Chapter Five: Return

Darkness.

Darkness.

Darkness.

DARKNESS.

NOTHING BUT FUCKING DARKNESS.

"GHK-AGHHH!" Subaru rose into a seated position like he was shot out of a cannon, his left hand coming up to grasp at his throat, the feeling of choking to death on his own blood still fresh on his nerves. His screams subsided, but his breathing was that of a dying man, ragged and pained, and fast.

He looked down, seeing no blood on his tracksuit, nor were there holes where he'd been shot and stabbed. He quickly undid the zipper and pulled the jacket open, lifting the gray shirt underneath to inspect his body.

Nothing.

His brain, slowly catching up to his situation, attempted to move his right arm, finding no pain or hindrance in motion.

'W-...what the fuck happened?' he thought to himself.

"Sister, sister," a voice rang out from the boy's right, "it seems the Tarnished has awoken in terror."

"Rem, Rem," another similar voice responded to the first, "I believe fear and trepidation have consumed the Tarnished and interrupted his slumber."

Subaru slowly turned his head towards the voice, first seeing a familiar, golden campfire, then forcing his eyes to focus, he discovered the faces of his two twin Maidens lying just beyond it. He let out a breath he'd been holding since they first spoke, his mind awash with relief. Pushing himself to his feet, he made his way around the sparkly stuff and towards the blue-haired maid, causing both girls to stand and become…defensive?

Why were they on-guard?

Stopping just in front of his objective, Subaru chuckled softly. "Rem-Rem," he said, causing the girl to raise an eyebrow, her suspicious look deepening slightly. "I'm so glad to see you. You must've saved me again, huh?"

The girls looked at each other inquisitively, not sure how to respond to the boy's ramblings.

"And Ram," he said, turning to the pink-haired maid, "man, am I happy to see that dismissive look in your eye. I owe you guys big time, once again." He gave them a wide smile, scratching the back of his head absentmindedly.

Ram looked back at Subaru, before clearing her throat into her fist. "Tarnished, you seem to be confused."

The boy rolled his eyes. "Not that again! I thought we agreed, the name's Subaru! Or, 'Barusu', in your case." The maids looked even further perplexed at this proclamation. "But anyway, thanks again. Seriously. That was…scary."

He walked towards the pink maid and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Never thought I'd make it out of that, if I'm being honest. You're really the best Finger Maidens a guy could ask for."

"S-Subaru?" the meak voice of the blue-haired maid rang out softly from behind him, prompting him to turn towards her. "It is…Subaru, isn't it?"

The boy's expression became slightly perplexed. "Uh…y-yeah, it's Subaru, Rem-Rem," he said hesitantly. "What, you forgot already?" he joked with a nervous chuckle.

She took a small step forward. "Subaru…how do you know our names?"

This caused both eyebrows to nearly reach his spikey hairline.

"W-what do you mean?" he asked, panic beginning to rise in his throat. "We just met, like, 10 minutes ago! You asked to be my Finger Maidens and explained a bunch of stuff to me and then sent me through the cave!"

The maids looked at each other once more, then back to him. "Barusu," Ram said, making him look back to her, "we just found you unconscious next to this Site of Grace. We healed your injuries from your fall, and this is our first time speaking with you."

He took a step back at this. "That's…that's impossible." His face became a bit angry. "Ram, that's impossible! This isn't funny, cut it out!"

"Subaru," Rem said, once again regaining his attention, "my sister isn't trying to deceive you. We've never spoken before now."

His breathing became erratic once more and he clutched his chest through his shirt. His panic was beginning to get the best of him, and his vision began to blur. "N-no, that doesn't make sense," he muttered to himself, his teeth beginning to chatter. "That wasn't a dream, there's no way! How would I know their names? Or their titles? And that…pain. It was too real, there's just no way, there's no way!"

"Subaru," Rem interjected again, causing him to look up with sheer desperation in his eyes. "I'm…not sure what happened to impart information about my sister and I to you…that being said, I can tell you have no ill-intent, and we still wish to aid you if you'll have us."

Nodding solemnly, Ram added, "my sister is correct. I'm not sure if you had some sort of premonition of the future, but the fact remains: you are Tarnished, and we are Finger Maidens. We stand to benefit one another, and that won't change with any kind of future-sight."

"B-but you don't get it, I-!" he started, but by the looks on their faces, he could tell they were having enough trouble coming to terms with the possibility he could see into the future. He had a feeling that insisting to them he was almost certain he'd lived the experience would only make things more confusing.

His face falling somewhat before taking on an anxiously-determined expression, Subaru nodded and said, "alright, I'll get through the cave and meet you both on the other side."

Donning small smiles, the girls gave him polite bows as he - once again, from his perspective - made his way forward and deeper into the cave.

Taking things slowly in an effort to confirm what he experienced - or saw? - from before, Subaru peaked from behind the corner of the cave and saw the same two zombie-like monsters from his first attempt. With a sigh to steal himself, he crouched and started his sneaking trek forward.

