Hello. This is your pal, Jude Warble.
Important Note: I will not repeat the Deaths of characters on each Solo, Duo or Trio Ending because it will just consume the plotline and it would be a useless repeat. Just so you all know.
And with that out of the way, please enjoy this fanfic, and as always, stay breezy!
Unknown Location
"Shadow?"
"Huh?"
Shadow was snapped out of his stupor when Lapin came and flicked him on the forehead.
"What unladylike attitude you have here, Lapin" Shadow said with a scowl to the black-haired lady.
"I'm already married, have kids, and an SSS-Rank Adventurer, Shadow. What's having a ladylike attitude will benefit me?" Lapin asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey, Nii-sama...Are you okay?" Mariabel asked with a concerned look, prompting Shadow to smile gently, before he ruffled the thirteen-year-old Elf's long, silky blonde hair, causing a blush to find itself on her cheeks and her long ears.
"...I'm fine. Just a little tired is all. Thanks for the concern, though" Shadow said, causing Mariabel to pout cutely.
"Anyways, why are we in Sonic's house for Christmas?" Shadow asked while looking around the house. He immediately deduced that this house was Sonic's due to the many portraits and pictures that had Sonic in them riddling the walls and shelves.
If Shadow didn't know Sonic, he would swear that he was some kind of a narcist.
"Don't you remember, Shads? You forced Sonic to this because he blew up the water heater in your house. It took three days from the combined effort of you and Rem to fix it. Ram and Capella were helping by fixing the giant hole in the roof. But I have to say, it was so hilarious seeing Silver and Otto hanging from the water heater that blew up the roof of your house as they screamed like bitches" Subaru said, before he and the people around him started giggling and chuckling, aside from Otto and Silver, who hung their heads down in comical shame.
"It was an accident! You guys locked us up in the basement!" Otto yelled in defense.
"Well, if someone didn't have the Audacity to take the last Qatayef piece from the plate in front of Yoriichi, then they wouldn't have been thrown into the basement" Mariabel exclaimed, throwing Otto and Silver a mocking stare.
"But it was delicious! Terios-san made that foreign dish! So I expected it to be delicious, and it was! I couldn't resist" Otto exclaimed with a comical teary face.
"Yeah! And then it made Yoriichi angry to the point that he punched you so hard to send you flying to me, who happened to be passing by, before both of us fell in the basement!" Silver exclaimed, yelling at Otto in comical anger.
"I told you it's not my fault!" Otto yelled at Silver.
"It is!" Silver yelled back.
"Now now, Otto-kun, Silver-kun. Why don't we focus on placing the Christmas decorations now? I mean, I understand that Sonic-kun is partially at fault for eating most of the Qatayef that Yoriichi-kun wanted to taste, but that doesn't mean that we mustn't help" Banny said with a chuckle, rubbing the back of the helmet on his head.
Shadow raised an eyebrow while looking at the Foster family. They were really extraordinary.
Banny was the father, and he was in possession of the Rune Stone Skill, Karna's Indestructible Body. He was so muscular, and his body could never be penetrated by physical or magical attacks. Shadow once remembered how he withstood a Rib-Breaker from Lapin that obliterated an entire mountain, turning it into nothing but a pile of ash, and even from a considerable distance. Even after getting struck with that attack, Banny was completely unharmed, calling it 'surprising', shrugging it off where the only casualties at that time were his shirt. Shadow was also curious about what was behind his helmet, but he theorized that his eyes were blue, and his hair was blonde, because Connie, his daughter, inherited those traits from him.
Lapin was the mother, and Shadow has to admit something. Despite being a woman in her 40s, where Banny is at his 50s, Lapin was a complete hottie. Shadow was not interested in the second gender, aside from the four girls in his mind, but Lapin was the hot shot. Aside from the scars that riddled her body from all the fighting, her black hair and violet eyes, the ones that Lavi inherited, as well as her figure that was hugged by that black tight jumpsuit that exposed her legs and hugged her breasts tightly indicated that she was way younger than her true age suggested. She was also the most dangerous out of the Foster family, and that was due to her Rune Stone Skill, Skill Eater. As its name suggests, it allows her to steal the powers and abilities of those around her. The condition is to touch the insides of the target's mucus membrane, where Lapin always targets the mouth of her target, being the easiest to place her fingers inside. In addition, depending on how much time she places her hand on the target's mucus membrane, it would be either borrowing, or outright stealing the target's ability. For reference, it takes Lapin a few seconds in contact with her foe's mouth to borrow their ability for ten minutes, while it takes her five minutes to fully steal the ability. Such ability was fearsome, on par with Shadow's Rune Stone Skill. Throughout her years as an adventurer, Lapin had amassed countless skills and elemental affinities. Heck, she even stole Lost Magic from others.
Connie, the eldest daughter, was also remarkable. Aside from her tremendous skill in Water Magic, which was second only to Felix, her Rune Stone Skill, Breath of the Berserker, allowed her to infinitely increase her physical strength and durability as long as she had a weapon heavier than her own weight. It didn't matter how much strong her opponent. As long as Connie had a massive weapon larger than herself in weight, nothing could stop her, even if it was another Rune Stone Skill user. Heck, even if it was Enerjak or even Perfect Tikhaos, Shadow could imagine the sight of Conne bashing both of those two to the farthest edge of the multiverse with one hit of her large magic staff.
