Something incredible happened, but nothing was registering in Subaru's mind. "Hmm? Master?" Shaula asked. Subaru tapped her shoulder softly and slowly at first until it got stronger and faster. Shaula continued to look at Subaru with a confused expression until Beatrice appeared in Subaru's fading consciousness. "You're killing him, in fact! Murak!" Beatrice shouted, shoving the now extremely lightweight Shaula off of Subaru, Beatrice tapped his cheeks to make sure he was still with them.
Subaru took ragged breaths and sat up. (Oh shit, nearly forgot he was a girl.) His hair was drenched in sweat now that the girl that had been crushing her ribs has been torn off. "I'm ok, Beako," Subaru assured. He then glared at the jumping Shaula. "And you, we've met for the first time in months and you have nothing to say?" Subaru muttered. Shaula stopped bouncing for a moment and flashed a bright smile. "Something to say? I love you, Master!" Shaula said, jumping into Natsumi's arms. Just like a cat, she nuzzled herself against her ample chest. Subaru returned the hug, naturally, since his friend had been brought back from what could've been death. "Even so, in the time I was away, Master had changed," Shaula said, burying her face into Natsumi's chest.
"Ok, now that we have everything sorted out…." Subaru muttered, placing his hand on his chin and thinking. What brought Shaula back? I'm happy of course, but for it to happen at this time? Subaru sunk into his own thoughts for a minute. Shaula stayed silent and continued to embrace Natsumi's body with no force, a request made by Subaru, whose body was now that of a woman's and was extremely fragile as a result. Being crushed by her herculean strength wouldn't be a great way to start the morning.
Beatrice stood to the side of the bed and watched Subaru think. She also had a pout on her adorable face, which right now was only being admired by Meili. The mabeast user in the room, or the second loli was standing to the side. She hadn't seen it happen since she was obviously asleep, but Shaula's loud morning shout woke her up. Beatrice woke up too, everyone was panicking except Subaru, who woke up ten minutes later and then got into a thoughtful state.
"Betty has had enough of this, for now, I suppose," Beatrice grumbled, speaking to her contractor that was still thinking. "Yeah, Yeah, you're cute." Subaru said dissmissivley. That response and the way he said it got on her nerves.
"I'll call Emilia here, in fact," Beatrice said. Subaru was still in a stupor and wasn't even registering the heavenly feeling of something soft pressing against his body and only waved Beatrice off. "Have fun." He replied. Beatrice stomped her foot down one last time in anger and stormed out of the room. Meili watched on with a playful expression and followed Beatrice out, saying "Beatrice-chaaaan." as she left Shaula and Natsumi alone.
The authority of Lust caused this then? Natsumi asked. The authority she had just gained only a while ago was already going off and doing its own thing without his awareness. Both turning me into a woman and bringing Shaula back, can I not use this power when I'm actually conscious? I don't even want to imagine what that says about me. Natsumi sighed. Ending in doubt, Natsumi's thoughts had led him nowhere and he returned to reality.
Shaula had not changed into clothes yet. Even before, when Beatrice knocked Shaula off of Natsumi, she didn't get to see her naked body since she was too busy trying to breathe. Shaula only wrapped herself in the blankets when she got on the bed. It wasn't even a good wrap, she was just under the blankets and had her bare body pressed against Natsumi's. It was a good thing at times like this that Subaru had turned to a girl, otherwise Shaula would've noticed something beneath the blankets. "Hey!" Natsumi shouted, startling the purring Shaula. "Why don't you have any clothes on?!" Natsumi continued. She tried to pull herself away when she realized that a naked Shaula was what was pressing against him. "Even if it's you, I'm still a-! Well, I guess I'm not right now, but anyways!" Natsumi was about to scold Shaula for being things like 'unaware' and whatnot, but a chime of silver bells made her blood run cold and sent a shiver down her spine. "Subaru?" Emilia asked from the doorway, along with Rem and Ram who had looks of repulsion, confusion, and jealousy. Not all on each of their faces of course.
