of its midst shade. Fortunately, in his refreshed state, it wasn't long for his eyes to diversify to the dark. Apart from the minor pang in his cranium, packing his awareness with a chilliness contortion. He was inhaling and exhaling suitably, the rate of push and pull paces up and down, through both of his orifices, suction-free breath was the only present.

Yet, though from the air of pure adrenaline in Subaru's heart, sweat was already laid out in streaks, and the dampness of the sweat itself, was collected inside outwards. Circumstances were fastening, and none of the recent minutes to inquire into stood wasted on his part.

"...Hu?" Voice acting as the shakiest anchor for this poor and trembly teenager, Subaru forced through the gauntlet of tremors in his voice.

Surgical appliances lay unceremoniously on the ground, which was barely traversed a dozen of feet from the newly awakened boy. Subaru bent his line of sight downwards onto the many items plopping out of place on the floor. Putting him somewhere between bafflement and circumspection, Subaru blinked dazedly back and forth, albeit this act didn't necessarily actuate sight. Unsteadiness, though it grated at Subaru was slight.

Subaru's eyes twitched, so in turn, they conjured his vision. For mere seconds, he could view the various contents of the room, but once they desisted, he was once again privy to the simple notion that he was momentarily there. With the disconnection, a noise of some sort mustered into his ears. Some distance, but all too hazy whatsoever.

In search of some basis, Subaru listlessly surveillance the area, carefully evaluating the space for any signs of life. Though the room lacked monastic charm, it was littered thoroughly with a jumble of medical devices; each a bundle of equipment, or textile or material of like nature. The room's atmosphere was of air of confusion, or in other words, chaos. Arranged would be the ins and outs of such components laid out in haphazard formation.

His shivers were merely amplified, but Subaru had yet to hear of any change in the atmosphere.

This air, despite its calming nature dispatches unease sprawling through Subaru's gut. With his continued inquiry to differentiate commodities. A whim of some sort was set as to from what. With his replenished perception, he was able to glean a few particulars in this respective room. medical equipment that lay resting on the ground, was mostly items of equipment designed for surgery.

To be exact, they were all broken since some had been in use for a while. Subaru was able to identify one particular device as a scalpel. As for many devices, they were all well used, with pinches of grit and blood present in each. Aside from seeing the blood itself, however, Subaru couldn't tell how old the blood was or who did it belong to.

It's more out of a perception that his brain couldn't identify the age of the blood because the room itself radiated foggy chills. Much of the timber footing had ripped plank wood tiles up off from their frames, broken with a fragment of splinters. The cause of which Subaru couldn't gauge, but it was plenty convenient.

The room wasn't per se enormous. The flooring was easy as risky to hit as anyone could discern. It was remotely plenty away that no confusion could be generated by a slap on the flooring.

Even so with the fact that the room seemed to be vacated, there were slight crackles in the wood. As for the exact purpose of the room itself, from his surrounding, where Subaru could see the shapes of these objects placed were their intrinsic features: medical IV stand pole with the tubing and cables dangling, and medical examination steel tables set within the room.

These items were lined up roughly side by side to side, all displaying a complete set of medical implements. These gadgets in their entirety are situated off at the side of the room, at discrete angles from each other. And not a single item wasn't shown entirely erratic, evidencing more times than not that they were a part of an old medical device.

Though with Subaru's senses, several of these items possessed discernible scents emanating from them. Sharp, and lengthy sickhouse-acquired smells resonated in his nose. Everything in its fullness was bleak. Desolate. A dwelling in ruin. With such an observation of the area, a plausible tale of it could only be put into words for the ages, and an altogether profound sight to gape at the mess.

"..." He confirmed at the sight of everything laid out disorderly, avoiding to utter his voice, there was a slight quiver. A quiver from the nose, indicating, he wasn't sure, yet, if he was truly trying to blow out air, or just he fretted for a little more. Either way, Subaru's rate of reaction came at a minor loss.

