"Subaru, are you alright?" Emilia asked, seeing Subaru with his hands covering his face.
Subaru moved his hands as his pupils dilated, "I'm fine, just trying to figure things out."
"You can talk to me now. You don't need to do everything yourself anymore," Emilia replied, sitting on the desk chair.
"Emilia-tan, your right. I don't. The only issue is that I've never dealt with a timeline or version of events like this. I have to account for Roswaal and his Tome of Wisdom. Then also we need to figure out the sponsor situation for you." Subaru sighed.
"You're reeeeally smart. I didn't even think about Roswaal yet. Well, I can help with some things. Just give me time to find something I can do. I also can use Yin magic now, so that'll help if we get in conflict or something…."
"I will give Roswaal credit. He's a genius. Without resets, it will be hard to deal with him. I'll have to guess what his Tome will instruct him to do. He's already sponsoring Crusch, which apparently would be enough on its own for Crusch to win the selection. Emilia, do you have any idea what Roswaal's goal might be? I know he wants to revive Echidna, but that's about it."
"Revive Echidna? That was part of Flugel's plan to merge my souls. It may be that Roswaal's Tome is actually instructing him to follow Flugel's plan, which isn't even needed anymore. But don't stress about it too much. We'll figure it out together."
"You're right. It's so strange. Ever since I almost died, I've been trying to plan for everything. It's my biggest fear to die now…."
"You dunderhead. That just means you are just like everyone else. Let's go eat breakfast. I'm sooo excited to eat good food again. Don't worry about what may or may not happen because we have no idea yet." Emilia replied with a comforting tone.
The two walked to the dining area, where Reinhard and Felt seemed to be in some sort of argument, and Rom was drinking a glass of beer. They sat down, and Subaru made a signal for Felt to come to sit down with them.
"Subaru… thank you for saving me. I still have no idea why ya even did, but thanks." Felt admitted as she sat down next to Subaru.
Subaru took a bite from his place, "Well, I wasn't going to do anything. Are you still debating about the Royal Selection thing?"
"I'm from the slums. I hate the Kingdom, the nobility, the knights, and all of it. I wouldn't have come if you didn't give me the idea to run and burn it all down and remake it."
"Then do it. I don't have any doubt you can't. Before creation must come destruction, right?"
Felt spoke with food in her mouth, "Ya, that sounds about right. Reinhard has been telling me about proper etiquette and all this stuff. It's bullshit. How am I supposed to go from living in the slums to a 'Presitine Lady.'"
Emilia chimed in, "Where even is Reinhard?"
"Something about his family shit," Felt responded.
Emilia remembers that Reinhard's wife has an illness of some sort, "Subaru, I'm going to go try to be useful. Wish me luck."
As Felt and Subaru continued their conversation, Emilia found Heinkel and Reinhard having some sort of disagreement. She walked towards the ongoing conflict as Heinkel saw her.
"What the hell is a half-devil doing here?"
"She is a Royal Selec-"
Emilia cuts Reinhard off, "Reinhard told me about the situation with Louanna. I can do some healing magic forms if you let me try."
Heinkel glares, "Like I'd like a half-devil around, my love? Get the fuck out of here."
"You can hold your sword to my neck if you want while I try to help her. I rather try to see if I can, and if it works, then I'd be glad I was able to try and help." Emilia says with a smile.
Heinkel thinks about the offer. If it's even possible for her to heal, then if I were not to take this chance, I'd think about it constantly, "Fine, but what do you want out of this? Nobody in the Kingdom has ever been able to heal her. Even if you can, what payment do you want?"
Emilia blinks, "I reaallly don't need anything. I guess allow me to stay here, and that would be kind of you."
"Emilia-sama, are you sure you want to do this? No healer has been able to help her, even the best in the Kingdom." Reinhard asks.
"I don't give a damn. Anything is worth trying. Unlike those dumbass bitches that made me pay for treatment that never worked. If she's offering it for free, I'll take it," Heinkel decides.
