Heinkel guided Subaru to the attic of the mansion. He didn't say what or why he was bringing him here but said that he had something to gift him. Subaru was confused but curious about what this gift might be.

"Let me try to find it," Heinkel said, throwing around boxes and other old decorations or furniture.

Subaru watched until Heinkel pulled out a white-wrapped, thin long object. He took off the wrapping around it, and Subaru saw the sword that was similar to chokutō, meaning whoever made this weapon which is a straight, single-edged Japanese sword. It has a white scabbard and a matching black handle.

Heinkel handed it to him, "This thing is ancient. I don't get a clue what it's even called. I found it when searching this place for information that could help me find a cure for Louanna. But I thought it would be a good gift for you. I already asked Emilia if she wanted something, but she didn't say she did so here. Don't be a dumbass and break it or something. I think it's similar to Reinhard's sword."

Subaru blinked, "You mean the Dragon Sword Reid?"

"Well, I tried using it once, and when I swung it, I collapsed to the ground. So be careful because I have no clue if it'll respond the same to you." Heinkel said, handing Subaru the sword.

"Thank you, Heinkel… I don't know what to say. Hopefully, it can help me get stronger."

"It better help and don't mention it… it's the least I could do." Heinkel replied with a smile.

"How is your wife doing? Did they tell you when she'll have a full recovery?" Subaru asked.

"Felix suggested bringing her to the medical facility since she must also undergo physical and mental treatment. It only makes sense to be asleep for that long. But he said two-three weeks at most."

"I look forward to meeting her. She seems like a wonderful person," Subaru said with a smile as he returned the sword to its sheath.

"Subaru, I look forward to that too," Heinkel said as he thought about Subaru almost as if he was his son.

"Heinkel gave you an ancient sword?," Emilia said, staring at the sheath that covered the sword.

"Yup, but uh, not sure how it works. He compared it to Reinhard's sword that chooses its opponents, and when he tried to use it, he collapsed to the ground." Subaru said as he unsheathed his new weapon.

Emilia stared in awe at the blade, "That's sooo nice. It looks so thin and fragile, but I'm guessing it's like that for a reason."

"Let's go out to the training area where we will meet Reinhard. I can see if it works before he gets there." Subaru said as the two walked to the training area outside the mansion.

Subaru put his hand on the handle as he remembered what Heinkel had said. Once he swung it, he collapsed. He aimed it into the air and swung the sword as he felt something strange. He began to feel unimaginable pain but was used to dying in horrific ways as he stood his ground, not collapsing from the pain. After about a minute, the pain ceased instantly as he heard something in his head.

You are worthy.

Subaru blinked, "I think the sword can talk… what the hell?"

You are now the chosen owner of the Spirit Sword.

Subaru was lost as he didn't see any changes with the weapon. He looked at the sword and instantly understood how it functioned. Which was perfect for him as he wasn't fast or strong, but this accommodated that.

"Emilia, Subaru? You came early. I'm surprised I will train you two until you're exhausted."

Subaru grinned, "Perfect timing Reinhard. I have an idea how this sword works, it can talk to me and say I am worthy of it."

"The sword talked to you? Only legendary swords like mine or the yang sword can either communicate or choose who can wield the sword or, in my case, who is worthy for Reid to be drawn on."

"Sooo Subaru, your even cooler now." she whispered, "and sexier."

"Reinhard want to spar? Go easy on me, but I must learn how this works."

Reinhard walks to a barrel with many wooden and regular swords he used when practicing when he was younger, "Subaru, I'll start with a wooden sword. You know nothing about sword technique, so it makes the most sense to me."

Subaru shrugged, "Alright, ready whenever you are."

The two stood far from each other as Emilia watched in excitement. Reinhard was holding his sword in his normal stance, while Subaru had his sword in the opposite direction of the edge.

Emilia yelled, "GO!"

