I have a bad habit of using a lot of repetition in this fic. Mostly just this one, for some reason?
Here's a Beatrice chapter since she's probably my favorite side character aside from Otto, Ram, Patrasche, Julius, Reinhard, Meili, and you know what actually? I'll stop there. I will say that she's a lot more fun to write than I thought
this chapter's a tad shorter than usual, but I feel like uploading now. I wish i had a schedule
Reckless, half-witted, and intrusive. If Beatrice was asked to describe Subaru, those would be the first words out of her mouth.
"What? I'm insanely scared of dying!"
He also seemed to be a bit of a liar.
Humans normally feared death, but that line was something Beatrice remembered strangely well. Subaru had claimed it with a highly disgruntled expression before she'd removed his curse. With dramatic, silly gestures, he went off on an oddly rant-like proclamation about dying and fate.
The particular phrase should've been lost in the fog of forgotten memories considering the grand scheme of things, but it had stuck at the back of her mind throughout the whole period she'd known him for, resurfacing only occasionally for her to ponder. Perhaps it was simply due to how incongruous that statement was, considering how many life-threatening situations he always seemed to throw himself into.
First, it was the evisceration after that silly girl lost her insignia. Then, it was the mabeast attack. After that, there was likely an altercation with Guese. She wasn't stupid. The spirit wouldn't go down without a fight, and Subaru probably took a few fairly decent hits.
Reckless, half-witted, and intrusive. Without a doubt, she could say he was an idiot who never seemed to give up like the annoying pest he was.
"So… don't you dare…" she muttered through pursed lips. "don't you dare die on me. Didn't you claim that you feared death? Fight harder, you idiot."
She had an endless list of questions burning in her mind as she observed the sheer abnormality of his injuries. However, there was no time for wondering idly. Subaru was in such a state that even she, a highly skilled healer, had difficulty fixing up even inside the mansion. Frederica's little brother did surprisingly well in keeping her current patient alive.
Mending the innumerable number of tears in someone's body tissue and tiny fractures scattered across all his compromised bone structure was a tall task that she was sure nobody in history has had to deal with. She would never complain about healing normal internal damage ever again.
About twenty minutes passed and Subaru was no longer on the precipice of death. That Garfiel, seeing as there was nothing he could do, was stewing in a mix of discomfort and agitation in a corner and shuffling through a random book to distract himself; Betty couldn't find it in herself to reprimand him for touching one of the library's precious books at the moment.
Subaru's condition was improving greatly, but it would take a sustained effort for him to make a near-full recovery with her aid. Sighing, she shifted into a more comfortable position as she heard a voice filter through the door.
"Miss Beatrice? Apologies for bothering you yet again, but could you perhaps let me in?"
This was the third time Frederica had attempted to enter the Forbidden Library. Fortunately, she was still bound by the politesse her status entailed, so she wasn't brazen enough to shove the door open without proper acknowledgement unlike a certain brazen fellow at her knees.
"You could go outside and talk to your sister," she muttered. "She's calling for you, in fact."
Said brother spat out, "I don't want anything to do with her. Frederica's the one who abandoned the Sanctuary."
Clearly, there was some sort of rift between the two and Beatrice didn't particularly want the details, so she dropped the topic.
Subaru twitched unconsciously again. He'd been rather restless despite his condition, but this time, his eyes slowly pulled open. With a glazed expression, he surveyed his surroundings and comprehension broke through his dulled perception.
"Beatrice!?" he exclaimed, shooting into a sitting position and immediately collapsing back. "Why am I back at the mansion?"
"So unruly right when you wake up, I suppose. Betty is sure that you know what shape you're in, so stop flailing if you don't wish to undo all my work."
Garfiel jumped into the conversation. "I gotta get back as fast as possible, and you need to be able to survive transit for that. The only reason I hafta play along is 'cause you were dying. Sanctuary can't be without it's shield for more than a day."
" Wait. How long have I been here?"
"About half an hour."
A sharp intake of breath from Subaru.
"We have to get everyone out of the mansion or-" he began before cutting himself off. Staring at the blond, he asked, "You can cross the barrier?"
"Yeah, but that ain't the problem right now. You were saying?"
Blinking, Subaru slapped his cheeks and continued on. "Right. I can't believe my luck in getting here so early, but we all have to evacuate this place! There's a ridiculously strong assassin targeting everyone here! We have to leave now !"
"I have no intention of stepping out of this room, but is that the reason someone just entered the mansion?" Betty replied.
That was quite the wrong thing to say. Subaru only appeared to grow more frantic, struggling to get up. "Beatrice! I think she might know how to get through your door crossing too, so you should-"
He'd crumpled back onto the ground, unconscious. Beatrice, holding her palm in front of where his face was a second ago, stared down at him with a flat expression.
