Chapter 7
Falling to the ground, Itsuki let out a scream. Clutching his right arm, Itsuki slowly curled into a ball. The pain of losing it still lingered in his mind.
That wasn't supposed to happen. He, along with everyone else, was supposed to be safe here! Yet Itsuki was just murdered a second time!
First by Elsa. And now by an unknown assailant.
With the pain slowly fading, Itsuki, with a shaking hand, rose to his feet. Now with a clear head, and only the slight sting of pain, Itsuki had one question in the back of his mind.
Who killed him?
He wasn't able to get a look at their face, only the black shoes they wore. Or was it a pair of boots?
"Itsuki!" Subaru's voice shouted at him as the boy ran down the hall. "We have a problem!"
Minutes later
Making sure the door was locked, Itsuki and Subaru talked in an unused room.
"You were attacked?" Subaru repeated the words he had just heard.
"I couldn't get a look at who it was, but I was killed, yeah." Itsuki said. "What about you? See anything before you looped?"
"No. I went to sleep last night and woke up five days prior." Subaru replied.
"You went to sleep?" Itsuki repeated. "Then...how exactly does this looping work?! How'd you know to loop if you just went to bed? Didn't you find my body or something that would clue you in to resetting?"
Subaru shook his head. "It doesn't work like that. I have to..." he paused, needing to choose his words very carefully to avoid what happened last time he tried this. "I have to...move on...in order to...activate it..."
"Move on?" Itsuki repeated. "The hell do you mean by-" he stopped as Subaru dragged his index finger across his own throat. "You have to die?!"
"Yeah..." Subaru nodded. "I have to...move on..."
Thinking back on the previous loops, Itsuki realized this would make sense. If Subaru died to reset, then the times they looped in the Lute house made sense. And when Itsuki looped while chasing Felt meant Subaru must have died a whole lot sooner.
"Wow..." Itsuki said softly. "That fuckin' sucks."
"Anyway! You're sure you weren't able to catch a glimpse of your attacker?" Subaru asked.
"I told you everything that happened. I woke up to the sound of chains, went to investigate, and got fuckin' murdered." Itsuki said.
"Don't you know not to go to the scary sounds in the middle of the night?" Subaru asked.
"I was half asleep, okay! Besides, we're supposed to be safe here." Itsuki said.
"Even so, you're the one who told me to be cautious, yet you go and check out a creepy sound during the witching hour."
"Whatever." Itsuki crossed his arms. "You got an idea as to why you died in your sleep?"
"There's one theory. Whoever killed you snuck into my room next and killed me." Subaru said.
"Yeah, that would make sense." Itsuki placed a finger and thumb to his chin in thought. "And here I was hoping for it to be relatively smooth from here on. Now we're dealing with an intruder."
"Any ideas who it might be?" Subaru asked.
"Maybe Elsa?" Itsuki suggested. "She did say how she was gonna kill us all."
"She said she'd gut us. It may be Elsa, but I doubt she'd make our deaths so painless. I mean, you lost an arm then was killed immediately after. As for me, I just passed in my sleep."
Taking a second to think it over, Itsuki sighed.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. If it were Elsa, then both of us would have suffered. Even Reinhard said she liked to gut her victims. So why change her MO so suddenly?"
"For the sake of argument, let's say it isn't Elsa." Subaru said. "That brings us right back to the same question: who would want us dead?"
"No idea." Itsuki shrugged as he crossed his arms. "Maybe it was a random break-in?"
"Maybe." Subaru shrugged. "We'll just have to see what'll come up."
"What d'you wanna do?" Itsuki asked.
"Let's just follow our footsteps from before." Subaru replied. "If we follow the same path, we may be able to figure out who killed us."
"Yeah. Not the best idea. Sorta ended in our fuckin' deaths."
"If we die again, we'll just loop and figure out a way to stop whoever it is." Subaru said.
"Again, I don't like this plan. If you die, sure you reset, but if I die and the next loop point occurs, that's it for me." Itsuki told Subaru. "I'd rather not be used as a fuckin' pawn."
"Do you really think I wouldn't loop if you died?" Subaru asked. "You're the only person I can talk to about this. If you die, I'll make sure to loop. One way or another. I can't imagine pulling this crap off by myself."
"That's surprisingly comforting to hear." Itsuki said. "So, you want to retrace our steps, huh?"
"Yep." Subaru nodded. "Let's figure this out, partner." He added while holding out his fist. Itsuki couldn't help but give a slight smile as he tapped his closed fist against Subaru's.
"I'll follow your lead, man."
The following day
Itsuki was working in the garden with Ram once again. Watering the plants and trimming the bushes, Itsuki looked to the pink haired girl.
"May I ask you a question?"
"This question better not be a waste of time."
Same reaction as the previous loop, only this time it was on a different day.