Natsumi stared at Emilia and the rest for a moment before seeing the smug look of a certain drill loli that wanted revenge. "Beako, how could you do this to me?" Natsumi asked, despair and embarrassment in her eyes. Her face was starting to get red and she turned away. To say everyone in the room was charmed by that would be the truth, Ram was the only one who didn't allow for it to show on her face though.
"Ooh! Master's blushing face is something I'll burn into my memory!" Shaula cheered. She had started to squirm her body on top of Natsumi's again, but she was pulled off by a peeved Ram and a jealous Emilia. "Don't do that! You need to properly put on some clothes!" Emilia cried. Both girls dragged Shaula off of Natsumi and draped her bare body in the blankets. Shaula was quickly ushered out by Ram and Rem, leaving two lolis and Emilia in the room with Natsumi. Emilia turned to Natsumi with a surprised look. "Was that Shaula?" Emilia asked.
Natsumi was now sitting on a couch with everyone staring daggers at her. The reason for that was because on his arm was a beautiful woman in a maid outfit who wouldn't stop saying "Master" with a wide grin on her face. "I'm getting a weird sense of Deja Vu right about now," muttered Natsumi. Something similar to this had happened about a year ago at the tower. Naturally, some things had changed from that time and Natsumi wasn't 'Subaru' at the moment, Beatrice wasn't sitting on his lap, and Emilia was very openly showing her hostility. "Well, what's this about, Beako?" Subaru asked while trying to motion for her to come over to him. Beatrice turned her head away and huffed in response.
Beatrice rolled her eyes at her contractor and accusingly pointed her finger at him. "Betty won't comment on your tendency to fool around with women, but there are more pressing matters at hand, I suppose," Beatrice said, her eyes showing frustration. Natsumi nodded her head slowly wordlessly, letting the little girl continue. "If Lust had still been alive, then we'd have an answer to Shaula being here, I suppose. But she isn't. Is Shaula being here related to you, in fact?" Beatrice finished.
Natsumi glanced at Shaula, only now realizing how strange the situation really was. Come to think of it, how can Shaula be here? I had thought the Authority of Gluttony would be the closest I would come to get her back, but it turned out to be Lust? "Master?" Shaula voiced, having caught him staring at her with a thoughtful expression. Natsumi shook her head and decided to ask the girl anyway. It's the quickest way after all.
"Shaula," Natsumi commanded. Shaula immediately stopped hugging her and peered into the depths of her eyes.
"Yes! What is it, Master?" She cheerfully shouted.
"How come you're here now? It's not that I didn't want it, but how?" Natsumi asked. At her question, Shaula seemed to ponder it a bit before nodding her head lots of times with stars in her eyes.
"It's because I could feel Master's love!" Shaula exclaimed. It may have seemed like a stupid answer to anyone else, but both Subaru and Beatrice met gazes and knew what she meant when she said that.
"So it seems it's like that, in fact." Beatrice sighed. She turned to the rest of the room, which comprised of basically the whole Emilia camp, and shooed them away with her hand. "Everyone except those four leave right now, I suppose," Beatrice said while pointing at Emilia, Otto, and the Oni twins. Petra seemed like she was about to say something, but was quickly shut down by Fredrica, who made sure she listened to her superior. "At least you got to see Subaru, I suppose." Beatrice huffed before the two maids left the room.
Garfiel also looked like he wanted to say something, but decided to keep quiet. He wasn't so much of an idiot and instead grabbed Roswall by the collar and dragged him out of the room. "My amazin' self may not understand at this moment, but 'n day I will." Garfiel proclaimed. Those left in the room were now all women with the exception of Otto.
"It seems like Garf has really matured compared to a year ago. " Natsumi voiced, pleasantly surprised by how her younger brother handled being left out of what was an important conversation.
