Chapter 1: The Beginnings of Tragedy
The window showed a dark void with flickering lights. Heavy pained gasps could be heard as somebody struggled to breathe.
"What is this supposed to be…" Emilia whispered under her breath as she cautiously watched, this was the story of Subaru right?
The rest of the cast remained silent anticipating who this voice belonged to.
"This is bad… Very bad…" The person called out as they struggled and gasped in pain.
"That voice, its big brother!" Meili jumped with energy to call out.
"Yes…that voice definitely belongs to my esteemed client." Elsa worriedly agreed with Meili.
From the sudden confirmation everyone immediately wondered 'Why was Subaru in pain?'
"Subaru? What's wrong?" A much softer, silver-bell like voice cut in, seemingly filled with worry.
"My voice!? What am I doing near him?" Emilia spat out, her face shriveling up in a mix of confusion and fear.
"Do not be afraaaid Emilia, I am sure the strange voice has an explanation." Roswaal noticed the fear on Emilia's face and reassured her.
The darkness briefly dissipated and revealed a hand with a pool of blood, growing beneath it.
"He's bleeding!?" Emilia became further confused.
"The story of Subaru? That arrogant boy seems near death already…" Ram thought.
Reinhardt and Otto both relaxed at the sight of Subaru suffering, a nice change for once.
The window changed scenes to show a series of square buildings with lights all over them. One of them in particular is displayed. Isles of assorted metal cylinders and small paper books were arranged inside. Next to one of these isles, a familiar young man with nasty sharp eyes and black-hair is shown reading a book with pictures on it.
"Ah, I see. This is where they suck you in," Subaru said as he flipped through the book with an amused expression.
Everyone in the theater slightly jumped at the sudden scene change, most faces contorted into pure confusion on how this was supposed to represent Subaru's story.
"The architecture all looks so alien…" Puck pointed out.
"Is this supposed to be where he comes from?" Elsa spoke out.
"It has to be, big brother told me a couple stories about his home and it all fits!" Meili almost jumped out of her seat as she pointed at the screen. "The Kararagi-like buildings, the food shops with books and games which he called 'Con-veen-yent Stores', it's all there!"
"His Highness lives in quite a luxurious place, but I'm confused…why did he leave and set up a house with us in the forest?" Felix spoke of his concern.
All attendants took heed of Felix's words. "He lived in a house in the middle of the forest?" Reinhardt caught on, if he did live in a seemingly luxurious place like this then why did he commit himself to such low living standards, as well as purely evil work after coming to Lugnica? "Likely of his obsession for Emilia." He came to a simple conclusion.
The scene changed once again to the hand with the increasing amount of blood beneath it, now twitching in place as the person clearly lost consciousness.
Elsa licked her lips in excitement at the sight of the blood. "Just how interesting are you, Subaru."
"No… Run! Hurry!" The boy crowed out with trouble as pain overwhelmed him.
*THUMP! *
Another body suddenly fell right beside the hand with the blood-pool beneath it. The body of a silver-haired girl with white and purple robes.
Emilia covered her eyes at the sudden sight of her body, she tried to block out the intrusive thoughts but could not stop thinking about it. "Just how in the world does this relate to Subaru, nothing on that screen is real! It isn't!"
"Stay calm Lia! This never happened, the strange voice is tricking us!" Puck made sure to reassure his daughter, their day was already rough enough.
The screen paused for a moment.
"There is no trickery here, everything you see is real. Haven't I already demonstrated my power enough?"
"That power of yours must be able to cast illusions as well!" Puck yelled at the ceiling. "Just look at the damage it's done to my daughter, we've already had enough!"
"I understand taking you here right after the capital burning down must have strained your minds, but this is not an illusion. Isn't that right Ros?"
Roswaal's eyes suddenly flickered open with surprise when his name was called out. He'll have to explain doesn't he?
"Yeeees…that is correct, what you see here is likely a side effect of Subaru's 'special ability', I don't know how exactly it works just yet but ~Puck~, you and Emilia should keep hush and let the screening continue."