Instead of speaking, fine shivering goes to his limbs, as if Subaru reflexively tried to retrace his whereabouts, but didn't have a grasp. However, he did receive a pinch of a good shock. The shivering, in only the matter of a sentence, shifted his bodily concerns into the higher tier.

Subaru whipped his look down to his state of physical appearance, and there the late aged adolescent prevails, in the end, to decked in his gloaming and reddish-yellow line running down their sides and cuffs of a tracksuit outfit.

Still, the clothing bought warmth to him and console from the setting, the Asian ethnicity could still, divulge that he was moderately shabby. His hair was more found to be tangled ply, and by the glimpse of it, whether he'd rinsed or not, he could only be shuddering from within.

In general, nonetheless, his open-zipped apparel was a run-down, apart from that, a stark statistic struck him.

He showed no sign of any injury and no cut was in sight. Bouncing over his body were no bruises, and while it hadn't crossed Subaru's mind out of sheer sightlessness, it's not like there were any bleeding outlets. Not the slightest hint to concur the short breathes and the shivering's source. Regardless, to his greatest respect, Subaru wasn't hurt in any way.

Subaru's assurance of himself didn't merely lie inside of his place. The flicker of his heartbeat drummed a fury, beating out a strenuous rhythm. However, his quick reflexes can help that backstrokes in his mind.

Because, as it seems that from his very breath, he was experiencing a relaxed first breather into his awakeness. Seemingly a faint whisp huffed in his windpipe, so he presented a noiseless and far-line-held breath. Indeed, almost a noiseless tussle, not out of muscles, but it was the rhythmic collision done in that breath.

As mere, it was merely in sync with none of the other parts in his comebacks in whatsoever aspect of his body. Anyhow, with the next breath, even that could not be matched. A storm of quivers inside his throat, as it went its way right there.

"...!" The very creak of his opening jaw, which sprung out of his deepest desire, was the next sound he heard. It wasn't a loud lowing sound, instead, it was a thin sound, and you could follow the ebb-and-flow of his breaths.

A single nasal passage, that sounds with a certain direction, the latter was the sound of Subaru's last breath. Was he trying to exhale out his throat, or behind? And even then, the path that the lungs took for that dry exhalation went unaware of itself. For, the next inhale the boy took, was heard by merely his nostrils.

While of a lagging stance, to evaluate his current state, for now, that was it. A void of shock, as his orientation was slowly beating down.

He stood far on his feet, the only recognizable reaction to with was the inner quake of his gaze. In order words, as to shut down-lying, he was his exact perception and feeling, to an absolute void. His brain couldn't possibly register or perceive the true scene laid bare before the eyes of his awakeness.

It wasn't that there weren't any scenes or feelings, instead, more so it was the contrary of basic senses and thoughts. More accurately, it felt like he had fallen asleep flat-on, and had woken up. His faculties were unable to perceive anything apart from that. A solitary mental conception, that's what the boy felt at the present moment.

"...Wh-Whu-Wha..." The lingering grunts in the midst of his sucking air continuously, until he eventually expelled a lungful, letting out a quietude sigh from his vocal cords. Dragging air into his lungs back into a lower, this timeless high pitch, he began again. "...Arm..."

What warranted Subaru's reaction, out of this range of possibility was the fact of feeling a sense of touch. The sensation of touch was transmitted, to him, in which his very fingers were felt against the flesh of his palm.

Natural born skin-haptic sensitivity to discern the feel of touch, that's as ordinary for a human as it is for any other species in the world. But more so than that, even though feeling and sensing the touch, Subaru was unable to determine how he derived the feeling or sound. As if it was something entirely foreign, it left him rather dumbfounded.

Subaru wrinkled his brow in disbelief while testing the feel of his fingers. He curled them up as evident as his awareness can manage.

"It's gone..." A perfectly normal hand, Subaru nonchalantly deposited his fingers around back in the same order as they once were, before he blindly let his hand falls.