Garfiel lifted a brow in mild surprise. "Huh, you really did just do that."
"Keep your assumptions of what I'm like to yourself, I suppose."
If he had kept that up, he'd probably work himself into a bigger fit trying to run about like a legless ground dragon and she'd have to do even more work. What a troublesome fool.
She then directed the entrance to the location of this 'assassin lady.'
"Well, no matter. Betty can handle something of this level, I suppose. It would be irritating and risky for these old tomes if she were to somehow get to this place, however unlikely it is, in fact."
She looked straight at Garfiel. "I doubt you wish to do anything?"
Said boy let out a huffy "tch" and snorted, "As if I've got anything to do with this. Ram forced me to come since Emilia was practically sobbing, and she's tough enough to take any small threats that pop up for now."
The assertion was firm, but only superficially. Betty wasn't dull enough to ignore the nervously impatient fidgeting he'd been doing the whole time.
"Hm. Wonder how much of that is due to your lack of will to push aside your personal issues with your sibling, even with a deadly foe outside with her?" she replied as she turned the doorknob, not even giving him a chance to respond. Instead, she focused her attention on the black haired woman to her right, taking note of a nearby cracked window with splotches of blood out of the corner of her eye.
The woman in black tilted her head in pleasant shock. "Oh my," she cooed softly. "I didn't even have the chance to properly search. How kind of you to show up so obediently, little spirit."
"Save your nonsense for the grave. Minya."
A glint of supernatural purple flashed into existence and flew straight at the woman, who immediately intercepted it with a glossy black blade. Quite the reaction time, but nothing specifically unique. A few moments of concentration and barrage of materialized yin arrows led to a graze on the assassin's leg.
The woman, even as everything below her knee shattered, simply licked her lips and blushed after she slumped onto the ground. How unpleasant.
"You wouldn't do very well to underestimate a spirit my age."
"Indeed. I will take that into account."
A few more strikes decisively ended the battle, and the deep, wicked purple of her arrows crystallized her entire body into a uniform mass. Tugged by the weight of gravity, what was left standing toppled forward, smashing it into hundreds of glassy shards.
Beatrice sighed dispassionately at the bloodless carnage. One less chore she could tick off her puny to-do list. As she turned back to reenter the library, however, she heard something that made her pause.
"Miss Beatrice!" echoed across the hallway. A blur of black and yellow swiftly approached and she could see splatters of red seeped into her normally pristine dress. "Are you alright? The madwoman didn't touch you, did she?"
The most competent maid in the mansion, Frederica, halted in front of the great spirit and gave her a visual body scan. Having spotted no injuries, she sighed in relief.
"Oh dear, thank the dragon. I could only imagine the worst the moment I spotted you two through the window."
"A uselessly vivid imagination. As you can see, the nuisance has been dealt with already, I suppose," Beatrice retorted. "I saw the broken window. I assume you were the cause?"
"You noticed and tried to return to the Forbidden Library? How unkind of you to see bloodstains on the window and not investigate, Miss Beatrice," said Frederica disappointedly. Had they not known each other for so long, however sporadically they might have met in person, the maid would never have been capable of mentioning her thoughts like this.
With disguised discomfort at her slightly crestfallen gaze, Beatrice muttered, "My only duty in this world is to curate and oversee this library. Any other thing is meaningless to me, except for Bubby, in fact."
Frederick directed a glance at the nearest door. Undoubtedly, she knew it would lead to the library if Betty so chose.
"Well, I have neither the authority to demand nor need to take your aid," Frederica said. "Now I need to retrieve Petra from wherever she escaped to, though I did hope I could've had a chance to talk with garf fir-"
Suddenly, something seemed off. The maid seemed to have noticed a hair faster, and dropped the sentence off instantly.
A long time ago, mother designed her to physically mimic a human child as closely as possible. Betty never really knew why, but that must've fulfilled some sort of purpose somehow. As a result, in this exact moment, realization could strike far faster than she could turn her head.
She closed her eyes as that malicious presence moved closer from behind, as if in slow motion.
There was no possible way she could dodge in time. Feeling a tiny, weak smile begin to curve her mouth upward ever so slightly, she welcomed her coming fate with a desperate longing.
"Miss Beatrice!"
The maid's concerned shout, tinged with panic, echoed through Beatrice's ears. It was the only thing she could hear. She could barely even feel the blade push through her.
… In fact, she couldn't feel it at all.
Something warm dripped onto Betty's head with a plip.
The smell of iron hung in the air. Spirits don't have blood.
Opening her eyes, she turned around to a towering golden figure in the way of a black kukri knife, the tip mere inches from Beatrice's head.