Once within contact range of the first zombie's back, he stood and placed his hand on the back of its head, then with all the might his well-conditioned arms could muster, he forced the husk face-first into the wall of the cave, receiving that all-to-familiar death wail in response.

As the zombie fell and Subaru's body absorbed its residual Grace, he quickly bent to retrieve the fallen man's sword and proceeded to the zombie rummaging through the dirt and skewered it before his presence was even noticed.

Again, not wanting to waste any time, he proceeded to the next standing enemy, thrusting his blade through its chest and killing it without allowing it to raise its own weapon.

"One more," he sighed, breaking into a light jog to meet the final zombie he could remember. This one noticed him killing the previous one, and had its sword high above his head when Subaru closed the distance. He dodged the wild strike and slashed across the creature's side, forcing it to its knees. With one final swing, he removed the man's head from his thin neck, killing the last of the zombies for the second time.

Sticking his sword into the ground, he placed his hands on his knees and began trying to catch his breath, readying himself for what was to come. "Now for the hard part," he panted, straightening himself and retrieving the sword, grasping it with both hands. "I can do this." With one last deep breath, he screamed as he began to run forward, "I can do this!"

As he sprinted through the large open room, he kept his eyes on the soldier above, watching his movements closely for a hint as to when he'd fire his first bolt.

He saw him load his crossbow.

Then place it in both hands.

Finally, he hoisted it to the eye slot of his helmet.

"Now!" he yelled to himself, dodge-rolling to his left as the incoming bolt struck the earth where he previously stood with a muffled thunk. He continued his journey forward until he reached the space directly beneath the bridge, steadying his breath once more and preparing himself for the second stretch.

Once his breathing returned to normal, he pushed his body to move once again and made a break for the room's exit, keeping his eye trained over his shoulder to survey the soldier now behind and above him. He saw him going through the motions of reloading his crossbow, but just as he lifted it to aim, Subaru found himself at the wall signaling his passage into the next room and leapt behind it, just in time to watch the bolt meant for his back to fly past him and once again find gravel and dirt.

Letting out a ragged sigh of relief, he looked forward and saw the knight that had previously…killed him stalking slowly in his direction. A severe panic started to rise in his chest as he recalled the feeling of sheer helplessness he'd experienced just before this very knight impaled him to death. His teeth were chattering and his knees were shaking, and the sweat on his palms was making it difficult to maintain a grip on his sword.

"G-get your shit together, Natsuki!" he growled to himself, forcing his body to control itself to some extent. He took his left hand off the handle of his weapon and wiped it on his tracksuit, extending his right arm before him in preparation. "Alright, asshole!" he yelled, settling into a stance. "You wanna kill me again?! Come and try it, I dare ya!"

His challenge seemed to have no effect on the advancing knight, almost as if he didn't even hear it. Scowling at the thought of being taken so lightly, Subaru started his own march toward his adversary. Once they were within a few meters of one another, the knight reared his spear hand back and thrust forward, attempting to end things quickly from behind the safety of his tower shield.

Subaru stepped nimbly to his right, using the edge of his blade to guide the spear while he dodged it. When the strike had reached its apex, Subaru extended his left hand and grabbed the spear's shaft tightly. He felt the knight attempt to pull it away, but it went nowhere.

"Having trouble?" he teased, an angry grin plastered on his face. "When you're a grade-A shut-in like your's truly, with nothing to do but swing a wooden sword all day, your grip strength becomes something to behold!"

With a mighty roar to cap off his boast, he pulled back with all his power and removed the spear from the knight's hand while simultaneously forcing him to the ground on his knees. The knight tried to stand, but his body weight pushing down on his left knee held the tower shield in place, not allowing him to lift his upper body until he removed it from the shield. That small window of opportunity allowed Subaru to shove his sword through the back of the armored soldier, pinning him to the ground.

"Hah!" the boy screamed, his smile now somewhat crazed. "How the hell does that feel, you son of a bitch?! Not great, right?!"

The knight growled in response, and Subaru could feel him attempting to push upward against his blade. The teen's confidence faltered slightly.

"H-how the hell are you not dead?" he said in a low, desperate tone. "That's not possible." Shaking the fear from his head, he released the sword and lifted the spear high above his head in both hands. "Die you bastard!" His war cry was followed by a swift downward plunge of the polearm, perforating the knight once more through the base of the neck, finally forcing him to become motionless as a steady wisp of Grace flowed from him to the victor.

With a shaky breath and a trembling…everything, Subaru fell backwards onto his rear end. "I-is he dead?" he asked no one in particular. When he got the silence he expected, he extended his right foot and kicked the knight's shoulder, recoiling as he awaited some kind of response.

When none came, he threw his head back and closed his eyes, groaning in relief.

"I did it," he whispered, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. "I really did it. I'm alive. I changed the future!" He placed his forearm over his eyes as he cried, the fear and anxiety finally bidding him farewell. Subaru felt the weight of that terror and anticipation for this moment leave him.

He had returned. And he had triumphed.