"I-I don't recognize this ceiling."

As Rem's eyes opened to an unfamiliar sight above her head, she could feel her body weighed down by what felt like years of fatigue all at once. She had no idea where to begin her chain of thought, as the series of events leading to this situation was simply too ridiculous for anyone to anticipate.

'A-Ah, I suppose a year of stillness takes its toll on anyone. . .'

Rem was still reeling in shock from the words she'd received from Emilia in that accursed theater. An entire year had passed without her knowledge. So many things had changed. This room she was in served as proof of that.

"I need to find everyone."

Rem propped herself up using the bedstand next to her bed, finding that much of the fatigue she initially felt was beginning to wear off. She didn't hear anything from the other residents of the mansion. The silence was something that Rem didn't particularly enjoy, it reminded her of how alone she really was.

But as those dark thoughts began resurfacing in her mind. . .

A familiar scent drifted its way into her field of perception.

"This smell. . . i-it couldn't be. . ."

She felt tears rising in the corners of her eyes.

'I-I see. . .He's visited this room quite frequently, hasn't he? Every day, most likely. That's the only way the ambient smell would be this strong.'

All of her priorities shifted in that moment. Wherever Subaru was, she needed to find him. Her heart ached at all the pain he must've felt because of her snap decision.

"S-Subaru-kun. . ."

Rem, at this moment, had repressed the memories of her time in the theater. Deliberately attempting to avoid any negative thoughts drifting into her mind. However, there were still some grudges she needed to settle.

". . .siste-. . ?"

A stampede of footsteps echoed through the hallways of the Manor. Rem couldn't quite make out the voices, but she had a few guesses on who these people might be.

The sounds stopped abruptly.

Whoever was on the other side of the door seemed almost afraid to open it. They were quite worried about what they would find on the other side.

Eventually, someone worked up the courage.

The door slowly creaked open as the silent occupant of the room stared on in confusion.

"N-Nee-sama!"

Ram's eyes were the first ones to greet Rem's confused gaze. At the sight of the beautiful red hues residing in her sister's eyes, Rem could feel the confusion in her shift to a radiating warm feeling in her stomach.

"I'm. . . so happy. . ."

Ram had embraced Rem in an inescapable hug. The words she spoke pushed warm air through Rem's hair. Her face rested in the crook of her neck and Rem felt tears flowing down Ram's face onto her shoulder.

"There's no chance of y-you reverting back to that state. . ."

Ram's hug tightened to the point Rem was having trouble breathing.

"Nee-sama, I won't leave you like that ever again."

But Rem didn't even notice. The only thing on her mind was reassuring her sister of her continued presence by her side.

Rem's eyes drifted to the open doorway, and she found two other people staring directly at her, each with smiles on their faces.

"It's nice to see you again, Rem."

Frederica's smile was so big that her large teeth were clearly visible for everyone to see. Normally, her insecurities subconsciously prevented her from ever revealing these features to others. However, in the midst of such amazing news, Frederica didn't even notice her super wide smile.

"I-It's a miracle! Rem-rin!"

Petra, someone who was very expressive in her love, didn't simply stand still and admire the scene from afar. Petra rushed over to Rem and Ram's side and gave them each a hug of her own.

"Frederica! Petra! I can't believe it's been an entire year. . ."

Rem was surprised to see Frederica in her work uniform and was even more surprised to see the amount of growth that Petra had undergone since she'd last seen her.

"I suppose it's only natural for you to feel a little out of place. . . putting aside the viewing, it must feel like no time has passed since your battle with Gluttony."

Frederica unintentionally brought down the jubilation of everyone with her mention of the viewing. Nobody was particularly keen to reminisce on the suffering that guided them to this point.

"I do feel somewhat responsible for what happened, there is no need to harbor guilt on my account. If you would. . .p-please direct me to Subaru-kun!"

Rem awkwardly stuttered out her only demand, imagining the conversation she was about to have with the man that became her hero.

"R-Rem-san, I don't believe this was mentioned during the viewing, but Subaru and the others aren't at the Manor right now. They were enroute to the Watergate City of Priestella, last I heard."

