Inside the Tomb

—

I got my hands on some fancy new toys: 「」

Now stuff I deem worthy will go inside these, like authorities and blessings and the such.

—

Dark, inky, devoid of light, so black Meiss can't tell if his eyes are open. His breathing was ragged and uneven as he swung his arms around wildly, looking for some sort of wall, for anything to hold. As soon as his hands roughly brushed the chiseled stone of an unseen wall, he called forth the cold heat to envelope his arms. Dim light illuminated smooth grey bricks in front of him. He looked side-to-side, darkness down each direction. His hand was held upwards, depressing grey stone was overhead. Meiss swung one arm out, Acedia bursting forth to it's maximum distance of seven meters, twenty-two feet. It met nothing. There was stone to one side, under him, and above him.

Where was he? All he remembered was his foot crossing the threshold of the fence, it hadn't even touched the ground before he was swept here. God it feels so cold here… but the temperature is quite warm. Meiss absentmindedly fiddled with the miniscule cracks in the wall.

"I stepped over the fence's threshold and got swallowed by darkness. The tomb itself isn't close enough that I could have fallen inside, not to mention that someone would have pulled me out. No, this must be an illusion, a dream to repel those the tomb deems unfit for it or something."

An illusion, it has to be. Meiss turned to face the wall, resting both hands flat-palmed against it. Meiss had no experience with breaking out of illusions, so the outcome of someone snapping him out of it was likely. On the other hand, this may be the type of thing where he wouldn't wake up until he found the exit. The blonde grimaced, smacking the wall in frustration. This gave way to an idea.

Meiss didn't know the upper limits of Acedia's temperature, just knowing that it got really freaking hot. Hot enough to lightsaber it's way through flesh, with only the carbon leftover. With the newly-found atomic applications of spirit magic, which was abstract compared to the hard magic system of fire, water, earth, air, yin, and yang, he could find an approximate temperature with pure elements. Meiss shook his head, that was something to be done when nothing was happening.

Meiss drew one hand from the wall, making his hand flat in a karate-chop position with fingers pointing at the stone. The Dolorem already active seemed to grow and lengthen, as a single wire of Acedia slowly reached for the wall. To his relief, the stone cracked when the heat was introduced suddenly, before starting to glow and bubble. It took a few seconds, but Adecia was able to make it through the stone. The hot wire retracted into his body, and Meiss peered through the hole in the brick.

"I see, a thinker we have here. With a leash on his primal emotions, even if it isn't as strong as it could be."

Meiss' breath hitched in his throat as the voice echoed from inside his head, behind him, from the hole, from everywhere. Meiss spun in a search for the voice, only to find dappled torchlight scarring his dark-adjusted eyes. W-were those purple torches? The blonde rubbed his eyes to calm the sudden change of light, opening them to see that the torches are in fact burning purple. Potassium Chloride is what flits through his mind as he takes in the rest of the surroundings. Meiss is now within a narrow hallway, with barely enough room to stretch out both arms. It was as if the missing wall had been suddenly added. His hands could easily brush the ceiling if he jumped, and for someone taller they wouldn't need to jump probably. The air is gritty, and Meiss gets the unpleasant feeling of breathing in exhaled cigarette smoke, but cleaner, if that makes sense. Down the hallway…

"Heh, Sorry that this welcome turned somewhat into a scare. I didn't plan for that, but haplessly am I a creature of greed. It's nigh impossible to escape the thirst for knowledge."

Meiss breathed in a calming breath, as his eyes take in the form of a woman in her late teens or possibly early twenties. She's monochrome, can't be healthy. Stupid, this is another world, people have blue hair naturally, she's probably completely fine.

"By the dragon, you do think a lot."

The woman smiled, her waist-length hair is so white it looks as if it could actually be clear. Her clothing is black, making her hair pop. Conversely, it could be seen as her hair making the dark dress pop. Her eyes are a pitch black, so dark that Meiss can't figure out where the pupil starts or ends. But the feeling Meiss feels most of all…

Is fear.

The boy can barely keep his fight-or-flight reaction in check, and it's weird that the response he's getting is flight. Normally, he would fight, but the sheer pressure this woman exerts by merely standing is not any small amount. Comparable to the nigh-impervious Regulus or Crush before her memories were taken. It wasn't the animalistic sense of pressure he got from facing the Hakugei either, this was cold, calculating, and shocked Meiss to the core.

"Oh excuse me. I haven't introduced myself yet, though since you intruded I would like to know your name first. Though it's probably better if I give my name since you may still be shaken by what just happened."