The infected black blood that pertained to his membrane, to his right arm had wholly washed into oblivion.

Subaru's sensations, and his senses, were the very explanation for his sheer dumbfounded. The concrete symptoms, to his usual perception, were that, in the form of a touch, the blackish ichor of his right arm has been lifted.

Appreciating such a great mystery was not akin to understanding how that could be possible, and even if his mind could understand it, sensing the strangeness of it, there was nothing that he could do to better comprehend its origins

And so, it brought forth a stark expression. One that left no more breath for the boy to inhale, but it was battling all alone, that result was very bitter still. A closed-mouth objection was cracked open in a second, with these kinds of great epics having too much to be able to breathe. He was out of air and out of words with the omitting discovery of this forenamed black blood affliction in his arm is gone; miraculously cured.

Even so, what was once a great curse running through his veins and even like a second, soulmate on his body had been inflicted by a nasty, crooked Sin Archbishop. With the black blood from the arm seeping into his veins no longer taking resident, making it a great achievement to say it was cleansed.

However, what was supposedly an exhilaration minute in this time, and infinitely showed he was free of this infection Capella, the Sin Archbishop of Lust had contaminated Subaru's arm and leg.

Under his baggy-eyes gaze, Subaru kept aim to behold his original skin-colored limb, which now had his arm sleeve up to the end of his elbow. At the same time, a simple woven strip of material fastened to a minor fraction encircled around his forearm. A simple piece of bandage, with no cut or tear, stood sturdy to his bare skin.

Subaru postponed his analysis of this, the same arm Subaru has been peering at from a start wasn't much so a simple plain old bandage when there appeared to be a short, curved cylinder of plastic — A catheter flexible tube — sticking out from the join of the bandage.

He further attentively looked down at the end of their looped-inlaid tail, piercing into the flesh of his forearm directly into his veins and eliciting an aura of discomfort.

Subaru then ceased his shock disposition. In as much as flabbergasted with this windfall, it was one behind the other, in the duration of struggle to comprehend this abrupt happening, the younger male, outlined through a bright line of thoughts questioning, and even a trail running through estimations in his mind.

What is even happening? How did he find himself in a clinic? Why is he in a place like this? Why does everything inside of the clinic look unsophisticated? Why does everything around Subaru exhibit degradation, as if no one worried to conserve this place tidy? What havoc went on in this place, bringing it into this state? How did he recover from the cursed blood infection?

But the most important one, of all, "...Why me?"

Subaru's mind had sufficiently trashing about the surface.

A straight short rundown of the questions that had been racking his scattered mind has long exited its line of thoughts. Regardless, one query that rose to the veneer was more or less one of the last few questions that entered his mind: What now?

Finding himself in a setting that is all too familiar and more so, with medical apparatus in which it looks the likes of 19th century level of technology, beyond the familiarity was the specific happening that was baffling him and not to mention, holding an ill understanding.

An ill understand Subaru not so much wishes to acknowledge, but with this state of mind, it seems he effectively will have to for the time being.

Now withstanding an unfamiliar condition, Subaru had more or less everything taken away from him. Much there was with a problem that kept him in a daze, and only one of the possible solutions was to get out of the desolate clinic.

"—Why me?" Subaru's Inner say parted into a thin line, knowing it a no better way to clear his mind from its impenetrable wall of questions, as a casualty of anguish and puzzlement, the boy qualms from his standpoint.

The short line of words only reinforces the dejection of his thought, as no answer was to be given to the plight question, even to him. "This can't be...your doing, Satella?"

In the end — He still had not a single explanation for it.

Returning his gaze to the outer world from the clinic, in the darkness of the shrouded clinic, there is light. The only source of light, in fact, with a healthy-colored ambiance screeching around, was arising from the sconces, it was illuminating for Subaru to have a clear vision of an exit.

Even though he was unable to clearly understand everything that occurred with him alone. He still needs to know something essential for his journey.