Rem's excited expression noticeably dampened.

'Subaru-kun isn't here? I need to see him. I need to. . .'

Rem clasped her hands together in an almost prayer-like motion.

"Barasu will be just fine. Please rest and they should be returning as soon a-. ."

Rem weakly shook her head and patted Ram on the back.

"I am sorry Nee-sama, but I can't wait. I need to see him."

Ram released Rem for a moment and looked into her blue eyes to see a determination she hadn't seen in a long time. It reminded her of the look Rem had when she was learning how to cook from their mother.

Rem immediately walked out of the room and began searching for the front door to the house.

Of course, her being unfamiliar with the layout of the Miload Manor only made this endeavor more difficult. She could hear the other three maids following behind her at a rapid pace, but she didn't care if she was defying orders. She needed to see him.

"Where are the stables. . .?"

Rem searched the halls and navigated the maze of rooms that would eventually lead her to the front door of the Manor.

Funnily enough, a ridiculously dressed clown blocked her path.

"Reeeem-san, it would not be in our best interests for you to follow our dear Suuuubaru-kun!"

Roswaal said his oddly vague demand with a teasing smile on his face. It lit a flame inside Rem she hadn't felt in years.

"Y-You. . . You dare stand in my way? It took everything I had to restrain myself from killing you during the viewing. I-I thought maybe you'd felt some kind of remorse. . .!"

Rem's hands shook with rage. This bastard really wanted to prevent her from seeing Subaru? Of course he'd wish for something like that, after all, his goal was always to kill Subaru!

"My deeeaaar Rem-san, you pledged your loyalty to me, isn't that riiight? Disobeying your Lord when I am siiiimply acting in your bes-. . ."

Rem broke out into a furious fit of laughter.

"Don't speak to me about 'our best interests'! Y-You. . .You were responsible for everything! You tortured Subaru-kun! You left me and my sister to die countless times! There was never an 'our' to speak of, only you. . ."

Her horn began to emerge from her forehead, however Rem had no intentions of going berserk. Despite all of the horrible things Roswaal had done, Rem had truly wanted to believe that her master was remorseful. For the sake of her sister and Subaru, she had earnestly wished to forgive him. Roswaal, even if he'd manipulated events to force her to become a maid, was the person who raised her. But now, he was betraying her again, her heart couldn't take it. The increased flow of mana was enough to knock over several tables and fragile objects.

*crash*

Several vases and windows shattered under the pressure of Rem's (half) demon transformation.

"Please understand, Rem-san. I did what I haaaad to do! Suuuubaru-sama wouldn't have been able to save everyone if weeee never met him. I will always act in the beeest interests of Subaru-sama because they are also my best interests. Fooolishly following after hi-. . ."

Rem pulled out her morningstar and prepared to eviscerate the man standing in between her and Subaru.

"Sister! Wait! Don't attack Roswaal-sama!"

Ram rushed into the scene and placed herself between Roswaal and Rem, hoping to calm her sister down.

"Sister, t-this man has. . . used you like a tool! He'll kill you without a second's hesitation if his 'teacher' wills it! Get out of my way!"

Ram shook her head and looked up at Rem with pleading eyes.

"Roswaal-sama isn't lying! He's bound by a contract he made with Barasu! Please, at least listen to w-. . ."

Rem shook her head and raised her hand, signaling Ram to stop speaking.

"That man has no grievances with sacrificing you and Subaru-kun for his own goals! If you wish to continue defending him, very well. However, he will not impede me from fulfilling my own desires. Tell him to move and I'll spare his life!"

Before Roswaal had a chance to speak, the odd butler, Clind, had made his way down to the ground floor and stood behind Rem.

"A fight between the maidstaff? Violent. Why is Rem threatening Master Roswaal? Explanation."

Clind's questions were granted with uncomfortable silence, but Frederica and Petra's arrival shifted everyone's attention away.

"R-Rem-san, please don't do anything you'll regret!"

Frederica appealed to Rem's caring nature, but she feared that she wouldn't be enough to restrain Rem if she attempted to carry out an attack on Roswaal.