Puck's face visibly turned into anger at Roswaal's words. "A traitor to the end" he thought.
"Now let the screening continue."
The scene changes to Subaru picking up colored cups and plastic bags of food from one of the shelves.
"Nah, Natto."
Some in the audience became increasingly annoyed by the sudden scene changes. Will it decide what to show already?
The scene cuts back to the now limp body of the lady as blood suddenly filled the area beneath her. The struggling hand scene from the beginning slowly moved towards the limp one of the girl's.
"Wait there…" The boy gasped, clear determination filling his voice.
"That place, it's starting to look familiar" Felt kept her eyes on the screen with fear.
Emilia continued to cover her ears and look away from the screen denying what's taking place. "This must be fake, This must be fake, This must be fake, This must be fake, This HAS to be fake" Emilia felt like her mind would shatter if she looked at the screen one more time, this was just not her day.
Again, the scene changes to Subaru at a counter speaking with another person.
"Pick a story already!" Otto lashed out. Soon noticing the stink eye from Elsa and Roswaal he decided to keep still in his seat.
"That'll be 363 yen." Subaru picked up a metal coin and stopped to look at it.
"Oh, a grooved-edge ten."
"Hey, it was my gift from him when we first met!" Meili loved to point out. "He said this was super rare and to keep it as 'memo-rab-e-lee-a'."
Having paid for his items, Subaru exits the building. He stops short of a road and watches a car speed past him.
"What…" Otto noticed. "Just what was that supposed to be."
"My client never talked much to me in particular but at one point he did mention how he'd have loved it if there were these giant metal speeding boxes known as 'Cars' to ride in instead of a carriage which he complained was too slow for his taste." Everyone in the theater began to pay close attention to Elsa's words. "From the way he described them to my sister and I, what had just passed in front of him fits that description. We really are seeing his strange homeland." Everyone else but Meili were left wide-eyed at this sudden information.
"Had I made something like this, I never would've needed to worry about being something as lowly as a damn debt-slave." Otto slinked back into his seat with misery.
The scene changed back to the slow-moving hand as it finally reached the limp one of the girl's. Subaru's revealed to be the owner of the hand with his mouth bleeding and his face grimacing from the pain.
"Big brother…he's so badly hurt…" Meili, even with the attitude of an assassin, felt near to forming tears in her eyes. Seeing her loved ones suffer made her feel the worst.
"I wish I could help his highness get back up…" Felix felt useless.
Otto had a small chuckle at that sight, how badly he wanted to see that face in pain. Reinhardt had a smirk on his face, Pride was suffering and that's how he likes it.
"Going to…
" He voiced out through blood sprouting throat."Choke on it, shithead." Otto blurted out, not being able to keep his thoughts in his head. Elsa and Felix turned their heads and glared daggers at Otto.
The scene returned to Subaru as he walked out of the building's parking lot with a white plastic bag in his hand. Deciding that he's had enough from standing there, Subaru began walking across the wide street with his hand in his pocket.
And then…A sharp-clawed hand, coated in a mist of darkness was shown cutting out of a white wall of space and reaching right towards Subaru.
"What the hell is going on!?" Meili yelled in confusion, the scene changes already strained her mind but the sudden arrival of a black hand made her unable to think about it any longer.
Felix's ears twitched "That hand, it's gonna hurt his highness!" He was absolutely sure of it.
The rest of the attendants listened to Felix and braced themselves for the attack.
"Lia…" Puck whispered into Emilia's ear "the blood scene is finished, you can look at the screen again…trust me."
Emilia slowly turned her head upwards to face Puck "Okay Puck…I trust you, I can't stay scared anymore." Emilia wiped off the tears from her face and filled herself with fake confidence again.
A weird force of wind ran through the world around Subaru as if it was a scanner. Sensing this, Subaru looked around before shrugging. "I guess anyone's eyes would be tired after holing up in their room, gaming all day."