Shadow was still wondering how on the Four Primordial Forces Connie was able to easily wield that thing. He just theorized that it was a perk that she inherited from her absurdly powerful parents, aside from the fact that she inherited his eye and hair colors.
Lavi, on the other hand, was the most remarkable in Shadow's sight out of the Foster family. Honestly, when he met him for the first time, Shadow thought nothing of the kid. He was so weak, even for a 13-year-old kid. He had nothing remarkable, aside from her magnificent and terrifying intellect. So Shadow was gracious enough to give him the Rune Stone Skill, Master of Tools, a skill that allowed him to use an item to its full efficiency. That, combined with his merchant partner, Philo, who brought out bizarre items with weird, but astoundingly effective and remarkable results, as well as his dangerously impressive intelligence, made Lavi the true nuke of the family.
Unlike Connie, Lavi may have not inherited his parents absurd physicality, but he did deserve the title of the Brains of the Foster.
"Shadow? Are you alright?"
"?!"
The sound of Yoriichi alerted Shadow, causing him to snap out of his daze.
Ah, yes. Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the strongest Demon Slayer from Dimension KnY-20, a true legend indeed, and Shadow's former arch-nemesis as Muzan Kibutsuji. No one could rival him in terms of swordsmanship. Heck, his swordsmanship was actually his Rune Stone Skill, Sun Breathing. He is capable of creating flames of hellfire in his sword that is able to eradicate the very conceptual existence of his target. His swordsmanship was indeed the best, and it looked like a beautiful dance.
A few months after meeting him in Kararagi alongside Halibel, Shadow was amazed to see that Yoriichi had gotten married, and to Rika.
What was special about Rika was a Monster Tamer, a kind of person who trains Demi-Humans who completely lost their rational-thought capabilities after succumbing to their animal side. Her methods were...Unorthodox, and Shadow preferred not to talk about it. Well, she started the job after giving birth to Katelyn, her daughter. That was years ago before meeting Yoriichi, as her first husband passed away, leaving her and Katelyn in this job. When she met Yoriichi and both fell in love with each other, Yoriichi immediately forbid her from this Monster Tamer job. At first, she was annoyed by that, but after seeing that Yoriichi was able to...'compensate' her, she immediately agreed for his decision.
Katelyn, on the other hand, was completely against the marriage at first, but after seeing that Yoriichi can be a reliable and responsible stepfather, she slowly started to change her mind about him.
And even though Cece, a cat Demi-Human, was working with that Monster Tamer job, Yoriichi tried to at first stop her from that job, and that he would take care of the expenses as the responsibility of the man of the house fell on him, but Cece just refused, saying that she was a resident of their house and that she had to contribute to it. Yoriichi reluctantly surrendered to her, but made her promise to find another job other than Monster Taming, where until then, she was his own responsibility as a member of his family.
Truly, Shadow was amused at Yoriichi's sense of responsibility.
"Ah...It's nothing. Anyways, just as Banny said, we need to help Blue with the decorations and food. Want me to help in cooking?" Shadow asked, quickly dismissing any thoughts, as he could sense that others around him felt worried.
"Oh don't worry. This time, Silver will be cooking" Rika said with a smile, causing Shadow to gasp and cringe, but he immediately hid all of that with a forced smile on his face.
"I'll have the help of Miss Aleena in it! She'll look over me!" Silver exclaimed happily.
"May your soul find peace, mom" Sonic made a silent prayer, which in turn caused Shadow to opt an amused smile on his face, having read his mind.
But even with all of that, Shadow was still confused in the situation. What was this development?
"Seriously, what the fuck is going on here?" He thought.
At the same time. Mount Cordor
"We did it! All three of us!"
"That was...The strangest adventure that I've ever been part of"
"So many deaths 'cause of tha'creatcha. Ma' amazin' self doesn't know whadda do now..."
Otto, Heinkel and Garfiel released sighs of relief upon entering into the grounds of Mount Cordor, glad that the nightmare was over. And as the three stared at the close-to-set sun, they contemplated on their current predicament.
"Don't give up! We know...This is a hidden spot!" Otto exclaimed with a confident smile.
"Yeah, of course...THIS is a hidden spot"
"?!"
And the familiar voice shattered all of their hope, as Subaru EXE appeared in a small, brief flash of light, standing in front of the three males.
"What? But how? Three of us are alive!" Heinkel said in a mixture of shock and horror, before he saw a new existence appear out of thin air.
It was what appeared to be a small girl dressed as a maid, but her reddish-brown hair was pale purple, with her cyan eyes becoming blood red irises with black sclera, her skin being pale purple in color and her left eye was forcibly closed shut, as if it was beaten to the point that it can no longer open from being swollen badly.
"I guess you forgot about the girls" Subaru EXE said.