"Rem-rin, I am with you! That bastard needs to be punished for k-. . ."

Time froze.

Only those who saw the viewing can know the truth. Speaking with anyone else is forbidden.

The shock of being completely frozen in place had engulfed the maid staff in fear.

With the context of the viewing, they had reason to believe that the Witch Of Envy was responsible for whatever was happening to them now.

Each braced for the inevitable punishment the Witch planned to unleash onto them. . .But were pleasantly surprised when the phenomenon faded away without retribution.

Time unfroze.

"Ghgh. .?"

Petra dropped to her knees, panting from the adrenaline rush stemming and the overwhelming fear in her heart.

"Petra-chan? Are you in pain? Concern."

Clind rushed over to Petra's side, but was quickly waved away by Petra, who seemingly managed to get a grip on her emotions.

"Thiiiis is why I wish to exercise caution, Reeeem-san."

Roswaal gave a knowing look to Rem, implying he'd been aware of the new speaking taboo since they returned from the theater.

"Master Roswaal, I ask for an explanation regarding the conflict between you and Rem and for what just happened to Petra-chan. Confusion."

Roswaal put his hand over his eyes, upset at having the secret so quickly revealed to people not aware of the viewing. This is why he didn't want Rem to leave without a plan.

"I am juuuuust as confused as youuu!"

He put on his clownish persona, but Clind simply narrowed his eyes at Roswaal's obvious deflection.

"Rem's awakening and immediate attack on you? Suspicious."

The butler was certainly shrewd. Almost as much as Subaru. Roswaal didn't want to make any rash decisions without complete certainty of the consequences.

"If you would allow us a moment of priiivacy?"

While it was unlucky that Clind harbored suspicions that they were hiding something, it was quite fortunate that this turn of events had calmed Rem down enough to see reason. This gave Roswaal a chance to explain his intentions to Rem without impediment.

Clind wasn't a fan of Roswaal's over-the-top act. However, he didn't want to reignite the fight with his maidstaff either.

"Very well. . . .Master Roswaal."

The initial reaction to Rem's awakening was somewhat lackluster.

Aside from Ram, Frederica, and Petra, nobody else seemed invested in her predicament. Annerose gave an awkward greeting to her and formally granted Rem permission to live with them in the Manor. Ryuzu didn't remember Rem particularly well aside from her visits to the Sanctuary so long ago. And Clind seemed preoccupied with something else.

Roswaal managed to successfully dissuade Rem from immediately pursuing the remaining members of the Emilia Camp. While Roswaal was, in part, hoping for an excuse to send his maidstaff up to Priestella to negotiate on his behalf; to do such a thing without good reason would signal to the other camps that he didn't trust his camp members. Not to mention the new conditions they were operating under.

With the entirety of Arc 4 on full display to the five camps, Roswaal had no ability to continue hiding his original intentions. However, there was at least one saving grace for him. His earnest feelings of guilt for everything he'd put Subaru through.

Yes, Roswaal had, and always would, put his own goals before everyone else. But there were some lines he still wouldn't cross.

Roswaal generally wished to achieve his goals with the least amount of suffering possible, especially if it concerned others. He was able to rationalize many of his decisions with the belief that he was taking the optimal path to his desired future. Subaru was simply meant to act as insurance.

With the truth on full display, Roswaal was forced to acknowledge the obscene amount of undue suffering he inflicted on the people around him. During the loops where he'd been particularly heartless, it seemed that the on-screen Roswaal felt some level of remorse. Either that, or anger at Subaru for not 'resetting'.

It was clear now, that his teacher had made him out as a fool. He, of course, still wanted to see her again. But the amount of important information that was hidden from him. . .

It didn't sit well.

So, Roswaal spilled his guts. Everything.

He was honest. He truly wished that Subaru's journey ended up differently. He wished that he'd known from the beginning how the ability activated. He admitted that he, most likely, would've killed Subaru anyway. But he prefaced that with the reason why he would've done so.

Roswaal had indirectly killed Subaru numerous times. However, he'd also killed everyone that Subaru cared about in an attempt to coerce him.