The woman flicks her hair and puts her hands on her hips.

"I am Echidna-"

"Witch of Greed."

"Ho, so you know your stuff huh?"

Meiss shrugs, hopefully nonchalantly, and puts his own hands to his hips. Dolorem is still active. He closes his eyes and raises one foot onto the toes.

"I know surprisingly little about this world, Greed."

"Hm, even more unexpected. Someone from Beyond the Waterfall? Do share with me."

The witch lightly claps her hands together, before sitting down on a white painted chair. Wait, chair? There's a white table too, with an albino umbrella anchored to it. Meiss spins around, finding himself in a world of blue skies and rolling hills; it uncannily resembles the Bliss wallpaper. He spins around one more time before plopping down on one of the four remaining chairs. Echidna is sitting across from him, fingers laced and head resting atop them.

"Sooooo… I'm guessing this was for more comfort? Not really doing it for me but ok, I'll bite."

Meiss looks at the steaming cup of tea atop the table. One for him, one for the witch. A flaw in her plan though, is that Meiss isn't thirsty because he got water from Ram. Ha.

"I'll tell you something about my world, or you can lift it from my mind I guess, and you answer a question. Fair trade."

"Sure, got any questions?"

"Hmmmm, I don't know…"

"...Seriously?"

"No I'm messing with you. Is this an illusion or dream?"

"Dream; tell me to, and I'll wake you up. How different fundamentally is this world to yours?"

"My world has no magic, except in stories and fairytales, and there are no demihumans. You are either human or animal, no inbetween. If this is a dream, then you aren't really here; so where are you?"

"Oh I'm dead, I don't know how long I have been though. What do you use to compensate for the void created by the lack of magic?"

"We use ordinary tools and machinery, which are things that run on electricity. Electricity being what lightning is made out of. I forgot you were dead, stupid question. Anyways, how did you die?"

"The Witch of Envy, Satella, killed me. Despise her with my entire being. How advanced are these 'machines?'"

"Advanced enough that a device in the palm of your hand can contain more than a couple hundred library's worth of books. Was this before or after she ate half your world?"

"Bitch did WHAT!?"

Echidna slammed her hands on the table, rattling her tea and spilling some of Meiss'. Her white face gained a red tinge of anger as she fumed loudly. She blinked hard, putting a hand to her forehead as if she had a headache.

"So you died after, which means you've been dead for at least four hundred years."

The witch sat back down with a huff, hated in her eyes. She lightly bounced her foot for a few seconds before flitting her eyes back to Meiss.

"I need some time to think, care to meet the other witches?"

"Wha-"

Meiss blinks forcefully as Echidna simply disappears. The blonde stands up, his chair sliding across the short grass. He looks around, and notices a little girl, around nine years old, seated on one of the other chairs, right next to him. Brows creased, Meiss sits back down and rests his chin on his hand.

"Well hello there small child, I'm Meiss. Which Witch do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

The child, shoulder length green hair and tan skin, swings her legs in her chair. The white dress she's wearing flaps about in the faint breeze and she adjusts a headband with fake blue flowers on it. The witch seems to register Meiss for the first time a few seconds after he asks his question.

"Heeeeeyyyyyy, what're ya lookin' at?"

"Uh… You. Which Witch are you?"

"Oohhh… Well that's all ya had to say! Typhon's the Witch of Pride!"

Typhon hops off her chair and does a show of presenting herself with a little twirl. She climbs back onto the chair and rests her elbow on the armrest, in turn resting her chin on her hand.

"Ok then, I already introduced myself but, I'm Meiss. Nice to meet you."

The blonde reached out his hand to shake Typhon's, who had flipped over to bend her back over the armrest. Her head hung over the side of the chair as she grasped Meiss' hand in a weird handshake.

"Hmmmm. Then you're... Lamb. You ain't a baddie Lamb, are you?"

"Uh, it depends on what you think is bad. Bob might think that fighting is bad, and then I'm bad because I've fought people; but I don't think I'm bad because I fight people that hurt my friends."

"Huh? That's too long and doesn't make any sense."

"That makes perfect sen-"

"Welp, jus' to check."

「SINSCOSTNOTHINGBUTPAINALONEATONED 」

The tiny witch tugged at Meiss' arm. A few seconds passed before her brows furrowed, as if expecting something to happen. She tugged harder, righting herself in the chair to put more strength into it. Eventually she got off the chair and tried to pull him off his by the arm.

"Hey! Hey hey hey! Lamb! Why isn't it working? Lamb!?"

"...You really think I wouldn't be wary?"