"How secure is this mansion?"
"Why do you ask?"
"I heard a few strange noises last night while trying to sleep." Itsuki lied. "If there are any blind spots, I actually know a few tricks to increase security."
"There will be no need for such." Ram replied. "No one would be able to sneak inside the mansion without alerting Lord Roswaal, Beatrice, Rem or myself. On top of that, the security is some of the finest."
"So, is it possible for someone to break in?"
"It is possible, but the likelihood of that happening is next to none." Ram replied.
"I see." Itsuki breathed a sigh. "That's good to hear."
"If you don't mind, I'd prefer to work in silence." Ram told Itsuki.
"Right."
A few minutes later
Humming his favorite song as he worked, Ram couldn't help but turn her head to the side to hear the noise Itsuki was making. Like Rem, Ram found herself enjoying the tune, albeit only slightly.
"What are you humming?" Ram asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
"'Next to You'. It was a song I happened upon one day." Itsuki said. "It's actually one of the few songs I taught myself to play on the piano. Took forever, though."
"You know how to play piano?" Ram asked.
"Only three songs." Itsuki replied.
"Hm."
Without another word, Ram got back to work.
A few hours later
Having cleaned most of the rooms and washed most of the windows, Itsuki was approached by Rem.
"You seem to be working hard."
"I do take my jobs seriously." Itsuki told the maid. "Need anything else done tonight?"
"No. My sister and I can take it from here." Rem told him. "Get some rest. We have quite a bit to do tomorrow."
"Sure thing."
Walking off to return the supplies, Itsuki proceeded to head to his room. Walking into the room, Itsuki took off his uniform and folded it before placing it on the desk. Changing into his sleepwear, Itsuki began to pace back and forth.
"If this place is near impossible to break in without alerting one of the maids or that short blonde girl, then how come the intruder made it so far into the mansion?" Itsuki asked himself. "Wouldn't one of them notice and stop whoever it was? Unless...did the intruder kill Rem and Ram before killing me? I didn't hear any sounds of a brawl or scuffle. Didn't even hear glass shattering if the intruder decided to break in through the window. Then again, Rem and Ram don't look like they get into many fights... I'm getting off track!"
"You should learn to keep a civil tone, Itsuki." Looking to the door, Emilia stood there, her usual smile on her face. "You'll disturb someone's sleep."
"Emilia? What brings you by this late?"
"I wanted to say goodnight, but it seems you're a bit too energetic to sleep at the moment." Emilia replied. "Is something troubling you?"
"You could say that." Itsuki said as he looked out the window. Approaching it, he leaned against the windowsill, peering out at the darkness that covered the garden. "Can I ask you a question?"
"What's on your mind?"
"Rem and Ram...are they strong?" Itsuki asked.
"That's an odd thing to ask." Emilia said. "But yes. The two of them are strong in their own ways. Why do you ask?"
"So, if there was an intruder, one who didn't mind killing, would one of them be able to stop them?"
"Depending on the individual, yes. Rem and Ram are both highly skilled when it comes to that sort of thing." Emilia replied. "What's-"
"What about that short blonde girl? Is she capable?" Itsuki cut Emilia off.
"Of course. Beatrice could stand her ground against Lord Roswaal if needed. Why are you so curious about this?"
Itsuki sighed.
"It's because..." he turned to face Emilia. "Someone is going to break in. On the fourth night since mine and Subaru's arrival, someone breaks in and kills-"
Itsuki was cut off mid-sentence. Emilia and Itsuki stood still, frozen in place by an unknown force. As a dark cloud engulfed Itsuki, a pair of purple hands slowly reached out to him.
"What's going on..?" He thought. His lips couldn't move, but his mind still functioned.
As Itsuki watched the hands move closer, they suddenly reached into his chest. With the hands invading his body, Itsuki's mind began to race as he felt the fingers wrap around his heart.
With a firm squeeze, time resumed and Itsuki collapsed to the floor, coughing as his chest tightened.
"Itsuki!" Emilia yelled his name as she crouched down beside him. "Itsuki what happened?!"
Itsuki looked up at Emilia, his head beginning to feel as light as a feather as his eyes slowly closed.
The next day
Slowly sitting up, Itsuki remembered what had happened the previous night. Lifting his shirt, he saw that there weren't any wounds.
"I'm happy to see you are alright, Itsuki." Rem said as she stood with a tray, a teapot and two cups. "I thought a cup of tea would help reenergize you."
"Thanks." Itsuki said as Rem walked over and sat on the chair beside the bed. Placing the tray onto the bedside table, Rem proceeded to pour herself and Itsuki a cup.
"How are you feeling? Miss Emilia told us that you seemed to have a sudden chest pain and collapsed." Rem said. "She was rather worried. Said you spouted off some nonsense about the mansion being broken into before collapsing."