"Petra-chan?!" Otto exclaimed in shock upon seeing the state of the little girl.
"Th'fuck?! Th'hell didya do t'th'girl, ya bastard?!" Garfiel roared his question, having seen the mutilated form of Petra.
"No, this can't be happening!" Otto yelled with his eyes wide in shock, grief and disbelief.
"Deja Vu didn't work for you this time, huh?" Subaru EXE asked in a mocking manner.
"Deja Vu? Th'heck ya talkin' 'bout?!" Garfiel yelled.
"Oh jeez...Deja Vu helped you three to survive. Some small fragments of memory are still inside your braindead heads. I guess you can handle it..." The abomination said, before the three males saw Subaru EXE teleporting away, leaving Petra EXE there with them, whose right hand crackled with purple electricity and left hand had a glowing purple orb of light in it. Garfiel, angry at the fact that a little girl like Petra faced her Death early, with Otto racing him into that position of grief, gritted his teeth, and charged forward, only for Petra EXE to deliver an axe kick to his chin, sending him flying away and landing on another platform of the mountain. Seconds later, Garfiel stood up to see Petra EXE teleporting to him with the bloodied heads of Otto and Heinkel.
"If ya think ya can get Ma amazin' self, ya better think again" Garfiel said entering a fighting stance.
"Will you truly hurt a kid, Garfiel-san?" Petra EXE asked Garfiel, causing Garfiel's face to slightly opt a sympathetic expression.
"Listen, kiddo...Ma amazin' self doesn't wanna hurt ya, but Ma amazin' self will do that if ya come any closer" Garfiel warned, causing Petra EXE to sigh.
"Then I will test my Fate..." She said.
Immediately, she lunged forward, alerting Garfiel to the sudden movement. Garfiel immediately jumped backwards, forcing Petra EXE to lunge at him once again with her right hand encased in electricity.
"Red Tiger: Heavenly Hand of Defense!"
Right upon the contact with the lightning-clad hand of Petra EXE with Garfiel's opened palm that was covered with red-colored energy, the attack was instantly halted, and in the next second, Petra EXE screamed in pain as she was suspended in midair while being electrocuted by her reflected attack.
In the few seconds that Petra EXE was electrocuted in, Garfiel immediately followed up.
"Blue Tiger: Storm of Guillotine!"
Blue energy instantly covered Garfiel's right fist, before he swung it in a straight line, and right upon contact, the blue energy surrounding Garfiel's fist morphed into the shape of a large guillotine blade that immediately enlarged itself and soared towards Petra EXE, slicing her immediately in half, alongside the mountain top that was behind her. But before the two halves of Petra EXE could fall on the ground, Garfiel followed up with another attack.
"Green Tiger: Arrow of Artemis!"
Punching forward for one last time, Garfiel released green energy that was shaped into a large flurry of millions of arrows that flooded the entire mountain. The massive flurry of ethereal green arrows proved to be too much for the little body of Petra EXE, drilling holes into her small body, before turning it into ash due to the power of the constant arrow rain. Her body disintegrated right after a few hundreds of arrows, not even leaving ashes where she previously was.
"This was not supposed t'happen..." Garfiel muttered in a sad tone.
"Poor girl. She didn't deserve such a Fate"
"?!"
Suddenly, a floating figure covered in shadows flew towards Garfiel, and from Garfiel's eyes, the figure appeared like a female.
"Who th' heck r ya?! Ma' amazin' self saw lots of s'prises t'day!" Garfiel yelled in a mixture of anxiety and anger.
"You don't even need to see my face, but..." Garfiel opened his mouth to cut her off, but she raced him to it.
"You need to survive!"
And right after saying that, white light assaulted Garfiel's eyes, before he was teleported away from Mount Cordor.
Memory Fragment File #16
"Ugh! Awrite! Ma amazin' self had enougha this for ten minutes! Go find sumwhere an'let Ma amazin' self sleep!"
"Huh? Are you talking to me?"
"Yea! Ma amazin' self's talkin' t'you, kid! Stop annoying Ma amazin' self and find a new place ya'self!"
Garfiel hoped up to his feet from his sleeping position underneath a tree, angrily yelling at whoever was up there as leaves were constantly falling on him for the past ten minutes.
The reason that Petra was up on the tree was due to a training curriculum that Shadow had given to her to increase her agility and sense of perception, and that was by balancing herself on trees, as well as jump up from one to another.
This was also to kill time, as Petra was bored after being left in the Sanctuary because they were forced to evacuate from the rampage of those two weird creatures that resembled gigantic rabbits, but Shadow and Subaru were secretly visiting to avoid Garfiel and his rantings.
"I'm sorry, but maybe you'll find a new place yourself? I'm busy training as you can see here" Petra immediately replied, unflinching as she saw a vein pop on Garfiel's forehead.
"Ya should listen t'th'adults!" Garfiel yelled, causing Petra to glare at him.
"First, I should not listen to strangers, and second, I recommend you to not touch this tree" Petra said with defiance in her eyes, something that Garfiel secretly admired in the kid.
"Or else, what?" Garfiel asked.