What he wants at this moment in time that he was in such a condition is solely a tool that his hands can make as feasible. A weapon that can enable Subaru to fight without reluctance, should a need arise.

So, out of all objects scattered around him, there was no choice but to use what's familiar to Subaru. Preferably, in a situation such as the present, one possessing a sharp steel edge of it would do.

A neat and remarkably sharp-bladed device used for anatomical dissection and surgery; a scalpel.

Perhaps that's Subaru's plan for the time being, as for the actual cause of what just happened to him or his whereabouts, no matter what speculation came to mind about this abrupt disarray. He has to stop questioning its causes and more or less, onset to sketch it out somehow from where he is now.

With one foot in front of the other, he set off to finish his tracks. With the hand of his right, he holds the scalpel. Subaru's gait was a bit uneven like his legs were different lengths. He teetered as he sauntered with every step. The flow of his strides was stiff and uneven.

As Subaru wander about the floors intermittently, avoiding portable obstacles while simultaneously darting at the door, he would continue his thoughts. With every step of his almost clumsy gait, he would think of this whole thing in a different sequence of events, wondering of reasons which are similar to one reasoning.

Finding the way out of this room, Subaru moves through the room away, avoiding anything in his means to make him stuck. To maneuver the path which leads to the exit, upon waltzed past a pair of double fiberglass doorways. To Subaru, they looked no special in any way. They had no handles or any detail he would recognize, and with a few twists of his body, he was able to nudge through.

"—!" After this, in the next scene, no amount of an improvement or understanding to his previous foreword to the place. But was presented to Subaru, a relatively bare minimum captivating eerie scenery. It outweighed everything else, from what he had seen of the clinic.

Subaru found himself standing before multiple steps of a flight of stairs directing downwards. If there are any markers or guiding lines, it was nowhere to be found.

In the wide expanse of space lengthening out from where Subaru stands, at its expanse, above its descending pathways, the next line of an image is a breathtaking vista of a reflection of pale white light; which shone among the gridded tiles stepping, casting down a glistering image of a long, continuous, and in descending trend stairway with a streaming shaft of lighting above through a solitary high-up window to the outside world.

With the natural light as Subaru's guidance, the stairs along with its long construct were slender, and to suggest, they looked simply too flimsy and delicate. While the staircase itself could very well topple any second.

The last thing Subaru thought of before coming down the stairs was how unsettling or weird this scene was. Though, he found a robust comparison from his memory; from the perspective of a short story, he read. His memory sprung into his head as well, an eerie thing. A series of medical centers or hospitals, even though it was in the past, contained a similar scenery.

Subaru has not recalled the name or title of the tale, however, he had described the novel completely in his analytical state. And not just that, Subaru remembered that the story was an actual happening. Some illness and plague-stricken time in the past that seemed to have already passed, a high aged and a long-forgotten disease and ailment in a hospital; and from the same narrative, just like now, it had all been nothing more than a riddle until this juncture.

With such notion, as he started to move, takIng a look at the path below, he could see the length of the stairway reaching.

The stairway's width was relatively huge, based on the reflection of the lighting which streamed upwards from the windows, it was decent in size and wide enough to imagine the proper pace of movement; with every step, with a decent walking pace, walking at the speed of a safe descent into the next are Subaru would be able from leaving this monstrosity behind him.

"Why me? Why me?" Subaru continued to ponder his last lines to himself before his head becomes still from the next scene, belying the presence of something unique. Subaru stopped walking as soon as his head became still, his surroundings suddenly became eerie and tauten for a measure of time.

The stream of light lost its proper effect upon entering into the darkness of the first floor and just like that blackness filled the air.

His eyes remained focused ahead, Subaru's vision was rather easily held to the path in front, yet there was something to be sensed? There were several invisible elements out of his field of vision that worried the boy to no end, and several of them were transparent; or perhaps, even they could be.