"Did he not just notice the hand reaching for him? Is he able to even see it?" Puck was surprised by how Subaru showed no discernable reaction to the hand.
Subaru rubbed at his eyes for a bit. As he was rubbing them the scene began to change. He struggled to force his eyes open at the sudden brightness.
The attendants watched the screen attentively, everyone but one was confused at what the white light had meant.
"This must be the moment he came to Lugnica, I'm sure of it" Roswaal quietly thought to himself.
Once he opened them…and looked at the city before him with a haunted expression.
"No way…" Reinhardt disbelievingly saw as Subaru was transported into the city that could only be known as the capital of Lugnica. "That bright light…it seemed awfully familiar to how we were transported here as well so just tell me strange voice, was it you who brought him here?"The screen paused.
"Obviously not, I would consider it 'spoilers' to tell you the truth but since you've backed me into a corner I'll just say it. The one who brought him to Lugnica was Satella."
"The Witch!?" Reinhardt yelled in astonishment. Everyone else in the theater had their jaws drop.
"So it was the Witch herself who brought that monster here, not a surprise once you think about it more!" Puck sneered.
"Can we get back to the showing already?"
Reinhardt sighed and gave a slight wave of his hand.
"Good"
The screening continued
He looked around, slowly and emotionlessly , not registering that he had just been transported from his home.
"What's going on?" The boy's lips voiced with his eyes still looking around him as if he was in disbelief.
"So he was just suddenly teleported here? Without any say? Without ever saying goodbye to his friends, his family?" Emilia spoke with concern.
"As much as I hate Pride, I must agree with Emilia. It was cruel of the Witch to do this, she truly has no heart does she?" Reinhardt agreed.
"So big brother really is from beyond the great waterfall, his stories almost never made sense. Now I know why." Meili thought to herself with a sad expression.
"This stuff obviously isn't fake. Which means… " Subaru slowly blinked as his thoughts finally found coherence and reality had finally hit him. "I've been summoned into a parallel world!" Came the shout from the chosen hero as he finally realized his situation.
"But he sounds so excited about it." Emilia stated.
"Maybe he was always insane…" Reinhardt commented.
"Subaru really did come from 'another world' as he told me, but no…the Sword Saint is wrong, he didn't come off as someone insane during our first meeting. The only thing that set him apart was that look in his eyes." Elsa blushed as she thought more about Subaru. "Those eyes never showed fear, not once. He is truly a remarkable man."
"I don't get it, a 'parallel world'?" Otto said with confusion.
"My client told my sister and I he was from beyond the great waterfall, which definitely made some of his actions and the way he talked make more sense." Elsa bluntly said.
"So not only was he teleported to a country he has no understanding of by the Witch of Envy, but he essentially has no way to ever see or talk to anyone he knew!?" Emilia yelled with concern.
The scene changes to show a little blonde girl running with swift speed on the rooftops of the city. A weird jewel with a blood red ruby in the middle was shown in her hand.
"Oh no…" Felt said with a pained expression, "It's showing this day…"
Reinhardt turned his head to look Felt in the eyes. "It's the day we first met, Felt…but you seem so pained about it, why?"
"I never told you about it but I saw something horrifying on this day, it was a day I could never forget." Felt's face looked to be in further pain.
Reinhardt worried for Felt, with a curious expression on his face wondering just what happened to Felt that day. "It was the day I decided to take a stupid job from the bowel hunter, it was the day my world turned upside down, the day where my old man's home was frozen by Emilia, a day where I saw three corpses neatly laid against a wall like it was a work of art by some psychopath." Felt buried her head onto Reinhardt's chest.
Reinhardt noticed the tears falling from Felt's face and brushed his hand against her hair. "It's okay Felt…it'll be okay." Felt slowly raised her head with a faint smile after being comforted by Reinhardt and turned her head back to the screen.
The scene changes to Subaru walking on the street with his plastic bag still in hand and a thoughtful smile present on his face.