Heinkel guides Emilia to the room that contains his wife. Emilia had multiple ideas of how this may have happened. But she wasn't certain if she could fix it, depending on the magic used. Gluttony couldn't have been the cause, and she couldn't think of an authority to separate a soul from one's body without killing them. The only thing she could've thought of being the cause was some failed soul-related magic which, if that was the case, she could heal her. Once they entered the room, Emilia noticed Heinkel wasn't taking out his sword as she offered. She looked at Louanna and performed advanced magic to see if her soul was still connected to her. As white light glowed around her hands, Heinkel watched in worry and hope. She found that it was a soul removal spell that somehow left her soul in flux from entering Od Laguna to be recycled. She replicated a spell that Echidna used and hoped it would work to return her soul to her body. As blue, red, white, and another color ribbon-shaped formed, Heinkel, watched in confusion as it entered Lousana's body. Heinkel got concerned.
"What happened?" He demanded.
Emilia turned around, "She was placed under some form of soul separation magic that failed. Her soul wasn't connected to her body but was not entering Od Laguna to be recycled. She will need time to rest and recover… come look."
Heinkel walked closer, seeing his love's eyes move slightly. He held her hand while sobbing both tears of joy and sorrow for all the failures and mistakes that he's made. When he felt her hand move just a little, Heinkel began believing what he saw. He turned around to Emilia.
"Than-k you, tha-nk you so much. Whatever you nee-d I'll be hono-red to help you…." Heinkel said as he kneeled on the ground in both gratitude and sorrow.
"I'm just glad I could help. Her body has been in that state for a while, so I'd recommend you get another medic to help her recover physically. But other than that, she'll be fine." Emilia confirmed.
Heinkel looked at his love, who was still slowly coming back. He needed to get a medic or Felix to assist her in her recovery. He couldn't believe that a person he called a half-devil had just saved him from his long, painful path of sorrow and failure. He looked back at his wife and smiled, saying he'll be back and they'll have much to discuss. When the two returned, Reinhard was confused as he saw his father look genuinely happy for the first time since he could remember.
"Emilia-sama… did you cure… my… mother?" Reinhard asked, feeling uncomfortable saying his mother.
"I was able to, but she'll need time to recover in a few or two, she should be completely healed."
Reinhard said, "I'm sorry. I should speak to my father. Emilia-sama, thank you for healing her."
Reinhard and his father went to a separate room to talk as many things had changed within the last few moments, not to mention the Royal Selection candidates. Emilia returned to the kitchen, where she saw Subaru teasing Felt about her title of Queen of Lugunica.
"You were gone for a while… did anything happen?" Subaru asked with a concerned look.
Emilia smiled, "I could cure Reinhard's mother, Louanna."
"You were? That's amazing… curing Reinhard's mother the kind awe-inspiring E.M.T." Subaru smiled as he finished his meal.
Felt questioned, "You cured Reinhard's mom?"
"It was sorta stressful. I wasn't sure if it would work… but it worked," Emilia said as she stumbled into a dining chair.
"As long as Felt's doin' good, I don't care what y'all do. Subaru saved Felt's life and now is helping her with Royal Selection stuff… but ain't you a candidate too?" Rom asked, looking at Emilia.
"Emilia just wants Dragon Blood." Subaru turned his head to Emilia, "Felt already wants to reform the Kingdom, and we agreed if she wins, she'll make the Kingdom right. Nothing separates people mistreated because of their appearance, or if they're poor, it's another way the nobles and rich control everyone."
Felt nodded, "At first, I was scared of ya, Emilia, but Subaru told me about how the rich use appearances and money to divide the poor. Subaru, ya smart, I neva would've thought of it like that."
"Sooo the plan is to make Felt king, and she'll give us the dragon blood?" Emilia asked.
"You'll remain a candidate, and if we need to, we can leverage other candidates to make deals with you that'll help Felt if you drop out," Subaru replied, seeing Emilia seemed satisfied with what he came up with.