"Yeah, I did say that." Itsuki admitted. "I have a sort of...ability that lets me see events that are to come. However, the ability is flawed at times and only shows me a possibility that can occur." He lied.
"I see." Rem said as she finished off her tea. "That's good to know. It's a good thing to have someone around with that sort of ability."
"Yeah. In this world, it does come in handy." Itsuki replied as he finished off his tea. "Do you know what time it is?"
"Around noon." Rem replied. "I also came by to let you know that, because of miss Emilia's insisting you rest, you are given the day off."
"Nah." Itsuki got to his feet. "I can't stay in bed all day."
"Very well, but miss Emilia has ordered you not to work today. I'll also need you rested and awake tomorrow because we are going into the village for supplies."
With that, Rem picked up the tray and left the room.
"Not to work, huh?" Itsuki said to himself before getting dressed in the clothes that were left for him.
Wearing a pair of black pants, white shirt and shoes, Itsuki left the room.
"If what Ram said is true, then this place should be safe." Itsuki thought. "It won't hurt to double check though."
A few hours later
Walking around the mansion, Itsuki looked for any weak points but came up empty handed. The mansion was pretty secure. But how did the intruder break in?
Rubbing his eyes, Itsuki needed a break. All of this thinking was giving him a slight headache. He needed to do something else for a bit.
Walking outside, the sun's rays draped across Itsuki's body. Shielding his eyes, they quickly adjusted to the brightness.
Lowering his arm, Itsuki walked out to the garden. Seeing Subaru talking with Emilia, Itsuki decided to leave them be as he explored the garden.
This was the first time he was able to experience the peacefulness outside of work. With the wind blowing through his dark hair, the sounds of the birds chirping and the sweet smell of the grass was all putting Itsuki at ease.
"Itsuki!" Emilia shouted his name as she rushed over to him.
"Oh. Hey, Emi-"
"Are you okay?! Is your chest still hurting?! Why aren't you in bed?!"
Itsuki was taken aback by the barrage of questions.
"He probably just woke up." Subaru told Emilia. "You don't want to overwhelm him, do you?" Subaru then looked to Itsuki. "Hey, man."
Looking to Emilia, Itsuki spoke. "To answer your questions: I'm fine. The pain's gone. And I refuse to stay in bed for a whole day." Itsuki said. "So, I've decided to use my day off in another way."
"Huh?" Emilia cocked her head.
"I'm going to train my gymnastic skills." Itsuki replied, having now figured out what to do with his day.
"Gymnastics, huh?" Puck said as he emerged from behind Emilia's hair. "Lia mentioned your moves against that girl in the Lute house. Mind if I watch for myself?"
"Sure, I don't mind."
Walking away with Puck, Itsuki headed for one of the many structures in the garden. Standing outside, he began to stretch his arms and legs to limber up. Once done, he approached the stone bench.
"So what moves are involved in these gymnastics?" Puck asked.
"Well, there are levels of difficulty." Itsuki replied. "The higher the difficulty, the harder the move. Since it's been a while, I'll just start with the basics."
Placing his hands on the bench, Itsuki kicked off the ground. Holding himself up with his hands, Itsuki was perfectly verticle.
Holding the position for a few moments, Itsuki let himself fall back onto his feet. Taking a few steps away from the bench, he performed a cartwheel next.
A few hours later
Arms and legs sore, Itsuki managed to knock quite a bit of rust off his gymnastic skills. He only performed basic moves, but planned to go up in difficulty later on.
Heading to his room, Itsuki laid down and fell asleep.
The next day
After getting his work done, Itsuki was approached by Rem.
"Are you ready to head into the village?" She asked.
"Yeah."
As the two approached the mansion's entrance, they were quickly approached by Subaru.
"Mind if I tag along?" He asked.
Rem cocked her head at this. "Why?"
"I sort of made plans with Mili and wanted to scope out a few spots." Subaru replied. "So, mind if I come with?"
"Is your work done?" Rem asked.
"Yep! Just finished up."
"Then I suppose it's fine."
Minutes later
While walking the path, Subaru seemed to be ahead of both Itsuki and Rem, clearly eager to hurry to the village. Itsuki didn't mind though. He got to spend time with Rem and get to know her better.
"So, Rem." Itsuki said, getting her attention. "I... is there anything you want to talk about?"
"Not particularly." Rem replied.
"Well...is there anything you like? Maybe a favorite color or a favorite food?"
"I never gave it any thought before." Rem said.
"At least it was better than being a straight up 'no'." Itsuki thought.
"Maybe...white?" Rem said. "It's a blank color and can be turned into any color you wish."
"That's...a unique way of seeing it." Itsuki said.
"What about you? What's your favorite color?" Rem asked him.
"Mine? It's, uh, it's blue, actually."