Subaru's sword began to form a black aura around the sword that was a combination of all seven elements. When Reinhard came to attack, the sword used yin to phase through the attack then Subaru redirected himself as the sword turned into a brown aura and broke the wooden sword. Reinhard could only compare what he saw to Julius, but the sword he wielded allowed him to use the same technique without spirits. He took a real sword from the barrel and planned to take the next spar more seriously. The two went into their stances.

Emilia laughed, "Again? Alright, GO!"

Reinhard moved fast as the ground beneath broke as he clashed his sword against Subaru's, but the sword phased through his attack as before. The sword then turned red as he began to see the blue aura around it. He began to counter Reinhard's attack, but by the time he moved, Reinhard was already in front of him with the edge of his sword directed at his neck.

"Subaru, that was… sudden. It seems your sword can form into elements similar to Julius, and the speed at that it does so is impressive. You could become a powerful swordsman with training and better sword technique."

Subaru and Emilia watched as countless spirits of different elements left the sword. Subaru returned the Spirit Sword to his sheath.

The Spirit Sword allows the chosen user to accumulate countless spirits. You have a high affinity for spirit arts and pain tolerance. Thus, I will choose you to wield me.

Subaru questioned what pain tolerance had to do with it but assumed he'd find out later in an unpleasant way.

"Subaru, that sword is soooo perfect for you. I saw all the spirits leave when you sheathed your wait. Does it have a name?" Emilia asked.

"The Spirit Sword. I guess it chose me." Subaru grinned, "I guess it's your turn to train."

Emilia thought about how she could, "Reinhard, can you be affected by magic… like yin magic that's very advanced?"

"Yin magic… are you able to cast the higher levels of it?"

Emilia hesitated, "Well… I'll just use another element. But should I spar you?"

Reinhard thought that a magic user would usually be at a disadvantage in close range, but Subaru's sword also used spirit arts, "Emilia, how about you spar, Subaru?"

Emilia shook her head, "I don't want to spar him… do you have anything I can practice with, like maybe… Subaru, are you okay with sparring with me?"

Subaru laughed, "Why not? It makes more sense than Reinhard to spar you anyway. Also, if we spar together, we can do combo attacks in real fights."

Emilia's eyes lit up, "You're right… okay, I will just use my fire element, and you can do whatever, alright?"

Subaru agreed, and Reinhard was chosen to initiate the spar. The two stood far away, which Reinhard considered a disadvantage for Subaru but assumed he had a plan. He saw the two seemed to be prepared.

"Start."

Subaru's sword had a bright aura as Emilia sent massive icicles at him. He blocked each one and then got closer to Emilia. His sword glowed a white aura when the edge of the sword side made contact. A yang element gave Emilia mental, physical, and emotional buffs. Reinhard watched in confusion about what had just happened.

The Spirit that the sword collects cannot injure what the user does not want to harm or inflict damage upon.

Subaru saw that the spirits had left the sword, and the white yang spirits remained. He could hear them speak to him.

'Celonus, yang spirit cluster could not hurt her.'

Subaru smiled, "Good. Thank you for your help Celonus."

Subaru watched as the cluster of yang spirits left. He couldn't help but wonder how much he could develop this power. It was also nice that they were spirits and could help him since a normal sword wouldn't have decided to stop his attack because he cared for her.

Emilia asked, "What was that? When you hit me, it just felt like a poke, and I felt a warmth go throughout my body. Was that yang magic?"

"Yeah, the spirits didn't harm you because I wouldn't want to. Not surprising your Emilia-tan who is kind to spirits." Subaru said as he poked Emilia's forehead.

Reinhard sighed, "I think today's training went… well. Subaru, I'd recommend that you work on your speed and strength, as that's the only thing your lacking. You could easily become a strong-spirit swordsman. As for Emilia… I'm unsure what to tell you since you can't use your yin magic in training."

Emilia smiled, "I wouldn't want to use Yin magic in training either. But this was fun and helpful. Thank you, Reinhard."