"What happens if somehow I win?"
"Then we do the exact same but reversed. You'll do everything Felt wanted if she became Queen, but honestly, I'm not sure if the Royal Selection is what it seems." Subaru admitted.
Emilia teased, "You bounced back quick. I would've never thought of a plan like that. See, this is what I meant. We'll get through this together."
Felt stared, "Y'all like a couple or sum?"
"Pretty much." Subaru laughed.
"Emilia, we're going to need spirits whenever Petelguese comes to do the 'ordeal,' or else both of us could be possessed."
"Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have broken my contract with Puck. I miss Beatrice, and I'm sure you do it… this is so hard now." Emilia sighs as they plan for the day.
"Now that I think about it… if we time things right, we can take the white whale and three sin archbishops earlier than usual. But that's probably easier said than done…."
"I'm sooo happy Reinhard seemed to be in a good mood today. It's so weird getting so much praise from Heinkel. I'm not even sure if I deserve it."
Subaru sighed, "It's not a bad thing to get praise. I know what you mean when I would use my old power. Everyone thought I was a genius or something, but I knew I wasn't. But the accomplishment is still the same, and you did a good thing for Reinhard and his family."
But I still feel guilty. Should I tell him about my past? Emilia darted her eyes.
"Can… I talk to you about my past more? I just feel weird. I know everything about you, and you know barely anything about my past. But if you don't want to, that's fine. I mean, I don't really want to talk about it either…." Emilia rolled the desk chair facing the window.
"Emilia, I want to know too. This sort of reminds me of when we did your trials, but now you are facing your other past. I won't judge you for anything you tell me. I've chosen paths that destroyed everything, so we're both imperfect and shouldn't be. Emilia-tan, tell me whatever is on your mind." Subaru said, motioning for Emilia to lie down with him on the bed.
Emilia threw herself on the bed, "Subaru, where do I even start? I don't remember much before I got the envy authority, but I remember before that. The first person I really got to know was Reid, but he was… mean. Then I met Flugel and Echidna. Hoshin and a few others too, but Flugel wanted to save the world." Emilia formed a smile, "Oh right, and Volcanica, he was super nice to me and kept Reid in check."
"Emilia, what does the Sage mean? From one of the timelines, I'm not sure which I remember Beatrice or Roswaal telling me that the Sage prioritized one above all. I also know from another timeline that Echidna is a crazy person, and I have no idea how she was in a group that was trying to save the world. Also, from what?" Subaru asked as he pulled Emilia closer to him.
"The Sage… prioritized me above all? Wait… does that mean…" Emilia had a look of confusion and sadness as her body trembled.
"Emilia, did you… have like a relationship with Flugel? I was called the Sage candidate for some reason, and Shaula said I was Flugel. It's so confusing. Why did they call me that…."
"Flugel wanted to save the world by using things from Earth to solve issues in the world. But no, unless we formed feelings after I got my authority, then we didn't have romantic feelings. Back then was a chaotic time; maybe if it weren't, we would've, but with Reid constantly being mean to him, I think he got tired of it all. You already know what the plan was, but I don't know why anyone would think you were actually Flugel."
"Was Echidna a good person? I'm so confused because, to me, she's just a crazy person that wants to use people for experiments or fun. She said herself she can't understand emotions in the trials."
"Echidna was a good person. I'm not sure what you saw. She helped me with a lot of things and seemed to care about people genuinely. The last memory I can remember before it all goes vague was Flugel starting to act reallyyy strange. He was talking to nobody. Then it all turns into a blur."
"Well, I can tell you that you're an angel. Whatever happened back then was something that someone planned. Some great disasters or calamities should happen in the future as well. This was nice. I wanted to talk to you about your past too. Memories and a soul, if they are basically the same thing, then I don't know why nobody thought of that idea when they made their plan to save you."