All except but a prominent smell. The odor of its origin has been steadily giving off a level of stale heath that pulled at his senses until it reached a grotesque level.

A nauseating smell that pulls inside of him was a revolting bite that he could not escape through mouth and nose, and with little is at heft to do. He could not see the apparition, but he could simply feel it. A vague and dreadful feeling scratching at his inner being.

Staring down the gloomy descent, the boy's gaze swayed towards the side, the way of hearing that one gets a hint of anything beneath the stairs opposite of his view path.

During such time, the boy hears faint groans. Pained coughs and supplicating cries amongst a tone of death. Instantly remembered was the case of a cruel sickly hell, that what his eyes couldn't see, but his ears did.

And then, from the murky darkness, Subaru's gaze shot, an unearthly shudder ran through Subaru. What was so frightening about the sound was that it was muffled at only a breath away.

Almost as it were; he can still hear the sound behind him, yet he could only see nothing besides the path ahead. As his senses were being pulled into a void of darkness. Subaru began his breathing in and then he began to panic and find out he loses his sight too, as his life begins to gasp at an inhale.

That slow suffocating sound is drowned out by an onslaught of the smell; it wouldn't be correct not to come to say it. The stench comes on a short burst, a vibrant burst of putridness, clouding his mind. The smell was of decaying and rotting messes, bad odors of crawling things, and nesting creatures as well.

"...GHrrRRRrrwrrrwRRRR!..." A meager grumble of a soft growl pulled taut nearer as the odor matured; the warm, churning, bile-ridden stench, the stink that is not refreshing but unpleasant and obnoxious. It was quite similar to a slaughterhouse, or at least a place of the greatest bovine slaughter.

There was an overwhelming stench which overwhelmed the lungs of this boy, the intolerable stench which smothered his nostrils and throat; had it got inside his eyes.

Subaru, all of his senses filled and was choking with the pungent vapors. His eyes remained attentive as his lungs continued to overwork their ability to absorb in the foul-smelling air and the smells would cease to consume him, from moments of slight respite he began to stretch out his sight.

His sight met darkness he could not see through, as if, the darkness was like a maze of holes or gaps, this way it was, he could see to a certain extent, yet there were plenty of spaces he could not observe as well.

Because of this blackness, his eyes saw the outlines of whatever was just a few steps ahead, only it was scanty and precise, so he could make out that something or someone was moving.

The object in question makes no sound except for the muffled groaning and a certain gurgling which would lead his ears can intuitively know it was an organic being.

"...Eh?" Being dumbfounded by the suddenness, without spending much urge and effort, without really needing it, Subaru's vision began to mend as this breathing creature began to bring its body closer. There was even a sense of movement felt for closer and it was becoming clearer as the body materialized farther out of the dusk.

As this torso grew in a solid frame, out of the gloom came out the creature's mug. It slunk like it was a part of the shadow realm, from the shadows comes flaring nostril as it takes in a scent. It curls up its gums and jaw, emitting bile that was more to be blood than saliva.

It strides on all fours with the body of a substantial hound.

In the half-light, they could be a dog, but dogs don't move or look like one, the way this one does — in choreographed motions, they crawl, slink, walk, lurk almost anything to approach any prey within reach. More of a creeper, a creature such as this can use their intuition to their advantage or they have their eyesight being impaired by whatever they are in the dark — it means no flaws, it's perfect.

"GhghRRRRggHHHHHH!" An excessive grumble was the only response to the stink — As if it could contain another breath in its maw.

Each breathtaking long and taxing and the only part of it was the attempt to expel the reeking stench from its own throat. When its hunger had to be satiated, its tongue was drawn into its nostrils; a sizzling sensation mixed with the sound of the smell was enough to make a grown man retch. The fog of the stench began to shrink to escape the smell.

"...Haa...ha..." Subaru echoed in a breathy voice, it was flat and weak; the attempt to resist this stench that was boiling in his nostrils and stomach. Even when they try to hold their breath, there was no defense or escape.