"Really, Garfiel-san isn't the same rash kid from his time in Sanctuary," Otto responded.
"Heeeeh? I can't help but feel a little proud." Natsumi said.
"Barusu didn't have anything to do with that growth, why should you feel proud? The one who should be proud is me, isn't that obvious?" Ram said. She moved from standing beside Roswall to sitting on the couch opposite of Natsumi, crossed her legs, and glared at the empty table and then at Otto. "And what are you doing?" Ram asked, confusing Otto. "I don't see any tea that has been served."
"Why me?!" Otto shouted.
Ram shot him a glare and made him shut up with that alone. Otto scurried to the kitchen with a frantic look. Ram remained composed, but Rem was slightly panicking with how bad she felt for the merchant. Natsumi snickered at the sight, moving to the side and patting the empty spot next to him with anticipating eyes directed at Emilia. "Hmph!" Emilia cutely pouted and sat beside Ram instead. "That's a pretty cold response, Emilia-tan!" Natsumi shouted.
"Don't worry about that silly girl, for now, I suppose. Sit over there as well, maid." Beatrice commanded, pointing at Rem. Beatrice's apathy for everything happening around her was slightly concerning, but Rem bowed and sat beside Emilia. Beatrice watched those three like a hawk for a moment, before… "Myah, I suppose?!" Beatrice was lifted into the air and then set onto Natsumi's lap.
"Don't make that face, Beako! Didn't I already tell you that everything would be fine?" Natsumi smiled. Both girls stayed in an embrace for a moment, not even Shaula bothering them, but then a certain merchant showed up.
"I have the tea!" Otto yelled, stumbling in with a gray tray full of teacups. He completely disrupted the tranquil atmosphere with his shouting, earning the glares of Emilia and Rem.
"Yeah, thanks," Natsumi responded. She unwrapped her arms from Beako and reached for the tea. Otto set the tray down after everyone who wanted some got it and sat in the only empty seat. "Whew…" Otto relaxed, starting to blow on his tea when he noticed the glares of the two girls on the opposite couch.
"N-Natsuki-san…" Otto whispered. He moved closer to Natsumi and was met with a wonderful sight he wouldn't forget. Natsumi blew on her cup of tea and elegantly brought it to her mouth and drank it. Otto unknowingly started to blush and so did Shaula. Unlike Shaula though, Otto wasn't a woman, and the hatred on his back only increased.
"W-What in the HELL are you doing in fact?!" Beatrice shouted from Natsumi's lap. She started to thrash about, and Emilia tried to get her to stop, but Natsumi had her hands full. "Yow. I accidentally burned my tongue." Natsumi said, sticking her burnt tongue out and...I don't have to finish, do I?
"Beako, you shouldn't say something like Hell, I didn't raise you that way!" Natsumi sternly said. Though half of it was a joke, she did properly scold what might as well be her little sister or daughter. Beatrice didn't respond. "Hmm? Beako?" Natsumi moved her face closer to Beatrice's, which was buried in her hands for some reason. "Hmm?" Natsumi looked up and saw the disgusted face of Ram, the blushing and flustered expressions of Emilia and Rem, the love-filled gaze of Shaula, and Otto also had his head in his hands for some reason. "What's up with you guys?" Natsumi asked.
"So my little sister and Emilia-sama weren't enough?" Ram questioned. Her glare towards him was more superficial than it seemed, and it looked like she was trying to force down a smile and scowl.
"What does that even mean? Shaula isn't even a romantic interest, Nee-sama." Natsumi clarified. Though that should've been enough for her, Ram continued on. "That man has become enamored with someone in this room, who's fault do you think that is?" Ram said, signaling Otto.
"Otto?" Natsumi repeated. Her brows then furrowed and she grabbed his collar, the abrupt standing makes Beatrice fall off his lap and was caught by Shaula. "You bastard! Just so you know, everyone in this room besides Ram is in love with me!" Natsumi proclaimed. She started to shake him back and forth. It was only at this point did the silent Emilia speak up.