Perhaps Subaru would hate Roswaal more if he knew the man responsible for his suffering from the beginning. But at the very least, so many others wouldn't have had to die. Subaru wouldn't have been forced to powerlessly witness such a scene so many times. Maybe Roswaal would've been able to make his deaths painless.

'It was this undue suffering that made you strong enough to oppose me, am I correct, Subaru-kun?'

Needless to say, this confession wasn't very effective in persuading Rem. However, surprisingly enough, the rest of the maidstaff sided with Roswaal.

The reason was simple. While it was an ugly and heartless confession, it was most certainly the truth.

Roswaal, at least for now, didn't have any reason to hide his intentions from them.

And then, of course, the blame game reasserted itself.

As Rem pointed fingers at Roswaal, the master simply bowed his head in acceptance.

It took Petra, oddly enough, to break them out of this continuous cycle.

Literally everyone there had contributed to Subaru's deaths in one way or another. Rem and Ram were the only people there to directly kill Subaru.

Petra despised Roswaal, but for a different reason than the others.

While Roswaal's murders may have been numerous and well-planned, they were not purposeless.

The situation with Rem and Ram was something akin to pure hatred. It wasn't fair for them to ignore everything Rem did so that they could punish Roswaal.

Roswaal would face justice, that was certain. But for now, he was correct that they shouldn't act without a well-thought-out plan.

Rem heeded Petra's words and yielded, but still feeling animosity directed at Roswaal.

From the perspective of the other folks in the mansion, the new living arrangement had become quite odd.

Clind had told Annerose about the odd set of circumstances surrounding Rem's awakening, as well as the supposed secret that the rest of the maids were privy to. At first, Annerose was content ignoring such gossip. She had better things to do with her time than obsess over the personal lives of her staff.

However, the uncomfortable tension she felt over the subsequent two days was enough for her to revisit the subject.

It started small.

When her Uncle rang for an attendant, they would take longer than usual.

Sometimes they would deliberately take the longest path possible to get to their destinations.

Petra, who had become the most friendly with Annerose since their arrival, no longer visited her during her breaks from work.

Rem barely spoke a word to anyone other than her sister and Frederica.

It was getting so bad that Annerose was expecting a full-on brawl to break out at the mansion sometime soon.

She needed to figure out what was happening to her maids.

It began pretty straightforward.

Annerose called Rem up to her quarters and simply asked her questions regarding her mysterious awakening. She felt that the timing of such an event was most likely linked to the secret behind everyone's weird behavior.

Sadly, Rem wasn't very helpful.

So, she tried reestablishing contact with Petra.

This attempt failed too. Petra always seemed to have an excuse for why she couldn't take her break to come speak with her.

Roswaal was out of the question. He would likely see through her plan and simply put on that 'clown' act he loved so much.

That left only one choice.

Clind, who had also been curious about the events of a few days prior, told Annerose that Subaru was, in some way, involved in this.

Subaru was a bubbly, upbeat guy, but deceptively intelligent. However, Annerose felt confident she could deceive him into giving away his secrets.

This meant that she needed to reach Subaru before Roswaal did.

As such, she had Clind sift through the mail and report back to her with any information on Subaru's whereabouts.

"This letter. . .What an interesting turn of events. . ."

Annerose looked over the letter from the Emilia Camp with renewed interest. It took them about two days to reach the city of Priestella, relative to the time they departed, and the letter she'd received contained important information.

"Annerose-sama, will you disclose the information to your loyal servant? Interested."

She handed the letter to Clind and began running through the possible scenarios in her mind.

'This letter is, at least, a day old. Assuming we send a carriage at top speed to retrieve Subaru, it will take us an entire day to arrive. This isn't something I would be able to do discreetly. My Uncle would surely notice a carriage missing from the stables. So how do I get to Subaru first?'

Clind put the letter in his back pocket and awaited orders from Annerose. She didn't like the idea of Roswaal departing to Priestella to ascertain Subaru's condition. If she could, she'd prefer to send Clind.

"Annerose-sama, I doubt the maids would support Master Roswaal on a trip to Priestella. Dubious."

