Chapter 1.5: Intermission
With most attendants having exited the screening area for a temporary moment, they had gone to what was described by the Warden as being the plaza and took to enjoying whatever food they'd get their hands on to pass the time. Deciding to further kill time, attendants began conversations with each other, the main focus being on what happened to the boy they knew as Subaru Natsuki, or by his title Pride.
"I seriously don't get how that big shot is actually Pride, he seems a lot less scary and more…how could I describe it…stupid?" Otto, deciding to strike a conversation with the Sword Saint, pointed out to Reinhardt the flaws of this Subaru Natsuki they had just witnessed.
"That display of his appalled me as well, he seems nowhere near the monster I had met him as. It just seems wrong that in only two years time such a person like that grew into a Sin Archbishop." Reinhardt made a short sneer followed by Otto's laugh, who had taken an enjoying to a story that only mocked Pride so far.
"Hey, Red. You think the half-elf will break if she continues watching?" Felt's emotions hued off upon thinking about the fate of Emilia whilst she had exited the theater. If she had broken that easily, who knows how long it'd take before she goes completely insane.
"I can understand Lady Emilia's position in this. It must've been a very rough day for her to face some sort of evidence that the person who ruined her home wasn't just insane when he admitted to loving her." Reinhardt thought back to Emilia's emotional breakdown before they'd been teleported here. 'Why did I have to be loved', it was a cruelty she didn't deserve. Even with all the hatred Reinhardt held towards Pride, seeing his patheticness having been directed for the affection of Emilia made his view of the man even more off putting.
"But just what did that traitor refer to Pride's 'special ability'. Will it really be the thing that explains how he'd seen Lady Emilia without her remembering. Perhaps she had a faulty memory and forgot his face, or maybe my initial wits were correct and that Warden is lying to us."
Reinhardt burrowed into his thoughts, so many questions to be asked with none being solved. So he came to the conclusion that it'd be best to leave these be until they get answered by the screen or the Warden himself.
Cutting past those who held hatred towards Pride led to the ones who held him in regard. Elsa watched in disappointment as Meili joyfully swam around in the large popcorn machine after she somehow climbed into the top of the contraption because 'she wasn't getting the popcorn fast enough'.
"Meili, do I need to ask this again? Get out of that thing!" Elsa squinted her eyes in annoyment whilst Meili, with the most gleaming smile, continued to shake her arms around the food whilst taking small handfuls into her mouth. If she had her kukri blade by her side she'd have cut up this weird machine into pieces just to make her stop.
Felix watched in awe of the rebellious nature whilst Otto gave a quick glance from faraway at Meili's stupidity before turning back his head to the conversation with Reinhardt.
"Ah come on Elsa! The Warden said it's an infinite supply! Lemme enjoy it before we have to go back to watch Big Brother's story!" So whilst Meili gave her excuse to continue making a mess all over herself, she laughed as she kept inhaling the popcorn and eventually the natural occurred and she began to choke.
"That's where playing around gets you, Meili." Elsa sighed at the nature of her little sister, ever since mother had been taken care of, Meili's fears of being strict, disciplined, and organized had been alleviated. What didn't help any further was the long relationship she held with her big brother, the way the erratic Subaru played and cared for her made Meili even more carefree.
Meili managed to cough out the popcorn after a couple strenuous seconds and got bored of her play, deciding to climb out of the machine which left a plethora of pieces stuck to her clothes to drop to the ground by the gravity.
"Are you hurt, nyah?" Felix approached the arm-crossed Meili and used his water magic to heal even the tiniest wounds of hers, a habit he picked up from the constant ways his highness had gotten injured on their numerous journeys.
Meili groaned towards Felix, annoyed by that impulse of his to always tend to her. Meili only wished that big brother woke up soon enough so that they could have fun again, that is if she gets to remain alive without the Sword Saint having to say anything about it.
Moving on from those who held Pride in a positive light, towards the ones that held him with apathy.
"Emilia…" Roswaal expressed with anger, seething at Emilia's interruption of the screening. It did not matter whether or not she liked what she saw, Roswaal absolutely needed to make certain of what Subaru's ability actually was.
"Should I tend to Lady Emilia, Lord Roswaal?" Roswaal gave a nod to Ram's request and she swiftly left her seat.
"This is all too much for Lia…I believe she shouldn't be shown anymore. I cannot risk my daughter hurting any longer."
"Puck, she has to see it even if it hurts her."
"And why does it need to be that way!? Is what you show on that screen even real!? Are you trying to hurt Lia on purpose!?" Puck yelled in ferocity at the ceiling, where the voice of the Warden had come from. He further dug himself in the reasoning that the Warden was a malicious force that wasn't to be trusted.