"I'm sorry, but I should be going to help Felt study for the Royal Selection. I advise you to do the same, Emilia."

Emilia sighed, "I sorta already did… but I'll find something to do."

Emilia was eating a bag of appa's sitting on the desk chair in their room.

Subaru walked up and brushed a piece off her lip, "You had a bit of appa there."

"Appa's are sooo delicious. I'm still getting used to all this stuff. Training and preparing for the Royal Selection again. But your sword was super nice."

"Emilia-tan, that was fun." Subaru teased, "The sword turned into Yang spirits because they knew I wouldn't want to hurt you."

"That's why I love you. Even the spirits could see it."

Subaru threw himself down on the bed, "We got some time to kill. A lot of time to kill. Now that I have my spirit sword, and they seem to protect you too, we should be fine if Petelguese tries to possess us. Heinkel really helped me out by giving me that sword."

Emilia followed Subaru onto the bed, "Mhm, but I like that we get to spend so much time together."

Subaru moved Emilia on top of him, "It's a change of pace for me. I'm used to always doing something that involves fighting and waiting for something else."

"Don't jinx it, dumbie. I think I know what you've been waiting for and now we both have it." Emilia brushed her lips on his and whispered, "How long do you want to wait?"

Subaru returned her tease kissing her, "Wait for what?"

Before Emilia could respond, the door opened, and an annoyed voice was heard.

"Why is Reinhard makin' me wear all this shit clothing and all this studying? It's so fuckin' annoying… wait, were you two…."

Emilia flipped herself off him, "No, nothing happening… why isn't there a lock?"

"Fine, I'll let you two love birds get at it." Felt left shutting the door.

"I feel bad. Want to go help Felt?" Emilia asked.

"Yup, but next time you'll make me lose it if you keep teasing me."

Emilia whispered, "But I wasn't."

Subaru's face turned red, "Let's go help, Felt. Then we can do more of this."

The two left to find Felt which Subaru's spirits guided him towards the guest room she was in. They knocked and didn't get a response.

"The password is Subaru."

Felt opened the door with a smile, "Ya really came lookin' for me?"

Subaru nodded, "Felt. Let's talk. I think you need to understand something about Reinhard."

Felt let the two in as her room had multiple chairs for when Rom and Reinhard or even Heinkel came in. The three sat down, and Subaru noticed all the books on her desk and remembered how annoying it was to learn the language and all the information about the world when he first arrived.

"So what ya want me to know about Reinhard?"

Subaru said, "He wants you to win. I think I might be violating Reinhard's privacy, but it gave him a purpose when he found you as the fifth candidate. I'm not saying to start acting like some noble woman, actually the opposite. Keep being you, but why are you in here alone?"

Felt sighed, "Old man Rom left. He got tired of all of the royal selection shit. Now I jus' feel stuck here because some dumbass dragon chose me to be a candidate to become the King."

Emilia replied, "It is hard. It's hard for both of us. You from the slums, and I'm a half-elf. Everyone hates us. But that's the point of becoming King to change the rules. The people with giant mansions and those in the slums don't do anything. Then they have to steal to make enough to live. If you become King, then you can fix that, and even if it's a few years of annoyance, would you pass that opportunity?"

Felt questioned, "Why do you want me to win you a candidate with ya own goals?"

"Felt remember when you almost died? That was another candidate sponsor that was trying to get rid of you." Emilia said.

Felt's eyes opened, "Eh? Why would they even know that I was a candidate, to begin with?"

"Think about it. There is someone with the ability to see the future pretty much. Elsa randomly attacked, trying to kill you. Why would someone send an assassin to kill some random person in the slums?" Emilia asked.

Felt thought about the situation, "It was strange. I'm not dumb. I grew up in the slums, so I know if something is off. I just neva thought about it like that. An assassin sent to kill me before anyone even knew I was a candidate…."