Clind's excellent thinking had revealed a new piece of information to Annerose.

"Ah, I suppose you're right Clind-san. Perhaps we can use their hostilities against them."

Once Rem learned of the letter regarding Subaru's condition, she could only be classified as a force of nature.

She'd fully packed her things and prepared a carriage within the hour, preparing to depart for Priestella on her own.

Before she could leave, Roswaal called out to her and placed himself in front of the carriage.

"Move."

Rem's words didn't leave room for argument. If it was anyone else, they would've felt their legs shake in fear.

"Rem, before you lea-. . ."

"Move, or I will run you over!"

Roswaal shook his head and simply pointed to the front door of the manor.

"Sister! Don't leave without us!"

Rem turned and saw Clind and Ram, fully prepared and ready to join her.

"N-Nee-sama, you don't have to come with me! I'm defying orders. . ."

Roswaal chuckled aloud at Rem's hasty declaration.

"Is thaaaat so? I believe you are misinfoooormed!"

She turned back to see Roswaal, no longer blocking the carriage, gesturing to the other maidstaff to come over.

"I am ordeeering you to ensure Suuubaru-kun's safety by heading to Priestella!"

Rem felt her expression shift into a small smile.

"What kind of Master wouuuuld I be to send you all aloooone?"

Roswaal neglected to mention the secret orders he'd entrusted to Ram, as well as the, very likely, secret orders given to Clind by Annerose. However, he didn't want to ruin the moment for Rem.

Despite everything he'd done to her. All of the pain he'd inflicted on them. He still genuinely cared for his staff. And with the news that one of his most valued employees was under attack, even he felt an urge to go and ascertain his safety.

"R-Rem-rin!"

Petra and Frederica, hearing the commotion, came out to see the carriage ready to depart.

"Roswaal-sama, where are they going?"

Frederica narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"To go assist Suuubaru-kun, of course!"

With his ridiculous overreaction, Roswaal had left his two remaining maidstaff speechless. It was certainly a departure from the way he'd been acting a couple days ago. This could only mean that he was on to another one of his schemes. . .

"P-Please, be careful you three!"

Frederica called out after them, her demihuman instincts signaling to her that something wasn't right with this picture.

As Roswaal watched their silhouette disappear into the distance, he felt his hands shake with something akin to fear.

'Steel yourselves. I believe the situation in Priestella is more dire than you anticipated.'

Author's Note:

Were the characters OOC? I feel like this chapter I hit the nail on the head, but if anyone notices anything weird, please tell me.

The timeline is all over the place! Let's just say, this will be the last chapter you see with these characters for a while. Remember, it has been (at least) one full day since the letter was sent from Priestella regarding Subaru's condition. What will be the consequences of Clind's inclusion on this mission?

I swear, Clind and Al are the most sus characters to write. We still have no idea what their intentions are or how they ended up where they are now. (Just wanted to add this cause they are both going to play a role later in the story)

Next chapter we'll be returning to Priestella and FINALLY get to address that cliffhanger from like three chapters ago! There are, most likely, two chapters left before stuff seriously hit the fan, so be prepared!

As always, I'm going to add a little poll down here to see what the general consensus among readers shows.

Which character do you want to have play a larger role in later chapters of this fic?

First is Ton-Chin-(Kan) trio. (I don't believe Kan is in the city, according to the wiki, but I'm honestly not sure)

Second is the Felt Camp, as they were sidelined for most of the canon Arc 5

Third is the White Dragon's Scales.

For groups that did a lot of fighting, I'd be adding more fluff to make them more fleshed out. For groups that didn't really play a role in the action, they'd be incorporated into the action later on.

I'm interested to see who you all choose (yes I'm aware Ton-Chin-Kan are in the Felt Camp, but they barely make an appearance in this arc aside from that one scene with Sirius, so I count them separately here).

I'm probably going to continue releasing chapters for The Secret, because that is what everyone seems to want the most right now. I'm obviously still super hyped for this story, but if you guys want the next chapter of Another Chance, just leave a comment and I'll work on it after the next chapter of this fic comes out.