"That isn't it, Subaru," Emilia whispered. She got up and cupped her hand over his ear. "The one that Otto has been charmed by isn't any of us, but you." She whispered. Emilia was also blushing now.
"Emilia-tan?"
"No! Don't look at me right now!" Emilia frantically cried, covering her red face with her hands. Natsumi let go of Otto and brought her face closer to Emilia. She tilted her head cutely, which only seemed to elicit more of a response out of everyone. Otto then stood up, hands still covering his face, and bolted out of the room.
"Wow. Is it really something so amazing?" Subaru asked. He turned over to those that were still blushing and fired. Emilia nodded her head, silently and quickly sliding her hands through her hair. "AH! We're getting too far off track!" Natsumi shouted. "Wasn't this supposed to be about what's happening or something?" (That's a message to myself. I really forgot what was happening in my own story.)
Beatrice nodded, deciding to continue while seated in Shaula's lap. "Because that merchant decided to run away, I'll continue the explanation with those that are present here, I suppose," Beatrice said. Emilia nodded with a determined glare.
"Ok, Beako! Please tell us what you came up with!" Emilia cheered. She had moved herself to sit right beside Natsumi, opting to hold her hand. That display visibly bothered Shaula and Beatrice, but seeing how happy and nonchalant Natsumi was, they decided to ignore it.
Beatrice ignored the fact that Emilia had called her the pet name that only Subaru was supposed to, but ignored it. This was a serious conversation and she would adopt a tone and attitude to befit the seriousness of the situation, I suppose. "What is said here must be kept a secret to everyone else, in fact. Betty chose the ones who stayed depending on whether or not they could be trusted, in fact!" She shot a glare at the maids. "And that means no telling any of this to Roswall, I suppose."
If Ram was bothered by Beatrice's words or actions, she certainly didn't show it and only shrugged her shoulders. Her sister, on the other hand, was nodding furiously. "If it's a secret relating to Subaru-kun, then Rem will gladly keep it!" Rem cheerily replied. Even if it wasn't about Subaru, Rem hated Roswall to some degree. When she didn't have her memories, she learned what it was like to be her own person. That didn't change when she had gotten her memories back, but she was more assertive now. Her respect and love for both Subaru and Ram had lowered and was replaced with love for herself. So when she learned of what Roswall had done, it was something that she couldn't forgive. She was in the camp as the personal caretaker of the Half-elf's knight, Natsuki Subaru. Like hell, if she'd ever served under that clown bastard again.
"If that is what Rem has decided to do, then I won't disagree." Ram sighed.
Beatrice scoffed and nodded her head. "The reason Subaru has turned into a woman is almost certainly because of his authority of Lust, I suppose," Beatrice stated. Before anyone could ask her what that meant, she continued to explain. "That's three now. Subaru is in possession of the authority of Sloth, the Authority of Greed, and the Authority of Lust now, I suppose." Everyone's eyes widened except for Shaula and Subaru, who already knew.
"Ah! Is that why Subaru was asking if he was lustful yesterday?" Emila asked. She looked like she had just figured out something important, but it quickly turned to a somewhat guilty expression. "I'm sorry. I thought Subaru was just messing around yesterday. I'm rea~lly sorry!" Emilia proclaimed. She let go of her knight's hand and gave a semi bow.
"Is that really what you thought I was doing?!" Subaru shouted, not sure exactly to feel now that she had 'confessed' to him. "Well, it's fine. It's not like it's too big of a problem for now anyway." Natsumi then latched her hand back with Emilia's and flashed a smile. "So don't be so down!" Emilia perked her head up and smiled, tightening her hand on his(hers)
Beatrice continued with her explanation, telling everyone about the more minor details and what she and Natsumi had found out. Things like compatibility with a witch factor, insanity, Flugel, and the burning question that had been on at least Ram's mind.