"Maybe you're just smarter or have lived enough lives in this world to find a way. But if more calamities are coming, then maybe I can repent for my past actions by helping with the future calamities."
"Do we even know if you did anything? There is a single way I can think of for you to be able to remember what happened clearly, but… probably not the best idea unless Roswaal isn't a threat to us. The next attack I can be certain of will come by Betelgeuse, and he'll be trying to use you as a vessel or something. We both need spirits, and then Reinhard can deal with him. But that's for a while, so we have some time to get stronger here." he embraced her, "Remember, this is a new start, and the past is the past. Let's go eat breakfast with the others."
Emilia agreed, and the two walked to the dining area, where they saw Heinkel sitting with Reinhard. Compared to before, it felt like there was way less tension, and Subaru thought about how Emilia helped Heinkel and Reinhard in a way nobody else could. The two sat down, and their plates were chicken, rice, and vegetables.
"Subaru, Emilia-sama, I believe you both need training and Subaru, if you want to become a knight, you should start training," Reinhard said with a genuine tone.
Subaru nodded, "Right… did you figure out the sponsor thing?"
Heinkel spoke, "Since Emilia-sama saved my love and saved me too. I was able to convenience the Sage Council to allow the Astra family to sponsor both Emilia-sama and Felt-sama."
Felt sighed, "Just call me Felt."
Heinkel continued, "Works with me, Felt. We have time before the Royal Selection begins so we planned that Subaru would become Emilia's knight after proper training and Reinhard will be Felt's knight. Does that work with you two?"
Felt laughed, "How about Subaru is my knight too? He's so much more fun to talk to and doesn't call me Felt-sama and make me wear stupid dresses."
Subaru said, "Felt trust me when I say that Reinhard will be a far better knight for you. If you want to discuss your plans for the Royal Selection, I'll be happy to help." Subaru turned his head to Reinhard, "Just call her Felt, and don't push too hard on the etiquette and stuff. I mean, it really doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is her speech which I can help her with. Making a speech about rebuilding the Kingdom by destroying the old established rules and corruption is a good speech just has to be worded correctly."
Reinhard stares in confusion, "How do you even know so much about the Royal Selection?"
"Uh, well, you see, I just understand politics well. I was just guessing, but I guess I was right." Subaru replies.
Emilia laughs, "Very convincing. Sooo what training will we do?"
Heinkel sighs, "So far, we've broken a lot of rules. But since the Sage Council doesn't know and I changed the situation, this was the only option, and we should be fine. But another rule I'm aware of is Royal Selection candidates can't have sexual relationships or be married or some bullshit like that. In simpler terms, don't get caught, and you'll be fine."
Reinhard responds, "I owe a great debt to both Emilia-sama and Subaru, but… never mind. As for your training, I will spend a few hours tomorrow helping both of you with my Divine Protection of Training Mastery."
Subaru smiles, "Sounds good to me."
So how to fix the sponsor issue? Have Emilia bring back Heinkel's wife. I'm fairly certain that he can create a story or reason for why he can sponsor two candidates. Also, in this timeline, the Kingdom was in a worse situation than canon as both Felt and Emilia were missing, so I believe they will want the Royal Selection process to start as soon as possible.
I thought about how I could make Emilia/Satella grow; well, her old memories were my answer. For Subaru, it's learning how to create miracles/accomplishments without using return by death.
His affinity for spirits will be best for Subaru's powers. Depending on how Roswaal's situation goes, he may or may not get Beatrice back because it took him a long time to form a connection for her to agree.
As for Emilia, well, she has control over her mana now and has Yin, fire, and a high affinity for spirits, so she is pretty strong.
I might do a big troll and have Puck (Who will form into a black panther or something cooler) become Subaru's spirit with a different personality since, in this AU, Puck's job was to ensure that Sage's plan worked out. If it did so, maybe he will return with a new personality, but it would be funny since most hate Puck and Subaru, having him as his spirit would be funny.