"I still don't understand why he has a smile on his face, is he not bothered by the fact he could never see his old home again?" Ram stated.
"Perhaps my client didn't live a life back in his original home as great as we think he did." Elsa said with a sigh.
"I guess I can assume this is a fantasy world. With typical medieval-style culture."
Every attendant in the theater remained confused at the strange words Subaru babbled about.
"He was always insane…" Reinhardt muttered to himself.
"A place where demi-humans are commonplace and probably stuff like wars and adventures, as well."
"He just guessed that on the whim? Is he that familiar with such places?" Ram said with slight surprise.
"Big brother told me that demi-humans didn't exist where he came from, this must be showing the workings of his genius tac-te-chen mind!" Meili said as she clapped with joy.
"He sounds so eager for war…he seems really cold hearted." Emilia said.
"Not just for war, but for adventure too. So it's more like he's naive, though I never saw that part of him when we first met or ever for that matter." Otto partially disagreed with Emilia.
"WATCH OUT!"
Suddenly turning to see what the shouting was about, his sharp eyes quickly fell on a situation causing panic through the crowd of civilians around him. A young boy had fallen right in the middle of the pathway and a big carriage, pulled by a giant reptile creature, was speeding right towards the kid, seemingly uncaring if it crushed him.
"Either this ends in bloodshed or Pride proves he has a heart, though I really doubt that." Reinhardt says with a sad expression on his face, believing what he says to be true.
"This is it! It's my chance! This must be where I produce my first magic!" Subaru yelled out in excitement and started posing in place while the crowd grew horrified for the kid.
"Is he seriously joking in a moment like this, disgusting." Ram said with anger.
"Or maybe he's just an idiot right now…" Otto hummed.
Shouting with all his might, Subaru posed with his hands held in front of him as he attempted to cast magic so he could help the kid.
It did nothing, the boy was about to be crushed to death as the cart continued to speed towards him.
Otto, Puck, Reinhardt, and Ram face palmed at Subaru's actions, Emilia and Felt covered their eyes not wanting to see the impending death of a child whilst Elsa, Meili, Felix, and Roswaal stared at the screen anticipating what Subaru will do next.
Everyone watched with horror and sheer panic as the sight of the dragon coming closer until it neared inches over the boy's form. Luckily, an armor-clad knight jumped over the road fences and rolled on the ground until he reached the kid, saving him and holding him in his arms as the carriage sped away. The crowds cheered for the brave hero as the knight held his thumbs up to them.
Subaru slowly retreated, looking embarrassed. "Guess I am not ready to use magic yet."
Half of the attendants in the theater burst into laughter at Subaru's pathetic display, the other half staring in disappointment.
"How did this buffoon become a genius capable of defeating Lugnica exactly?" Reinhardt and Roswaal both thought at the same time.
"This cannot possibly be the same man." Elsa said with disappointment.
The screen shows the lost boy walking through a marketplace, looking through the multiple shops and stands around him. He stopped at a stand and inspected the fruits on display, seeing foreign writing on one of the signs.
"I can't read this,"
he muses as he inspected the sign with a thoughtful look.
"So he can't even read the Lugunican language…he really had a bad first day didn't he?" Felt said.
"Those are some weird clothes you're traveling in, boy." A gruff looking man named Kadomon grunted from behind the stand with his eyes narrowed at Subaru.
Subaru looked at the merchant and pointed at the red fruits. "What are those?"
"Those are appas."
"So they can understand me huh," Subaru mused once more in a whispering tone to keep his thoughts to himself.
Taking a few coins from his wallet, Subaru placed them on the Kadomon's opened-palm.
"You can't use that stuff in Lugunica. That means you're flat broke, huh? Get outta here! Don't interfere with my business! " Kadomon yelled at Subaru and threw the coins in his face.
Subaru is looking distraught as he walks along.
"A bad day indeed." Reinhardt agreed with Felt.