His answer, a beam of yellow light fired from Petra's finger at him, which in turn caused Garfiel to immediately tiptoe a few steps backwards to dodge the light beam, where the point where Garfiel stood had a small smoldering hole in it.
Surprisingly, this made Garfiel...Amused.
"Heh...Not bad, kid. How old r ya?" Garfiel asked Petra.
"Twelve" Petra answered, still glaring at Garfiel.
"Don' get Ma amazin' self wrong, but Ma amazin' self thought all of th'kiddos these days are a buncha cowards" Garfiel said with a smirk that flashed his sharp teeth, along with having his arms crossed underneath his chest.
"Please don't underestimate kids these days. I'll have you know that I'm training under lots of powerful people, including the Black Angel of Irlam himself" Petra said, clearly offended by Garfiel's words.
"Awrite, kid. You won, but be careful with ur tongue. Ma amazin' self doubts that someone'll calmly 'ppreciate this" Garfiel said, before walking to find another tree to take a nap under, leaving Petra to stare at him, perplexed at his action.
Memory Fragment File #16: End
Unknown Location
Blinking her eyes open yet again, Frederica registered her eyesight on another scenery: A black, seemingly endless space. She looked around and apparently she couldn't feel anything inside that void. Concepts were infinitesimal in that void as it was completely beyond them, and archetypes were completely meaningless upon entering it.
Frederica felt that it was impossible for her to be there, but even then, how is she here? How is she breathing? How is she moving? How is she able to think? Heck, how is she not assimilated into nothingness in this space that transcended laws, duality and cause and effect?
However, Frederica placed those thoughts aside, as the previous vision assaulted her mind.
"That was...Mom...?" She asked no one in particular.
"Yes"
"?!"
Hearing a rather familiar voice, Frederica immediately stood up. She didn't have time to care about the fact that she had no footing to stand on, where for some reason she was able to stand up perfectly fine. She only concentrated on the malicious voice of the creature imposing as Subaru, the creature that was trying to take her life.
The same creature that casually walked in the void towards her with no apparent problem.
"Y-You! Leave me alone!" Frederica exclaimed in a mixture of anger and Fear.
"Calm down, darling. If I wanted to kill you now, I've already done it. Isn't it more than enough that I'm giving you permission to even speak in the realm of nothingness that I created? You should be grateful to me" Subaru EXE said while blankly staring at Frederica.
"What do you want?" Frederica asked, not letting her guard down.
"I found some interesting things about you. Well, do you want me to remind you about your past?" Subaru EXE asked.
"First tell me who you are and why do you look like Subaru-sama?" Frederica asked, secretly trying to dodge the offer that the abomination offered to her.
"Fine...I'm a creature of the primordial force of Order, a Highest, some sort of a guardian of the infinite universes and dimensional realms residing as a part of All Creation. We protect you, mortals from evil and stuff...Or that's what I thought it is...Anyways, I'm using your friend's body because I need to hide from the Highests and Order for a while" Subaru EXE answered in a summarized explanation.
"What do you want from me then? Why are you trying to kill me?" Frederica asked angrily.
"Don't make yourself look special. I'm trying to kill you and your other friends for a ritual to regain my true form so that I can stand toe-to-toe against Nazareth-Lite and all of the Highests, not to mention that I want the Master Emerald to complete the ritual..." Subaru EXE said, trailing in his speech after realizing that he said too much. He then crossed his arms and stared at Frederica, who suddenly saw that his form was somehow flickering. It appeared to be a humanoid figure that was pale orange in color, but she couldn't clearly identify its appearance as the flickering was too quick for her eyes to acknowledge.
"Anyways...I know the killer of your mother and can show you who it is, even if you still haven't figured it out. The choice is all yours" Subaru EXE said.
Frederica stared at him silently, her guard dropping down a little. She thought about what Subaru EXE had said to her. Deep down she knew who did this, so there's no need to ask.
But her entire being shivered at the thought.
What would happen if she said 'Yes'? What would happen if she said 'No'? She had no idea, but either way, she knew that something horrible would happen to her regardless of the choice, as right from the very beginning, she was in the merciless claws of the psychopathic cold-blooded killer that was in front of her.
Steeling herself, Frederica answered with...
"It makes no sense to return to the past. I have friends that need my help, both in the present and the future" She answered, causing Subaru EXE to flash a small smirk at her
"Well...I can't say if this is a smart or a stupid decision, but so be it...See you soon" Subaru EXE said, before snapping his fingers, causing white light to engulf Frederica's sight.
Costuul. Nighttime
A flash of light appeared in midair, and Frederica came falling from it. Luckily, she was able to readjust her position so that she landed on her feet.
"Now where am I?" She asked while looking around.
"Did he really just let me go? Or will he come back for me later?" She asked herself yet again, only to remember that he told her that he will 'see her soon', meaning that she hasn't seen the last of that horrid existence. Frederica then calmed herself by taking a deep breath.
"Ah, I don't need to think about that. I need to find the others. I have to find Petra and call for the other members of the Emilia Camp for help. This means that I must head towards the Sanctuary" Frederica said, before opting a troubled look on her face.