"Huh? Y-you are a baddie! You're a meanie meanie meanie baddie baddie baddie! Stooooooop iiiiiiiiiiiit Laaaaaaaaaammb!"

The little girl starts to throw a tantrum because her authority seems to not be working. Not like Meiss isn't going to be careful when dealing with somebody called a witch. Even if it is a little girl, which is precisely the reason. Children are mean.

Typhon eventually gives up, resigning herself to crossing her arms and pouting. Meiss feels kinda bad, but these people could be dangerous. He rubs his face to try and remedy the guilt. Not really working.

"I don' like you Lamb, you stink!"

"Haaa Noooow just whooo's stinking? Huuu."

Meiss doesn't even move his hands from his face, refusing to look up. From that sentence alone he can tell this person would rather be sleeping.

"God, I'm not even halfway through sixteen… Why is there so much stress?"

"Huuu I agree, sooo can we skip me? Haaa."

"Yeah, sure. You'd be doing me a big favor, person who I'm guessing is Sloth."

As he feels the depressive aura disappear, Meiss finally looks up. Across the table, in one of the chairs next to Echidna's, is a petite blonde girl in a blue mini-skirt with a white overcoat. She looks to be around seventeen or eighteen years old. The witch leaned back into her seat, crossing her arms under her large bosom. I wonder if it's rude to ask if those cause back problems.

"Hey, why so glum?"

"Oh thank god! The first witch I think I can have a normal conversation with!"

"Heh, you figured that from my first sentence?"

"Well, you aren't a little kid or exude extreme amounts of apathy. So in my book you're at the very top right now… Oh, and Echidna creeps me out, so there."

This harsh critique of her peers sent the witch into a fit of laughter. She slammed her fist into the table, knocking over Meiss' tea and leaving a dent. Poor table. The witch wiped away a tear and straightened herself. Despite her tsundere-esque appearance, she gives off the vibe of someone who is mature and focused.

"I'm Meiss, nice to meet you."

Meiss once more reached out his hand to shake the hand of a witch. Quite a bold move by many people's standards. The woman reached across the table and grasped his hand in a tight handshake. Up, down, then she turned his hand over to inspect it. Not finding what she's looking for, she releases his hand.

"Minerva, Witch of Wrath. Little kid you said… Funny, you don't seem to be missing any limbs as far as I can see. Do you still have your legs?"

Minerva looked under the table, confirming his legs still being there. She rights herself and looks at him with a quizzical expression.

"Missing limbs? Is that what Typhon does?!"

"Yup, if it hurts you're bad, if it doesn't then you're good."

"Oh…"

"..."

"So which authority do you have? I can feel it buzzing on the back of my neck."

Minerva reached behind herself to rub the nape of her neck. She crossed her legs, leaning back in her seat once more. Meiss took a look at the spilled tea before relaxing in his chair as well.

"Potestas de Tristitia; the Authority of Melancholy would be my answer."

"Huh, so that creep must've died. He was pretty scary even without his authority."

"Creep?"

"The original holder of Melancholy was a guy named Hector. Despite his overwhelming power he was just a man, with a human's lifespan. Safe to say he probably died of old age."

"Huh…"

Without it really needing to, the information stuck itself to Meiss' brain. He scratched his neck before reaching out to pick up the knocked-over teacup. Minerva watched him pick up the cup and then place it back down how it was supposed to be.

"Well… I may not know as much as Echidna, but if you've got any questions I'd be happy to answer."

Meiss leaned forward in his chair, propping his arm on the table and resting his cheek on it. The blonde noticed that dolorem was still active, and recalled it promptly. No weapons at the table was common courtesy, even if this was another world.

"Then, how about the trial's content? I know that it must be overcome in order to free Sanctuary."

"That place is still kicking? Gah, that means I've lost a bet. No matter, the trial is tailor made to each specific person so I couldn't tell you."

Meiss furrowed his brows, that barely helped at all. He leaned deeper into the table, mulling over things that could happen. Garfiel didn't particularly seem to enjoy Subaru's presence, and Roswaal couldn't be trusted. With what he heard of Ram and learned of from interactions with her, she couldn't be trusted in full either because of her devotion to the clown. Meiss hadn't met any of Sanctuary's populus; nor the Arlam evacuees. He was a completely new person that nobody could trust yet, secrets were not going to be shared with him. The blonde had a feeling that his brain would be tested here, rather than his brawn.

Minerva watched him brood from across the table, occasionally fiddling with her long ponytail. She glanced at the spilled tea on the table.