"If she doesn't face her problems, she'll never grow up. She won't be your little girl forever, Puck."
Puck scoffed at the thought, If nobody else was there to console her, he'd be there with Lia for as long as it's needed. He wouldn't ever want to live in a world where Emilia was forever damaged, that is why he risked helping her never face her problems. There'd be no threat to her wellbeing if she never sees it.
"Puck…" Emilia silently pleaded in her slumber, her soft voice alerting Puck's ears.
"Oh Lia…" Puck worried about his daughter, perhaps she's having a nightmare within this short span of time if the day she experienced hadn't already been one.
"Lady Emilia will remain safe under my watch, you needn't worry. " Ram gave a bow to Puck with her firm face but he stared within her eyes with caution. Puck could no longer trust Roswaal nor Ram any longer. Roswaal had conspired with Pride, and his loyal oni maid had made it clear that she stood on his side no matter what, making them both untrustworthy allies, if they could be called that anymore. So why should Puck let Ram watch over his daughter for the time being? She is only the subordinate of Roswaal, nothing more, that is the conclusion Puck came to.
"I can't have you near my daughter any longer, Ram. I hope you understood that when you stood alongside the man who worked with Pride, who I'd like to add is a part of the faction responsible for slaughtering your village and cutting off your horn." Ram scowled at the words of Puck whilst the small cat had made a smug face in having seen his point deeply sour the loyal maid.
"It matters not who the person Lord Roswaal works with is, he is the only person I can depend on and so he deserves my full respect and care." Ram further argued with Puck.
"I wonder if your sister would've been happy with your decision." Upon hearing it, Ram had her jaw gape open. To mention her sister, her poor little sister who met that unfortunate fate nobody could've ever seen, at a time like this, in an attempt to argue against her, absolutely infuriated Ram. Even now, if Ram could know who was responsible for her little sister's death, she'd rip out the perpetrators neck with her bare hands. Puck instantly noticed how red Ram had gotten, and knew that he said something he shouldn't have.
"Don't you DARE speak of my little sister like you knew her!" Ram had dropped any form of respect that was expected of a maid and spoke with such enragement that she had practically spat on Puck and her ferociousness was heard by not only Roswaal, but the people outside the theater room as well.
"Hm..hmm…" Emilia, having been close to Ram, had slightly awoken from the commotion to the surprise of Puck. Deciding that it's not the right time for her to wake up, continued to attempt to comfort Emilia with his voice of promises and soft paws until she slumbered once more.
Ram briskly stepped away from Puck whilst he comforted Emilia to return to sleep,while that happenedRoswaal ,who's face had even further contorted into anger, was disappointed at the way Ram had poorly handled the situation and stepped out of line. Ram, noticing the change of emotion in her master's face, attempted to alleviate the hard feelings through her reasoning.
"Lord Roswaal, please understand, that spirit tried to pull on my heart by mentioning Re-"
"Your reason is not needed, Ram. Just understand you shouldn't have acted on those emotions of yours, it is improper for a maid working under me." Huffing under his breath to curb his anger, having dropped his usual jestering tone, Roswaal only needed to make his quick assurance to Ram that her issues are acknowledged by him.
Ram took a few seconds of consideration that her lord could not truly understand the emotions she had felt at that moment, but the feelings soon crumbled upon looking further into Roswaal's disheartening eyes. Swallowing up her despair, Ram sat back down on her chair next to Roswaal and swore to herself to keep silent until the filming had begun again.
For nearly an hour, the theater room had remained mostly silent with only the infrequent interruption of Emilia's sleeptalking followed by soft sounds of Puck comforting her whilst she continued to rest. Their boredom had been cut down when their attention was suddenly picked up by the loud noise of the door being slammed open by a slender arm dressed in black, that arm belonging to the Bowel Hunter.
First came in Meili who walked with pride and wore a smile whilst sipping from a big cup, next was Felix prattling on the small girl in front him to not drink too fast or she'll choke again, then last came Elsa who courteously held the door for her teammates, which was then followed by the door being briskly shut.
Not less than ten seconds passed by before the door was again opened, this time in a more gentle fashion, by the Sword Saint. Reinhardt stood by the door whilst carrying, in one arm, a flimsy Felt who was scrunched up in a ball, groaning about the pain that came from her stomach, while his other arm held the door open. Then appeared Otto, who held condolences for that certified gutter rat, heading for the trashcan in front of him, whilst both his hands were occupied with holding the multitude of chocolate wrappers that had been eaten in a rapid session.
After Reinhardt left the door to close upon itself, and walked to his seat to lay down Felt onto her chair, all of the attendants other than Elsa and Reinhardt himself had sat on their seats waiting for when the screening will begin again.