There's no other way, I'll just have to go around gathering information first." The young man sighed helplessly and continued to walk along his day.
Subaru is shown to have various misshapes and messy situations that lead him to sit in an alleyway with his clothes wet after dropping in a canal.
Suddenly everyone in the theater agreed with Felt. Subaru really was having a bad first day, perhaps the spite got to him and made him snap?
"This is how it's supposed to be? Wasn't I summoned into a parallel world?! Where'd my protagonist status go?!" Subaru whined as he held his head in both hands in despair.
"He actually thought our world was a story that he'd be the main character of?" Reinhardt scoffed.
"Even then did he even try to be the 'main character'? The protagonist of a story is always supposed to be some sort of hero." Emilia said as she recounted the stories she read in her childhood.
He picks up his phone and starts looking at his contacts. His mom's and dad's numbers are shown. "Looks like it still works. But what's the point in having it! My starting gear sucks as well! I need more than this stuff since I haven't trained for anything yet. Where's my Excalibur?! Where's the cute girl that summoned me? Did she summon me and leave me here?" He asked as frustration filled his tone.
"He really seems spoiled here." Reinhardt said with concern. "I'm seriously baffled how this brat became the one who burned down Lugnica."
"It's like seeing a whole other different person, how very interesting~" Elsa said with a lick of her lips.
Sudden footfalls sounded out from the front of the alley opening he was sitting in, making Subaru quickly look up with curiosity to whomever was walking towards him from the depth of the shadowed space.
"Hey, is she finally here? The cute girl who summoned me…" He stops talking as the scene reveals three ragged looking young men smirking down at him.
Felt shriveled into fear the moment she recognized who the three individuals were. "Rein…it's them, the first time I saw those guys they were dead!" Felt latched onto Reinhardt's shoulder.
"If they were dead, and this is supposed to be the day you stole Lady Emilia's insignia then…oh no." Reinhardt made a terrifying realization. "This must be the moment Pride snaps." Reinhardt said with a horrified expression.
"Nya? His highness has been acting like a real dummy ever since he arrived in Lugnica, what makes you think he's the one responsible for those 3 hooligan's deaths?" Felix said as he turned her head to Reinhardt in confusion.
"Kitty is right, what makes you think big brother is responsible for their deaths. For all we know they could've been murdered a bit later by some other evil guy." Meili questioned.
"The screen showed me with the insignia in my hands and I remember arriving in that alleyway with the dead bodies only ten minutes after doing so!" Felt said with frustration. "There's no way some other psychopath happened to walk in during the next ten minutes!"
"What are you blabbing on about?
"If you don't wanna get hurt, cough up whatever you've got!"
Subaru is picked up from his shirt by the leader.
"You really think big brother is just gonna suddenly kill them out of nowhere, that wouldn't be like him no, no! Even if I think it'd be cool if he did, big brother was always calculated with his plans that involved murder." Meili shouted in denial.
"I must agree with my sister, this whole time I've been paying attention to the eyes of my client on the screen and not once did I see the eyes that belonged to a murderer, he seems innocent here…this is completely different from when we first met, I really had never seen him have the eyes of someone innocent." Elsa said with a tinge of pain.
"CRAP!"
Suddenly a voice shouted from behind.
"Move it, move it! You guys outta my way!" A blonde girl ran through the alley, shouting in a panic."Wait what!?" Felt yelled with a completely clueless face.
"What's wrong, Felt?" Reinhardt said with concern.
"This is all wrong, those guys were already dead by the time I ran in this alleyway. How could the screen be showing me running in whilst they're still alive as well as being next to Pride!?" Felt short-circuited.
"Is that the cute girl who summoned me?!" Subaru looked behind the group of thugs with a delighted smile, only for his expression to fall to confusion as soon as the blonde blinked at him.
"Summoned? I dunno what you're talking about, but I'm busy! Sorry, live strong!" The blonde girl blurted out in a hurry and shot Subaru an apologetic smile and an encouraging thumbs up as she jumped over the wall to the ally's end, leaving Subaru to be mugged.