"That's because you're going to win. If you will win, the only solution for the person trying to sabotage you is to kill you before you can win." Emilia held Felt's hand, "Felt I already gave up on winning because I don't really need to. If your going to win and have the same sort of goals as me, then I'd love to be able to help you reach them. Reinhard being your knight is both your protection, and Reinhard wants you to win too."

Felt was lost in thought. She didn't know how to react. Barely anyone has been so friendly to her in her life. She wondered about Reinhard and how he did save her life by getting rid of the assassin and healing Subaru. She wasn't sure about seeing the future stuff, but everything that happened didn't make any sense. She did know something was off, at the least.

Felt admitted, "Ya two weird, but it makes sense. I don know, but seeing the future shit and what happened that day is hard to think of a reason that makes sense. I jus feel bad for old man Rom. I think he didn't belong here, and I don't really either."

Subaru said, "Felt he just cares about you. Even if he thinks what you are doing is right or wrong, he still does care about you. It took me going through hell to get over my past, and it won't be easy for you either."

Felt thought about what Subaru and Emilia said. She still had no idea why they seemed to care about her, but she doubted she'd get a sensible response even if she questioned it. She thought about the idea of someone targeting her, and if that was the case, they might go after Rom too.

Felt ran out the door, "I needa find Reinhard!"

Felt ran through the mansion, screaming his name until she bumped into him.

"Rein, we need to go to the loot house FAST."

Reinhard didn't question, "Felt the fastest way for me to take you is if I carried you."

Felt yelled, "I don't care. Let's go!"

Reinhard picked up Felt and began to move at speeds Felt would've lost consciousness, but Reinhard was given a new Divine Protection to allow him to carry people at great speeds without harming them. They made it to the loot house in ten minutes. Reinhard received another Divine Protection to improve his eyesight and saw a dagger mid-air that would hit Rom. He moved at lightning speed, blocking the dagger with his hand. He grabbed Felt's sword that she carried and repeatedly killed Elsa until she died.

Felt hugged Rom sobbing, "You're alive, you're okay. I don't know what I would've done if you died…."

Rom smiled, "I'm just an old man, Felt. Don't worry bout me ya got your whole life ahead of you."

"Can you come back… I know ya don't like being there and probably like it better here where ya used to. But someone tryna hurt me n tried to kill ya to do it. "

Rom's eyes narrowed, "Who's the one trying to kill ya?"

Felt cried, "I dunnnnoo, my instincts was right, and the last time the assassin came, she was tryna kill me. Please don stay here. They'll use ya as a way to hurt me, and I don't want ya gone. You was the only person around that cared bout me."

Rom agreed, "Alright, Felt if that's happenin', then I'll come back with ya. Whoever is tryna hurt ya gon have to deal with me first. That's how it should be."

Reinhard took a dragon carriage back with the two, both confused and worried about what was happening. He already had a good idea of what was happening with Emilia and Subaru, but with Felt, he wasn't sure.

Subaru and Emilia anxiously awaited Felt's return and wondered if they were just giving her unneeded worry. Neither of them thought Roswaal's Tome would say to go after Rom since Reinhard protected Felt.

"Emilia-tan, you were so nice to Felt. Are you sure you want to give up on winning the Royal Selection?"

"I mean, that was my entire goal before, but now if Roswaal's Tome knows that Felt will win unless she dies, then I rather support her or even join her camp."

"That's true. We only really need the dragon's blood anyway. I always preferred if we ended up with you not being Queen. Sounds like a lot of paperwork and duties and stuff."

"I might be able to get the dragon's blood anyways if Volcanica knew about the 'Sage Plan,' which was a waste of four hundred years…."

"Not a waste because now I get to be with you," he said, pecking her lips, "It was worth it, right?"

Emilia buried her head in his chest, "Worth it? Dumbie, of course, it was. Even if I could've died back, then I would've never had this before. It just took four hundred years to get to it. But honestly, that's an exaggeration time works differently when it's that long. I remember the last few days better than the entire time I was sealed. Subaru, once this is all over and the future calamities are stopped, what do you want to do?"