"But judging by the city scenery, it means that I'm in Costuul, so that means that I have to pass by the Flugel Tree, Irlam Village and Roswaal-sama's mansion in order to reach the Sanctuary, though I can take another route straight to Irlam by climbing the mountain range next to the city of Costuul. Goodness, who knows what awaits me there. But maybe I could find Petra there" Frederica said before looking up at the mountain at the distance, before she charged towards it at full speed.
Unknown to her, she left the city with all of its residents that are worth of one hundred thousand having departed to the afterlife.
At the same time. Unknown Location
A flicker of white light appeared within a vibrant place, and upon fading it revealed Garfiel standing on the floor of that bizarre place.
To Garfiel, however, he already knew the place.
"Tis dat place again...Why did ma amazin' self get teleported t'here?" Garfiel asked himself while looking around.
"Nah...No time f'dat. Where's that huge gem? Ma amazin' self can use it t'teleport to anotha' safe zone..." Garfiel said while looking around the place, yet he couldn't find the huge gem. It was then when something hit him.
"Ma amazin' self heard that strong people can detect power signatures. The First Sword Saint had somethin' like that. If he can do that, then ma amazin' self can do it too" Garfiel said before closing his eyes for a few seconds, before snapping them open.
"Tis in the Sanctuary. But...Why does it feel like ma amazin' self is floatin'...? Th'signata feels off..." Garfiel said before scratching the back of his head, and then sighed in a mixture of resignation and frustration.
"Ma amazin' self has already seen his life flash befo' his eyes...So ma amazin' self won't complain" He muttered before taking a deep breath.
"Ma amazin' self musrt look for somethin' here...Ma amazin' self can't fly..." Garfiel said, before he looked to his side, noticing a weird looking device that looked like a large dark purple orb planted on the floor. Being the ever-curious individual, Garfiel touched the orb with his finger, and then...
"Wha?!"
"?!"
Suddenly the orb shone a bright purple color, and before Garfiel could register what happened, he disappeared from the weird, seemingly floating place and the orb stopped shining.
A few hours later. Atop the mountain near Costuul
"I must be getting closer to Irlam, but there's no sign of anyone that I know. I wonder if they're alright"
Frederica, having climbed atop the mountain, was shivering slightly as the weather got cold once she reached the top. Obviously since the more she tried reached the atmospheric layer, the lower the temperature becomes.
However, what she didn't expect was that a blizzard would assault the mountain range that moment she reached the top. It didn't happen progressively, but it occurred instantly the moment she set foot on the top of the mountain.
"He can...Manipulate even the weather...That's on the level of the Great Spirit Puck-sama..." Frederica muttered while gritting her teeth, before she tried calming herself by taking in a deep breath, even though her lungs started to hurt due to the fact that she took in an extremely frigid air. Nevertheless, Frederica endured the pain, before she leaned to look from the top of the mountain and down to her destination, only to see a massive screen of fog obscuring her sight, which was natural due to the fact that she was at the top of a mountain, where she was progressively getting closer to the atmospheric layers of the planet.
"I can't see anything. This fog bothers me" She said.
"Frederica nee-sama!"
"?!"
Just then, a familiar voice rang in Frederica's ears, causing her to instantly have a smile and a glimmer of Hope shining inside of her heart as she turned around to face the owner of the voice.
"Petra! Thank Od! You...You..." Frederica was excited to see that Petra was alive, but one look at her form and the glimpse of Hope inside of her, alongside the relieved smile that found itself on her face instantly shattered and crumbled away like dust.
"No...Nononononononononononono...This can't be...Petra...You..." Frederica's voice was completely broken upon witnessing the mutilated corpse of the little girl staring emotionlessly at her. Frederica could also swear that she smelled the scent of a verbal disease, as well as bodily fluids. This made her narrow her eyes that were now filled with tears to observe Petra EXE even more, only to gasp as she saw what appeared to be water running down from between her legs, which caused Frederica's eyes to widen in shock before she placed a hand on her mouth.
"Petra...No...What happened to you...?" Frederica asked in horror, seeing that Petra had indeed suffered something that was worse than Death before she met her current dreadful Fate.
"I've died. Don't worry. I actually enjoyed it" Petra EXE said, still holding an emotionless expression on her face, and her answer broke Frederica's heart even further.
"What...? What do you mean...? What happened to you...? You look strange..." Frederica said, trying to find any kind of a fragment of whatever remained of Petra inside the walking corpse of said girl that was standing in front of her.
"Frederica nee-sama. I need to kill you. You can't survive alone out there. So, I'm sorry for this" Petra EXE said.
"You came here to kill me? Why?" Frederica asked, Grief filling her heart by the second.
"I don't want you to suffer. Please...Just let me kill you...It will only hurt for a second" Petra EXE answered.
And this phrase caused Frederica's heart to completely shatter, having come to the cruel realization from this single phrase.
It was too late.
"No...I'm sorry, Petra. I can't give up" She said, causing Petra EXE to sigh, before she slowly raised her left arm towards Frederica, pointing her index finger at her.