"The screen is lying! I never saw Pride that day, and I never saw those three thugs alive!" Felt pleaded.
"Nooooow then Sword Saint, we've already gone over this. The strange voice ensuuuuured us that everything we see on this screen is real and has happened. I find it quite the annoyaaaance that you continue to deny it." Roswaal said in a humorous tone with the face of a jester. "This is just a side-effect of Subaru's 'special ability', so please keep quiet." Roswaal said in a serious tone.
Reinhardt wanted to sit up and further question what Roswaal exactly meant by Subaru having a special ability but found himself powerless to do so, like his mouth was seemingly being controlled to keep shut by an outside entity. "That damned strange voice." Reinhardt thought with anger.
"Hey that didn't make you decide to be less hostile toward me, by any chance did it?" Subaru asked as he now found himself alone with the other three angry looking thugs.
"Actually, it rained on our parade and made things worse."
"Yeah of course hehe…" Subaru laughed nervously.
"Those idiots don't know the viper's nest they've just walked into." Otto said with pity, fully expecting them to be brutally murdered by the unstopable Pride.
"Just calm down, Natsuki Subaru. It's been a long time rule since Ancient times that a person summoned into a parallel world will display supernatural powers!"
Subaru's nervous expression suddenly turned serious as he prepared himself before the three thugs.
"He's already that confidant?" Ram said with curiosity.
"He truly is Pride." Reinhardt said with disdain.
And in a moment, Subaru delivered a swift hook towards the tallest thug standing on the right.
"You lumps of XP!"
Emilia and Felt covered their eyes believing that the thugs would soon be brutally killed by Subaru. Otto, Puck, and Reinhardt sighed with pity for the three unfortunate thugs. Elsa, Felix, Meili, and Roswaal paid close attention to how the events would unfold.
Turning around with haste, he delivered a kick that knocked the short thug on the ground.
"That's the first time I ever hit someone, I didn't expect it to hurt me that much… but this world is set up so that I'll be strong!" Subaru said with an excited smirk.
"First time hitting someone!?" Reinhardt was astonished.
"Full confidence in his ability without any fear, this is the Subaru I know and love." Elsa quickly thought as she blushed and turned her head towards Reinhardt. "My client once told me he had never killed a person before coming to Lugnica, it was surprising to know how innocent he was before coming here, really."
Emilia held a face of pain upon hearing that. "If Pride wasn't a villain before coming to Lugunica then it must've been the harshness of our home that transformed him into…a monster." a single tear rolled from Emilia's eye, just this once she'll take pity on the boy.
"My adrenaline is surging! I've got this." Confidently, Subaru turns towards the third guy with a smirk and starts running towards him.
"Hahaha! Big brother is gonna kill them, yes!" Meili yelled in excited anticipation.
The last thug didn't even flinch as Subaru bulleted towards him with confidence, he kept his calm and revealed two blades that were hidden from view and got ready to fight the sharp-eyed young man.
"That's not gonna stop him." Everyone in the theater thought collectively.
Natsuki Subaru, noticing this act, surprised all as he halted his charge and met the ground with his forehead before the thug's feet.
"I'm sorry! It was all my fault! Forgive me! Spare me!" Said the prideful villain as he confidently pleaded for his life.
"What the fuck?" Meili said in pure confusion, and soon regretted doing so Elsa gave her a death stare for her language.
Otto began laughing uncontrollably, how badly he wanted that bastard to grovel on his feet. Otto began to seriously consider to himself that this single viewing may be just enough to cure his depression.
"This is not Subaru." Elsa and Roswaal said in unison as their faces were contorted with cringe.
Felix and Ram covered their faces in embarrassment for another person. Emilia and Felt slowly moved their hands away from their faces as Subaru's cowardice began to show. Reinhardt gave a small chuckle at the sight of it all.
Subaru was kicked in the face.