"It's hard to keep up with you, that mind of yours goes a mile a minute."

Forgot that they can read my mind. Minerva nodded to his mental note before tilting her head to the side, as if listening to something. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Echidna says she's ready to come back, if you've got any last questions, ask away."

"I recently contributed to the extinction of an animal called the Hakugei, are there any beasts on a similar caliber or reknown? Part two, can somebody have more than one authority?"

Knowing if there were any more big monsters would be nice information, and the part about authorities was just pure curiosity.

"The Hakugei… You can blame Daphne for that monstrosity. Anyways, if that's dead, then there are only two witchbeasts like what you described. The Ousagi, hares with insatiable hunger that split after feeding enough, and the Kurohebi, a giant snake that inflicts a thousand curses upon those who are unlucky enough to touch it. As for the second question, I have no idea. You have an affinity for Wrath, I could tell when I shook your hand, but I'm guessing my authority already has a user."

"..."

"Yeah probably, and those witchbeasts… are terrifying."

"Good to know."

Echidna's voice popped out at Meiss from the seat next to Minerva's. He turned his head a little to the left to face the bleached figure. The Witch of Greed was still visibly angry, but had calmed down. Just a teensy bit.

"You look like you could use some time, so I would like to wake up please."

Echidna huffed, before waving her hand. Meiss felt a shock flow through his body, as if he had been plunged into cold water then thrown into a sauna. It felt weird, which was expected of such a feeling.

"On top of the information Minerva gave you, access to the trial isn't free, what will you pay with?"

"Hey! I didn't ask for the trial! But I'll take it. As for what I'm going to pay with… That's up to you, provided you stay outside the realm of memory tampering. Too much of that has happened to people around me."

Greed humphed as she began to run over options in her head. No memory tampering didn't leave many options...

"I'll take this."

Suddenly, one of Meiss' manganese flechettes appeared in her hand. Meiss' eyes widened as she grabbed the metal from the air. It took a second for the blonde to register that she had poofed it into her grasp, but when that klicked, he sprang across the table. The teacups flew away as Meiss reached for the metal. That element was hard to obtain, atomic magic was hardly understood and took a great deal of energy, so Meiss could barely afford for any of the spikes to be taken.

"HEY! That was hard to get, you stupid fucking windows XP witch!"

Before he made it halfway across the table, harsh sunlight blasted his eyes. The air tasted slightly different and the breeze disappeared. The next thing that happened was the feeling of tumbling off a ledge, and the subsequent spike of pain that followed his head hitting the ground.

Meiss stayed in that position for a few seconds before opening his eyes. He registered Emilia with a hand to her chest, seemingly shocked. Subaru was there too, surprised and not as shocked as the half-elf. The blonde groaned before the rest of his body slid off the bed.

Wonder if that spike is really gone, Echidna did say that was a dream. Meiss flipped his body, landing on his back. Emilia was offering her hand to him, which he clasped to pull himself up. The boy tapped his head, that may leave a small bump later. He looked at Subaru and Emilia, then to the area he was in.

Shabby wooden house, one of the many he had seen upon entering Sanctuary perhaps. No room left for the imagination.

"Windows… Ex Pea?"

Emilia asked this question, and Subaru answered because Meiss was pulling the flechettes out of his gate and laying them on the bed.

"It's a thing from beyond the waterfall, a computer program."

Emilia did not inquire further, seemingly mulling over the word computer.

Meiss' hand hovered over his gate. Rem had taught him that once an object was bound to a gate if he willed it the object would teleport to the gate regardless of distance. Meiss was willing with his entire being, yet the tenth spike never reappeared. Stupid witch.

"Well, I got some questions answered by Echidna and Minerva. Despite that loss, everything is more or less good."

Now, the only thing to worry about would be the trial, and whatever Subaru had been attacked by before he rewound time. Meiss looked at the cursed boy, two years older than him. Eighteen. Rewinding time to find the best optimal route for those he cared about was a lot of stress for one person who was so young. Not even mentioning the other quirks that may or may not be a result of being from beyond the waterfall. Vaguely, Meiss wondered about Subaru before he was zapped to this world, but that was overridden by the more prevalent question.

What had attacked Subaru right before he rewound time?

—

And I'm going to leave it at that. By the time of this posting Re: Pensivity has breached the 2k viewer threshold. That's a pretty big number. Text is kinda bad at conveying disbelief, but there is disbelief and that sweet sweet happiness. As for the first few chapter rewrites, those are second to the continuation of the story. So when a chapter is finished before Saturday those will be worked on. May take a while.