"Then, I'll kill you anyway"
"?!"
Just as she said those words, a beam of purple light instantly fired itself from Petra EXE's finger towards Frederica, who had no time to react as the beam pierced through her right shoulder, causing her eyes to widen in shock at being hit with the light beam. The shockwave from the impact made Frederica stumble backwards, before falling down from the mountain top, blood flowing from the hole in her shoulder as she fell from the mountain range.
Frederica didn't do anything to soften her fall as gravity took toll on her with each passing second. By now, she had reached speeds beyond terminal velocity. Beast-Human or not, there's no way that she would survive a fall like that from that height. She could do something to halt her descent, like enhancing her body with mana, or using her Rune Stone Skill, End of Days, to teleport to the Sanctuary to save herself from the fall, but she was so heartbroken to think about anything. She didn't want to use her Rune Stone Skill because she believed that she could find her other friends, maybe even Otto or Petra, still alive and around, but she was mistaken, and she was paying the price of her mistakes with her Death.
In her descension to her Death, Frederica didn't notice a female figure clad in shadows flying towards her, and the moment the figure made contact with Frederica, the Beast-Human vanished in thin air in a flash of white light.
Unknown Location
Frederica wasn't surprised to see herself in a black space of nothingness once again. Rather, she was saddened by what she saw.
The corrupted form of the man that she fell for.
She walked to him, before stopping upon being away by a few meters.
"Just give up, Frederica-san. You're not that strong..." Otto EXE said.
"I can't, Otto-sama. I just can't" Frederica said before passing Otto EXE, walking towards the mutilated form of the girl that she considered the younger sister that wasn't born from her mother.
"Frederica nee-sama, why did you run away?" Petra EXE asked.
"Petra, I...I just can't. You have to understand me" Frederica said, walking away from Petra EXE, arriving in front of her undead-like form of her junior.
"..." Ram EXE couldn't talk because her mouth was sown shut. And Frederica didn't know whether or not she was able to see her since she saw that her eyes were also sown shut.
"Even if you can't talk, I know that you want to stop me as well, Ram. But I'll move forward" Frederica said, leaving Ram EXE. She then dashed as fast as she could in the black void, and shortly afterwards, white light assaulted her eyes.
Costuul. Nighttime
"Sis?! Hey are you alright?!"
Garfiel, having arrived at Costuul after being mysteriously teleported there, found Frederica lying on the snow-riddled road. Fear enveloped his heart as he tried to steer her awake, only to sigh in relief when Frederica slowly opened her eyes.
"G-Garf? How did you find me?" Frederica asked upon recognizing the person talking to her was indeed her brother.
"Ma amazin' self got there through a freaky Metia-like thing. It was pure coincidence, though. But hey, ya look upset" Garfiel answered, before noting Frederica's gloomy expression.
"D-Do you know what happened with our friends? With Petra?" Frederica asked, sitting up on the snow-riddled road of Costuul.
"Didya actually see 'em? Ma amazin' self's sorry, Sis...Ma amazin' self's just glad that u at least made it out..." Garfiel said, his tone holding slight Sadness in it from the Grief his sister had. Even though he resented Frederica for leaving him all of these years, Garfiel was glad that his last family member was still alive and kicking in front of him.
"How are we gonna make it? T-There's only two of us left" Frederica asked, fearing to see her corrupted friends allying with that fiendish abomination against them.
"Wait. What 'bout the people in th'Sanctuary? What 'bout Ram?" Garfiel asked.
"I think...Maybe...I saw her...And she became one of them..." Frederica answered regretfully, knowing full well that Garfiel had a crush on Ram.
"Le's just get t'th'Sanctuary. Maybe we're not too late. There has t'be some survivors. Ma amazin' self can't imagine the Clown being beaten down in a fight..." Garfiel said, which amused Frederica, as Garfiel was able to hide his emotions, especially after hearing that Ram was dead. She then stood up, prompting Garfiel to stand up as well.
"I hope you're right, Garf...Anyways, I was just on the mountain near Costuul, when Petra assaulted me and made me fall off it...We can climb the mountain once again and descend to Irlam Village, then take a turn from behind Roswaal-sama's mansion to reach the Sanctuary" Frederica explained the route that they will take, since Garfiel doesn't know the topography of Lugunica due to him taking residence in the Sanctuary ever since the day he was born.
Nodding to her, Garfiel followed Frederica out of Costuul, but before they could reach the exit gates of the town, their eyes spotted what appeared to be a corpse of a man. Garfiel kneeled towards the unmoving corpse, whose eyes was half-opened and blood was long dried on his body. Garfiel instantly knew the man, since he was a merchant that visited the Sanctuary on a monthly basis to sell his goods to them.
"Uncle Sigmund...And ma amazin' self had enough money t'finally buy that cool knuckle dusta' from ya..." Garfiel muttered sadly at the man's corpse, before his hand slowly and gently closed the man's half-opened eyes, then gently placed him on the floor, with Frederica putting a hand on her mouth, with her eyes wide in horror and shock at the sight of the poor man's corpse. Garfiel then stood and entered a fighting stance upon sseing Otto EXE and Heinkel EXE jump from the window of a nearby house. Garfiel and Frederica looked at the mutilated forms of his former companions, as both had blood coming out from their eyes that held black sclera and red irises, and their skins were deathly pale.