As he writhed around in pain, the two men he had knocked down started getting up and walking towards him, making an expression of pure fear cover his face.
"Play games with us will you? Die scum!"
The three thugs kicked and beat Subaru down as he tried to protect himself with his arms.
Elsa badly wanted to block out what was playing on the screen. "This absolutely cannot be the same person." repeated in her mind as she tried to deny the embarrassing moment.
"Deserved." Reinhardt said confidently, slightly surprising Otto as he got beat to the punch.
"That's enough!"
Emilia dropped her jaw upon hearing her own voice. The rest in the theater began paying close attention to the screen.
An order of authority and firmness echoed throughout the alley, making all three thugs as well as the down-beaten Subaru that had one of the thieves' feet on his head look to the speaker.
All 4 men looked towards the person now standing at the entry to the alleyway.
A beautiful silver-haired half-elf with skin as white as snow and eyes so beautiful as they shined with their purple color through the alley while the lady frowned sternly and glared at the thugs beating the young boy where no one could see him.
"No…no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!" Emilia continued to deny as she broke into tears. "I NEVER met him before he burned down Lugnica, NEVER! This did not happen, this cannot have happened, I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT!" Emilia's mind edged near to being shattered. "Is this why he somehow knew me, is this why he fell in love with me, is this why he talked about doing everything for me, something I couldn't remember about, something I couldn't possibly have understood about?" The questions rolled one by one into Emilia's head. If combative magic hadn't been disabled the entire room would've been frozen in ice by now. "STOP IT!" Emilia blood curtingly screamed.
"Lia, please! Calm down, calm down!" Puck desperately tried to reassure Emilia but it wouldn't work.
The screening stopped.
"I seriously didn't think you'd have a reaction that strong…I'll stop the screening for a few minutes, so please calm down."
"Your little game is making my daughter lose her mind! What's happening on that screen cannot possibly be real! Felt confirmed, Reinhardt confirmed, Lia confirmed it! Just admit that you've all taken us here to make us lose our spirits, to play with us!" Puck verbally yelled and hurled at the ceiling.
"How many times will I have to tell you that what's happening on this screen is real!?"
The theater attendants were surprised and fearful by how the strange voice lashed out at Puck.
"Liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar!" Emilia clutched her head as she shifted around in her seat. This was a reality she could not accept.
"That's not good…"
The theater attendants felt fear as the strange voice's tone clearly indicated something is not well with Emilia, something that the strange voice could not control.
Emilia slowly began to chuckle as her eyes ran out of tears to cry with. "I'm a bad daughter, an awful daughter, a despicable daughter, a daughter meant to be despised, they are right to see me with contempt, they are right to hate me, they are right to think I'm evil." Emilia muttered out in her delirious state.
Puck stared at Emilia with a face of pure horror. The rest of the theater attendants began to feel genuine concern for Emilia.
"I'm sorry but this screening will not be continuing in a few minutes. Please take a 1 hour break, all of you. There is free food and drinks to accommodate you all, just open the door behind Roswaal and you'll find a plaza with an infinite supply."
The attendants felt heavy unease on their necks as they all got up. Many were worried for Emilia.
"Emilia, you'll eventually have to come to terms with this reality but for now…please rest."
A counter for 1 hour appeared on the giant screen indicating the time the attendants have to rest.
"Lia…please stay calm." Puck said in a quiet tone as he caressed Emilia's head with his soft paws.
As Emilia continuously muttered indiscernible sounds under her breath Puck decided to sing her a lullaby that always comforted her, Emilia, upon hearing the lullaby, slowly closed her eyes and finally decided to rest after experiencing this hellish day.
"That poor girl/lady/half-witch" was a thought that formed in every attendant's head.
Authors note: Emilia's mental state will worsen next chapter. And yes, Subaru's downward spiral will be shown in full glory.
Texts used: WHDAA's describing of Ep1, which I guess comes from Re:Zero's EP1 script.