"That's a long time away. Well, I guess a few years isn't really that long. Emilia, isn't it obvious I want to spend the rest of my life with you? I don't know about specifics since a lot might change, but I know that much for certain."

"I feel the same. I can't stop thinking about all the things we'll do." Emilia whispers.

"Yeah? What are you looking forward to most?"

"Hmmm, I think that's your job to answer."

Subaru was about to respond when he heard a knock on the door. He sighed.

"Come in."

Reinhard walks in with a confused look, "Subaru, did you tell Felt anything that would help her figure out that an assassin was coming at the loot house?"

"That was sorta me well. I guess it was Subaru too. Sorry if we made Felt freak out over nothing." Emilia replied.

Reinhard sighed, "I'm sorry. But it did happen. I barely made it there in time to stop the attack."

Subaru's eyes widen, "Wait, did he really go that far?"

"Subaru, may I ask who is 'he'? Since I met you in the Capital, something seemed off, but I didn't and still don't sense any hostile intent."

"I don't blame you. I mean, I'd think the same. But for who he is, I'm not entirely sure if telling you would help or not. If somehow I was able to prevent two things from occurring, then I'm guessing that his Tome can't account for me, but if I tell you, it might be able to."

"Felt did mention that it was another candidate's sponsor."

"Then you probably already do know who it is. But at least we know that Felt will win the Royal Selection and become King."

"How did you draw that conclusion?"

"A book that can tell the future. Two attempts to either kill Felt or damage her in some way. No other candidates have those problems. The Royal Selection hasn't even started. So more than likely, Felt will win."

Reinhard stares with narrowed eyes, "Subaru, I must ask… are you the Sage?"

Emilia and Subaru both looked confused. Subaru said, "Reinhard, I am not the Sage. You scared me there for a second."

"I'm sorry. I look forward to sparring with you again tomorrow." Reinhard says as he exits the door.

Subaru began to realize Reinhard had just walked in while Emilia was lying down on his chest, didn't mention it, and asked about the Sage, then left.

"Welp, I think he knows, but I doubt it matters."

"But your not the Sage."

"The other thing. He was asking me that because he thought of the possibility that was what was going on. But I'm fairly certain he figured it out when we found you in Elior Forest."

"Why are you so calm? Reinhard is really nice, but are you sure you can trust him with something like that?"

"Because you are perfect. If he did just think we were a threat, he wouldn't have smiled and said that. Reinhard doesn't lie if he's angry at you or suspicious. He won't say something like that. Also, we are the only two people that can do anything about Roswaal. This is annoying since he's following the Tome for Sage's plan, which isn't needed now."

"My head hurts. How did you just come up with all of that?"

"I'm guessing on most of it." he closed his eyes, "Before I could rely on my old power now, I have to think more. One mistake, and it's over. But we'll be fine. I think it's our turn to enjoy life. We earned it."

So I like how Subaru is thinking a lot more now that he doesn't have RBD and fears death more than anything. So if you're wondering why he is smarter, he probably would be in canon if he didn't have RBD. Pain sucks, but dying forever is much worse.

As for the Tome, since both Subaru and Emilia are 'unaccounted for' within the Tome, Roswaal can't know what they'll do. Neither of them is even supposed to exist how they are, so that's my logic.

Hopefully, the pacing is good. I didn't elaborate on the Elsa vs. Reinhard fight because Reinhard was pissed, so he will just one-shot her.

Lmk on thoughts for the "Spirit Sword," which exists but has not appeared in canon. I think I did a decent job balancing it and working well with Subaru's character. I have no idea how I'll get Beatrice or anyone from Roswaal's camp into this since Roswaal will be an antagonist for a decent amount of time since Subaru can't exactly just tell Reinhard without proof. Roswaal has a lot of power within the Kingdom, so it's a risky gamble to do.

For that last part, Reinhard's POV is a spoiler, but I will say he is not turning on Subaru/Emilia ever in this fic :)