"Wait, Beatrice-sama," Ram spoke, lazily sitting back while Rem played with her hair.
"What is it? Speak, I suppose."
"From what you've been saying, doesn't have three of these 'witchfactors' seem strange?" Ram asked. She shot a look at Subaru and snorted, though it seemed like she was worried. It was well masked, only noticed by Subaru. But considering how serious the situation was and just how important it was, he didn't mention it.
"About that…" Subaru started. Everyone in the room turned their heads towards Natsumi. Ram had asked Beatrice, but Natsumi decided to answer. It felt like everyone was expecting something of importance from Subaru, but he couldn't exactly say that 'Oh, I'm a Sage candidate' or 'I'm in love with Satella' or that 'the connections between me and Shaula go more than her thinking I'm her master'. They were all strange answers and the pressure that he felt for no reason was starting to weigh even heavier. Right when he was feeling that he would be suffocated by it, someone chimed in.
"Ooh! Ooh! It's because Master is the Sage!" Shaula promptly answered. Shaula, having seemingly realized that there was someone on her lap that wasn't her Master, shoved the unwanted presence off and held Natsumi close to her chest. Everyone looked confused at her words. The Sage was Shaula's Master, but what did that have to do with Subaru?
"I'm sorry, Shaula, but you're not making any sense. Subaru can't be the Sage." Emilia softly answered. She shook her head at the explanation that Shaula gave and it made Natsumi slightly flinch. She was about to give a similar answer…
"Not a Sage, but a candidate…" Natsumi muttered. Beatrice, glaring at Shaula and still on the floor didn't hear him, but the two maidens on each of his sides heard him loud and clear.
"Subaru?" Emilia questioned. She gazed into his eyes, but he seemed to be somewhere else. It slightly worried her if she was to speak her mind, but it felt like she would be doing something wrong if she were to snap him out of the strange trance that he had gotten himself in. So, she could only watch and grip his(her) hand in her own.
Is that one of the requirements to be a Sage candidate? The ability to house multiple witch factors? What does that even mean…? Natsumi squinted her eyes and thought about it for a moment. She felt like there was something missing here. Was it her own memories or was it just a piece of information that would help her out here? The last bit could be true, but my memories...it feels like there is a gap there. It could be something important… Natsumi was now letting out a thinking noise and everyone only watched, some cheerful and others worried.
The feeling of attachment that I feel towards Satella has always been weird. Why do I feel that way? He had never met her and held a conversation with her before that time at Echidna's tea party, but he couldn't do something like deny his feelings. The things that Satella had said felt surprisingly familiar to him, though he didn't know why.
"Mmmmm, yeah. I don't really know." Natsumi sighed. It was a thought process that had led her nowhere again. She leaned back a bit in exhaustion and realized that this wasn't the most important thing to be worrying about. What was most important right now was that she wasn't a male and she would either have to get used to that or find a way to revert back to normal. "My Authority of Lust could be similar to Capella's. My body has been changed to a woman's and I somehow brought Shaula back. I don't know if this is Gluttony or Lust though." Natsumi said.
Emilia raised her hand quickly, like a kid who really wanted to be called on. "Okay. Emilia-tan." Natsumi said, pointing to the girl. Emilia let her hand down and asked worriedly,
"You don't know if it was Gluttony or Lust that brought Shaula...here?" Emilia asked. She liked Shaula, and besides the commotion that she had caused in the morning, it was odd that she was even here in the first place.
Natsumi sighed. The topic was now getting to more information that could be kept secret. "This is not something that everyone knows and I've only told this to Emilia-tan and Beako, but I have met with the Witches of Sin before and I somewhat know what their authorities are about," Natsumi confessed. Emilia and Beatrice nodded while Shaula continued to mutter expressions of love and praise for her master. Rem looked serious and attentive, but Ram looked on with a raised eyebrow.