And floating near them was Subaru EXE, who was grinning like a madman at them.
"E-Exeller?" Frederica muttered the name of the bloodlusted Highest. It was at that moment that Petra EXE and Ram EXE walked towards them and standing beside both of Otto EXE and Heinkel EXE. And the very sight of Ram EXE almost made Garfiel's heart shatter to pieces.
"Ram...Ya died too...? Tch! Ma amazin' self won't go down without a fight!" He nearly cried due to Ram's sight in front of him, but immediately steeled himself as he knew that he and his sister will die the moment they drop down their guard even by a little bit.
"Oh you want a fight? Does anyone want to try fried tiger meat?" Subaru EXE asked with ectatsy in his tone, smirking at the two siblings like a predator waiting to strike at its prey.
"Wait! Y-You're not that bad, are you? Please let us go..." Frederica said, pleading for mercy from their enemy.
"Not that bad, ya say?! He's just a psycho who kills people f'fun!" Garfiel exclaimed, shocked at his sister's statement.
"Hehe...It's much easier to judge, especially when you don't know the facts..." Subaru EXE said with a somewhat sad smile, unlike his trademark bloodlusted smirk. Said smirk soon returned, threatening to split his face in half.
"Let's teach you a lesson then!"
"?!"
And before any of them could do anything, Subaru EXE flicked his wrist, causing both Frederica and Garfiel to float in midair, before they were blasted backwards at neckbreaking speeds, and then they fell right into a large river.
"Garf? Are you alright?" Frederica asked as she pulled Garfiel with herself outside the freezing water, pulling themselves to the land. Garfiel coughed out some water from his mouth, before he stood up and immediately shot a glare towards his elder sister.
"Th'hell didya try t'do?! Are ya fuckin' crazy?! Ya tried ta befriend that freak, didn't ya?!" He yelled with rage apparent in his words.
"Garf...I wasn't trying to befriend him...I was just trying to be soft on him and maybe he would've let us go..." Frederica muttered her response, already overwhelmed with the physical and emotional stress that she had in two days straight, which made her unable to look Garfiel in the eye.
"Are ya outta ur mind?! He just plays with us and wants us t'think that he's not a bad person!" Garfiel yelled back, causing Frederica to sigh in defeat, before trying to change the subject.
"Let's drop this topic, okay? We need to find out where are we" Frederica asked while looking around. This caused Garfiel to grumble in frustration, but he agreed on dropping the topic, concentrating on finding their path to the Sanctuary.
"Fine...Anyways, where are we...?" He asked, before seeing Frederica look at the horizon, spotting a familiar mountain range.
"I think we're far away from Costuul. My guess is that we're in-"
"...Gusteko. The Sibarell Great Glacier"
"?!"
Before Frederica could voice out her conclusion, Garfiel raced her to it as she saw him look around at his surroundings.
"Hey, Garf...Why are you speaking as if that place was familiar?" Frederica asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. This all caused Garfiel to sigh, before scratching the back of his head.
"Nothin'...Awrite. Le's get outta here" Garfiel said.
"Alright. I'm right behind you" Frederica said as she and her brother made their way back to Lugunica, heading towards the mountain range behind Costuul.
A few hours later. Costuul
"Awrite. Where r we?"
"I think we reached Costuul, right behind the mountain range"
Garfiel and Frederica, having reached Costuul after continuous hours of running with no rest, stared at the mountain range ahead of them.
"Ma amazin' self can feel that huge green gem's power...But it's too far away from us" Garfiel added.
Frederica was about to say something, but her eyes widened in shock and horror upon witnessing a new figure walking towards them.
A figure of her own nightmares.
"G-Garf...Are you seeing this?" Frederica whispered, causing Garfiel to look in front of him, only to see the towering form of a Guiltylowe leering at them, which in turn made him enter a fighting stance.
"A Mabeast? Here? But how?" Garfiel asked in confusion, having noted that there were no Mabeasts in the area surrounding Costuul.
"W-What's w-wrong with it...? I-Its face..." Frederica muttered with pure horror and Fear being laced in her words, her body starting to shake uncontrollably.
"Whatcha talkin' about? It's completely normal-lookin'. Although...Its eyes..." Garfiel said to his sister, not taking his eyes off the Guiltylowe, whose eyes were glowing red in an unnatural way.
What came next was shocking to Garfiel: Frederica made a mad dash towards the mountain range.
"Sis?! Whatcha doin'?!" Garfiel called out to his sister, but in vain as Frederica ran away, disregarding her brother's yells for her.
A few minutes later. The mountain behind Costuul
"I...I've let my Fear rule me...I've left Garf...With it..."
Frederica panted as she reached the peak of the mountain she was on, placing a hand on her heart, realization also striking her upon realizing that she had just left her brother with the creature that plagued her with infinite Fear.