He feels the grip of its gaze, its eyes penetrating Subaru's retinas and filling them up. They are true eyes of an inhuman being; the eyes of a dark beast that takes a similar appearance to a wolf.

Because of those barbaric gazes, Subaru's tongue went suddenly dry, every hair on his body stood up to the point of piercing his skull.

Subaru, the only thing he could do to keep himself stable was to clench his fists, grip the only weapon at his disposal in his hand. He had had enough of what was happening; he could handle it no longer.

All of his heart, strength, and all breath went in with the efforts to escape from the oppressor's sights. Finally, he burst out of his fear — only to end up puking his guts out. what was, a revolting mess, was this wasn't enough to get rid of the monstrous smelling body that was coming up to him.

The beast was on him now, it leaped on Subaru like a pouncing cat, its head just in front of his, its fangs was but inches away, its tongue lolling out, tail wagging like a puppy would wag. Its snarl could be heard rattling off like rusty hinges.

The breathing creature pounces on its prey with brute force, its breath of fetidness, dripping in bile and giving the flavor of its blood. The taste of it was an intensely sharp and sour flavor.

"AUUGGHH!" Blood spewed with sickening determination from Subaru's midsection as if his own heart sought to pump it from his carcass. Fingers clamped over the trauma. The scarlet blood lashed over the floor, painting the scene with gore, painting Subaru with and through blood. It streamed from his nose and mouth even as he sputtered blood from his lungs.

The fur beast recouped from its delivered swift hoof slash and glared down at the crimson ember as it fell forwards. Its seething incandescent eyes singed with a river of a burning flame.

The beast maneuvered on all fours in a roundabout circle and then hunkered. Its breath, felt through the air as a rank heat, hissing against the falling blood, rising. Its furred muzzle opened wide and the heat seared a gaping maw at the standing bleeding carcass.

"Haaa!—Haaaaa!—Haaaaa!" Nauseating blood dribbled cry of sheer and abject terror escaped through Subaru's trembling lip. His eyes were glassy, his throat distended by the all-consuming dread he felt.

All hope had been sucked from his body. He felt nothing but terror, his heart already gone to his head. Tears welled up from beneath the layer of blood that caked his eyes. His mouth hung like an open wound, weak and trembling.

The creature's lips burned with a hellish bright that blindly pinned him in place. The feeling of panic he had was palpable; Subaru could see the fiendish eyes surrounding him in his mind's eye, a great steam wave of inanition before its hunger burnt away his existence.

He'd seen his death so clearly. Its entire face was now overlaid by the flame's all-consuming ill-will."—Haaaa, haaaaaa!" The crimson tear dribbled from between his chattering teeth. Blood spasmed from between his lips in an almost uncontrollable fashion, drenching him with red liquid that streaked his face.

Subaru lurched on his knees in shock at the dread he felt, hearing the gurgled bellows of a breath. The creature upfront rumbled in a fit of achingly violent thirst, most likely something had settled and slaked within it.

Subaru tried to pry his eyes from the beast, to force them away, but his eyes were held to it by the hypnotic force of the beast. The thing's fiery eyes burned into him like ice-hot lashes.

All he could think about was the threat of his imminent death. The only thing that could be seen clearly through the fiery red veil of his fear was that terrible gaze. Its eyes were luminous with primal predatory fury. Everything else was pure white, inky darkness.

It was then, the beast's shadow cast over his vision. Similar to a cudgel striking, a howling roar shook him from his frozen trance.

It was shrill and vicious, its claws flung apart, falling globs that couldn't be mended. The beast called out as its feet scrabbled in a frightening dance, as feet shuffled back. Its teeth peeled back from the cheeks of its face, and it raised its snout into the air.

"GAH!" For an instant, in his hand, Subaru held an implement of a dermatologist skin incision instrument, albeit honed into an edged. The sharpened tip of this metal scalpel jab into the beast's snout like a dart, right between the nose and upper lip.