Before Ram could say anything, Natsumi continued. "The mabeasts were not created by the Witch of Envy, but by the Witch of Gluttony, Daphne. By that logic, Shaula was also created by her." Natsumi looked at Shaula for some sort of confirmation and she nodded her head furiously.
"Mom was always hanging around Master! But but, my heart belongs to Master!" Shaula proclaimed. Every single person in the room had their eyes on her with some full of understanding and others of shock.
"Flugel can not host the Witchfactor of someone else that holds it, I suppose. Did you all really believe that the Sage had created Shaula on his own, in fact? Or did you simply believe that the Witch of Envy had created a being for the Sage, I suppose?" Beatrice glared from her contractor's lap. All of these girls around him were ignorant of everything that was even slightly important.
Ram didn't like the way that Beatrice had said that as if they had all done something wrong, but they weren't close and Beatrice didn't desire to be spoken to by a maid as if she were her friend like Emilia did, so she kept her nasty retort to herself.
The tensions were slightly high, mainly because the two most prideful people were just glaring at each other. "Don't do that, Beako. And Nee-sama shouldn't be challenging a little girl." Natsumi sighed. She patted the loli's head and gave Ram a smile. "The authority of Gluttony is still an unknown to me and the authority of Lust is too. I don't want to risk anything." Natsumi looked to the ground. Her authorities only manifested when she truly needed them. Invisible Providence was a one-use thing and Cor Leonis she had gotten used to after dying. There was always a feeling though, one he felt when he had used both of those for the first time, and that was how to use them. Invisible Providence he had control of and Cor Leonis felt like a third arm after only a single death he knew everything there was to it.
Because it was like that, it was her gut that was telling her that it wasn't the Authority of Gluttony and was instead the Authority of Lust. The problem was that she had only used the Authority of Lust while unconscious and her gut wasn't telling her anything about what it could do. Had he changed Shaula's form from that of a scorpion to that of a girl? Meili still had her mind when she was turned into frogs, but Shaula didn't when she was a scorpion? Or were mabeasts different in some way? With so many thoughts in her mind, Natsumi sighed and furrowed her brows. "This discussion is going nowhere. Just know that everything will be fine and if I find out anything more, you'll all be the first to know." Natsumi smiled tiredly.
Everyone except for the clingy Shaula had wanted to talk more, but seeing as how stressed Subaru was, they decided to let it go and get ready for later this evening.
As Natsumi was leaving with Beatrice and Shaula, Emilia tapped her back. "What is it, Emilia-tan? Is there something you need?" Natsumi asked. This entire ordeal has been stressful, but there was always time for his love.
"We were invited to a celebration for our subjugation of Capella. We had planned to go today, but seeing the state you're in…" Emilia trailed off. She was worried about Subaru. He had changed into a girl and then the discussion he had seemed to make him tired. She couldn't imagine the amount of stress he must be under right now.
"Eh? A party? I'm definitely going!" Natsumi declared. All of this was starting to really wear on her, even if she didn't show it. A party would be a great chance for some relaxation. "I want to dance with Emilia-tan again." She smiled.
Emilia had been taken aback a bit by her knight's enthusiasm, but she smiled gently. If he was happy, so was she. "We'll be leaving later in the evening, so get ready. All of the camps and some nobles will be there. I'm reaaaaaaally nervous!" Emilia shouted. She slapped her cheeks and grinned.
"Wait, all of the camps?" Natsumi repeated. The first people he thought of were Felix and Julius. He was now more feminine than Felix and it would be funny to pull a prank on Julius. Natsumi's smile turned a little sinister as she thought of messing with those two at the party.
I'm sorry to those that read this all the way back in February. Nothing happened to make me not write, it took me so long because of no motivation. I still need to figure out what to do with Rui. Also, this chapter had less fun than last and I'm sorry if you didn't like it. Next chapter we should be back to Ch1 type story.