Elsa was too busy playing with the sleeping Subaru's face to notice that the countdown on the screen was only a minute and a half left.
"Elsa! Get on your chair, big brother's story is gonna start soon!"
Elsa turned her head around and perked up her eyes at the screen and noticed the timer going down and made a small 'oops' noise whilst blushing and sat back down onto her chair.
"Oh dear, I couldn't tell. My client's face was just too cute to not be played with."
Meili made a grumpy face at her sister who took to being too close to her big brother and waited further for the time to go down.
60 Seconds.
Reinhardt was shooed away by Felt from attempting to make her feel better and took his defeat by sitting down onto his chair to wait for the screening to begin.
"Was that worth it, Miss Felt?" Reinhardt spoke with genuine concern at the girl who was crumpled in her seat, smiling through the pain.
"I told you I could do it. A bet is a bet, Red. You owe me three silver coins!" Felt said with glee as Reinhardt sighed at his lady's unscrupulous nature and pulled out the coins he held on himself, which Felt greedily clung onto with pride and a smile.
Turning his head to his right, Reinhardt watched Pride's peaceful sleep. If only he could walk out of his chair and just kill that man right here without any sort of Warden to interfere, but it wouldn't matter anyway. The Warden proved capable of having brought back people from death, and capable of subduing the Sword Saint, he didn't seem to care much about a person's morality either, only their health.
45 Seconds.
"Emilia."
Emilia slowly opened her eyes after having heard her name being called by a booming voice, and awoke.
"Why was I called…" Emilia groaned out as her head throbbed with pain.
"I had stopped the viewing for you, Emilia. But now the time is up and you must begin watching again."
Emilia's eyes shot wide open with fear as she began to recollect her thoughts, remembering why she had passed out in the first place. She never met Pride, it couldn't have been. "Wait, no! Not again, it wasn't my fault! I never met him, please understand!" Emilia spun her head around in denial, pleading any longer would cause her tears to begin to flow out of her once again.
"Ugh! Don't make her go through this again, Warden! I don't need her losing her mind!"
"It's absolutely necessary that she watches! In the end, she will likely come out more stable than right now."
"But I told you, I told you, I told you! I've never met Pride until earlier today! I can't–I can't bring it upon myself to think that I would even forget about having met him! I couldn't have! It's all fake, all of it! You're trying to lie to me!"
Tears flowed out of her, droplets and droplets that Puck could only watch in anger. His daughter was being hurt once again.
"Emilia, I know that it pains you to learn more about Subaru, but you need to see. You cannot hide from your problems forever, they always come back to bite you. Whether it's for when you have to face your past in Elinor, or facing the truth about your current life. Please watch the screen, you will grow from it, I promise"
Emilia brushed away the tears on her face to process what the Warden had just said.
"P-promise? You promise that I will feel better if I watch?"
"I promise."
Emilia tried her best to wipe the frown she had, in anticipation for what's next to come. If the Warden could be trusted, by promising her something as important as this. She wanted to believe that whatever would come out of that screen would make her more enlightened. And the Warden was right, she couldn't hide from her problems forever, and mentioning her home had struck a chord in her heart, compelling her to listen to reason.
"Lia…are you sure?" Puck spoke to her filled with worry, he only wanted the best for his daughter, so some drastic measures to protect her innocence were needed, but what a childish belief that was. Puck knew that himself, he couldn't keep his daughter in a protective cage anymore, that innocence was already ruined earlier today anyway, trying to keep the pain away any longer won't work as well as it used to.
"I'm sure, Puck." So Emilia strengthened her spirit the best she could, for that promise the Warden gave her. She will see what fruits would bore from her trust.
5 Seconds.
Everybody huddled tighter into their seats to keep a good posture for the continuation of the screening, and only Od Luguna or whoever that Warden was could really tell what's further to come from the story of Natsuki Subaru.
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Screening Rebeginning
Author's Note: I'm sorry if this wasn't the chapter 3 you were exactly waiting 2 months for, I wasn't really expecting this to blow up as much as it did, I guess I underestimated the power of reaction fics. Unfortunately, I would like to say that I don't hold this story highest in my hands, if you could understand. I want to be more focused on my other fic, Another Me, which I find to be more original than this (It was not inspired by Re:Patched Together! I had just watched Fight Club and wanted to make a fic with wholesome moments that featured Gluttony IF Subaru.), as well as having more potential. Also, schools a bitch as usual. Also, my procrastination is a bitch as usual. Please don't expect a chapter on this fic to be dropped during March, as I said, I want to write more for that other fic. And I have just realized that I spoiled a part of this fic in my last author's note…oops.