The steel perimeter of the scalpel railed against its membrane, slicing through the depth material of the skin. It cried, and in that bothered squawk, it felt like the muffled voice of the beast had been amplified, grew.

It shrilled furthermore, this time goring into Subaru's senses with every puff. His flutter fingers throbbed violently and this cry thundered through his crown. A thick droplet of thick, chocolaty blood dripped down from his face.

And though he felt his heart was set ablaze in his chest, it was soon that the slick bead of blood was not one of fear, but the taste of it, he desired more. He craved it, with the reckless urgency of a predator's desire. Subaru could have been just any hungry beast at that moment.

The whimsical premonition of doom was unbearable, he could do nothing but watch as he trembled, blink in uncontrollable paralysis. It was unhindered by his fear, and it would die, no matter what; it was the inevitable, Subaru's life for that beast's own. There was no way to stop the inevitable capture of its prey.

Subaru simply could not look away, they were the eyes of death, in that glare, it held his gaze, and it would not let him run. He knew it could see through him, it was as plain as the fluttering of his eyelashes, he was so close, yet so far away.

Subaru was dying, he knew it, he was about to leave this world, he could sense it. Though his mind and body could no longer register a fear, his gut felt the taint of death. There was no reason for his insatiable thirst, but he could not find it in himself, or on his shoulder, to leave his head in the crook of his elbow and bid them goodbye.

A black mass moved within him, the pulse that had longed to be released, exploded in a grotesque gale force.

It squashed and drained the life from his body, his eyelids trembled, he twitched. The beast would ravage him then, strip him of his life, of his soul. And with its stomach bursting, their prey would feed on its bloody ember, reveling in the all-encompassing, repugnant feast. Subaru could see it so clearly, the promise of extinction before the looming apparition.

Subaru's body burst out a horrendous howl of wracked anguish, with a hard snap of teeth and rending claws, the beast pounced on him.

The nightmare snarled its hunger, Subaru saw the beast's shadow in his mind's eye. He saw its bloody fangs, its sickly eyes, and its thundering fury and howling of rage. Subaru felt a jaw open with a burning ember, a forked tongue with electric fangs.

"GA-AAAAAAAAHHHH!" The flesh was frayed accessible in a hodgepodge of slippery bleeding matter. The cloying blood splattered onto Subaru, lashing him with a maelstrom of crimson. He felt the beast's hooves, the blunt monster, clapped in enchantment against his body.

Subaru's eyes opened, he was now blind by the blood, he was now screaming from the feel of teeth grating into his skull. But he was all the more silent now. As he rode the flow of blood, his vision flushed out of his head, his skull broke from the internal pressure. His life was left with it.

His body twitched, his mouth open, the beast's hot mouth had devoured him.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" It latched its toothy jaw around, swiveling with a force. Leaving nothing but a bloody gelatinous bunch that had surged into his brain. It could feel Subaru's brain mush, pulsating within it, trickling through it, bubbling and bumping against the walls of the crushed skull, before it outgrew through the thinned and dissolved top of it. The monstrous beast had gone mad.

"..." It thrashed at him with wilder fury than before. Its talons clawed the air as it squirmed from its prey.

The strength of a thing, but the will of a beast.


Sorry, Subaru, vast majority died to the scourge beast in their first playthrough. And now, it was your turn.

This ain't Re: Zero if you don't have someone that goes by the name of Natsuki Subaru to torment in a story. Damn you, Tappei. And damn me for pitting Barusu in the center of the infernal regions. It cracks my heart.

There you have it, everyone. The official start chapter crossover story between Bloodborne and Re: Zero begins! Now, we will follow through the eyes of Subaru, that much is obvious, in his upcoming h̶o̶r̶r̶i̶d̶n̶e̶s̶s̶ exciting expedition.

Chapter three is already in its development. Alright? Until then, stay safe.