Rem stopped walking once she heard that. "Blue?"
"Yeah. Mainly because my favorite half-demon wears blue." Itsuki said as he glanced back at Rem.
"Half...demon..?"
"Yeah. His name is Vergil. He's part of a-" Itsuki cut himself off as he shook his head. "He's part of a fairy tale my parents used to tell me when I was young."
"I see... so I take it you like demons?" Rem asked.
"Oh yeah." Itsuki nodded. "Demons are awesome. A lot better than most people I know, that's for sure." With that, Itsuki continued to follow the path, not realizing Rem was still in place.
"I see." A slight smile crossed Rem's lips. "Demons, huh?"
A few hours later
After getting everything from the village, Itsuki and Rem once again walked behind Subaru who seemed overly eager to return to the mansion.
"Itsuki?" Rem said softly.
"Yeah?"
"Could you tell me the story of the demon Vergil?" She asked.
"Oh. Well, it's about two demons." Itsuki told her. "A pair of twins: Vergil and Dante, sons of the legendary dark knight Sparda who was imprisoned by Mundus after helping the humans. You see, these twins, even though they were family, fought each other as though they were mortal enemies. Each wore an amulet that was given to them by their mother. Once these two amulets were combined, they could open the door to the demon realm. Vergil, wanting to embrace his demon side and become powerful enough to rule the human realm, fought his younger twin Dante, who wanted to protect the human realm from demons, in order to steal Dante's amulet and open the demon realm. In order to defeat his older brother, Dante had to embrace his demonic power. And, in the end, succeeded in defeating Vergil after a gruesome fight in the demon realm. After separating the amulets, the door began to close and Dante was forced to leave his twin behind in order to escape, keeping one amulet in the demon realm and the other in the human realm, making it impossible to reopen the door once again."
After a few seconds of silence, Rem spoke.
"That's a heartbreaking story. Two brothers who were torn apart by different goals." Rem said softly. "But why do you favor Vergil over Dante? From the story perspective, it seems Vergil is the bad one out of the two."
"Well...let's just say I understand his motivation." Itsuki replied. "The want for power. I can relate." Itsuki jumped over a puddle on the ground. "What about you? Out of the two brothers, who do you favor?"
Taking a second to think it over, Rem looked to Itsuki.
"Both."
Surprised by her reply, Itsuki couldn't help but smile. As Rem returned the expression, Itsuki felt his heart flutter.
"You've got a gorgeous smile, y'know."
"Heeeey!" Subaru shouted at them. "What's the hold up? C'mon!"
Making it back to the mansion, Itsuki helped carry the groceries to the kitchen. This time, however, Rem didn't tell Itsuki he could leave. Instead, she let him help put things away.
Once done, Itsuki wiped his hands on his pants before standing up straight.
"Is there anything else you need from me?" Itsuki asked.
"No. You may return to your room if you want." Getting to her feet, Rem went to walk by Itsuki and, as she did, gave him a quick, genuine smile. "Goodnight." She told him once she made it to the doorway.
"Yeah. Goodnight!" Itsuki said as Rem disappeared behind the wall.
With everything out of the way, tonight was the night the intruder breaks in.
Hours later
Awoken by the sound of chain echoing through the halls once again, Itsuki leaped out of bed and rushed into the hall. Turning his head left and right, Itsuki heard the chain come from his left.
Sprinting down the hall, Itsuki was determined to find out who the intruder was. He had to see their face. He had to know who attacked him.
Sliding around the corner, Itsuki ran to the source, only to hear a blood-curdling scream echo through the hall.
The scream sounded like a man's, meaning it was either Roswaal or-
"Subaru!"
Pushing his legs harder, Itsuki rounded the corner and found himself staring at a familiar scene, only this time it wasn't him lying in a pool of his own blood.
"Subaru!"
Seeing the familiar tracksuit, Itsuki rushed over and fell to one knee, sliding to Subaru's side while getting Subaru's blood on his pant leg. Not knowing what to do, Itsuki looked around, only to feel a drop of liquid hit the top of his head. Looking up, another drop hit Itsuki's cheek as he saw Subaru's arm hanging from the chandelier.
"Holy fuck!"
Hearing the sound of chains once more, Itsuki looked to the source. With his body intact and his mind clear, Itsuki watched the silhouette slowly approach. However, before the shadows parted from their face, Itsuki thought he heard what sounded like a quiet sob...
Right before a spiked ball launched at him, knocking him away from Subaru and down the hall.
The attack wasn't as nearly powerful as the previous one that caused him to lose his arm. However, the spikes did pierce his skin and the force definitely broke something inside of him.
Coughing blood onto his hand as he covered his mouth, Itsuki pushed himself to his feet, looking down the hall just as their attacker raised their weapon above their head and brought the spiked ball down onto Subaru's skull.
End of chapter 7