Her eyes widened in disbelief upon seeing the Guiltylowe walking towards her, with Garfiel's head trapped in between its teeth, blood and brain matter surrounding it, staining ever inch of his hair and face, which held a horrified expression on it.
"NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Frederica yelled, before running away from the creature, who proceeded to give chase behind her. Frederica kept on running on the length of the mountain until she reached its very peak.
And with each passing second, Frederica's already weak mind started to break and fragment.
"Hehehe...Hehehe..."
She started giggling...Like a maniac.
And right upon reaching the peak, Frederica eyes were wide that her pupils shrunk deeply into her sclera, and a smile of insanity found itself threatening to split her entire face in half.
"Hahaha...Nopills will help me from that...It wants to catch me! To kill me! Hahaha..." She giggled like a maniac, having lost all Hope and all of the remaining sanity that she had. It was then when she saw the Guiltylowe, having finished chewing on Garfiel's head, stared at her, its fanged teeth having blood in between them as it leered at her, having finally reached her, with the remaining thing between Frederica and Death was either dying under the fangs and claws of the Mabeast, or to jump off the mountain.
And for the scared and insane Frederica, there was only one solution.
"Hahaha...You want to kill me...? HAHAHAHAHA! YOU CAN'T BECAUSE I'LL KILL MYSELF!"
And just like that, and without any hesitation, Frederica jumped off the mountain, and just as her entire body made its impact with the rough cliff of the mountain, everything went black.
Unknown Location
Blinking her eyes open, Frederica saw herself in a world that was completely yellow. It also looked like a mountain.
She didn't know why but she walked on the flat ground of the mountain range, before her eyes caught the sight of Petra, standing a few miles away with a monotone expression on his face. She ran towards her, and then stopped in front of her. She was about to ask her what was going on, but the little girl raced her to it by asking her a weird question.
"Oh hi, Frederica-neesama. So, are you ready?"
"Ready? Ready for what?" Frederica asked back, but got no answer as Petra's form vanished like dust in the air.
Surprisingly, Frederica was completely unaffected by the scene unfolding in front of her. She just marched forward, spotting Otto a few miles away. She stood in front of him, but she was unable to say anything as he raced her to ask her yet another weird question.
"Can you feel it? The smell of Death?"
"W-What? Death?" She asked back, but like Petra, she got no answer as Otto turned to dust and vanished completely. And once again, Frederica just kept on walking forward, before spotting Garfiel, who didn't give her time to speak once she was in front of him.
"Sis? So, y'll be revived soon?"
"Revived? What? But I'm alive right now" Frederica retaliated, but got no response as Garfiel vanished to dust in the air. She then kept on walking, before she spotted Ram, who also gave her no chance to speak.
"You know, Frederica, After Ram's Death, Ram realized that she wasn't nice to you..."
"Really?" Frederica asked in confusion, only for Ram to vanish to dust as well, forcing Frederica to walk ahead once again. She then spotted Heinkel, the man she loathed for her entire Life, but surprisingly, Frederica felt no resentment towards him right now, which shocked her greatly. She then walked towards him, realizing now that no one will be giving her a chance to speak, to which she let Heinkel speak to her.
"So, you want to revive that fast? Well, we all will end up there..."
"Are you even real?" Frederica asked, only for Heinkel to vanish in the same fashion as the others before him. Frederica then walked forward, before suddenly seeing a figure that was quite similar to her, but filled with blood and was mutilated. She ran towards it, and right upon touching it, her vision turned black in an instant.
Costuul. Nighttime
In the next second, Frederica opened her eyes...Well, to be more specific, her left eye, as she was unable to open her right eye, and the first thing she saw was a smirking Subaru EXE, crossing his arms underneath his chest while looking at her as if he was looking at a masterpiece of art.
"So, you're awake? Good" He said to Frederica.
"I...I've committed suicide...I wonder...How did you revive me...?" Frederica EXE asked, having remembered her encounter with the Guiltylowe.
"The town is filled with souls...They have different energy signatures, and it wasn't hard to find your soul" Subaru EXE answered.
"How did you...Revive me?" Frederica EXE asked, having realized what she had become just now.
"Well, that's how Seither Soul Magic works...I use positive or negative Seither mana to revive you, but...If I used positive energy, that would mean that I had fully revived you and you wouldn't listen to my commands..." Subaru EXE answered, apparently finding Frederica EXE's question to be amusing as he watched her swimming in her own misery.
"So I'm just a slave for you...? Do you even need a slave?" Frederica EXE asked with her voice lacking any kind of emotions in it. It was then when Subaru EXE gasped, before he sighed in defeat moments afterwards. He then looked at the horizon in front of him, before a sudden burst of light erupted from his chest, but he didn't seem fazed or surprised by it.
"I need eyes everywhere...But soon it will be over..." He muttered, before the world was engulfed in a bright white light, with the words echoing in the white canvas remaining unheard forever.
"I want them to live..."
Memory Fragment File #17
"Don't be scared...Don't be scared...It's going to be over soon..."
"Frederica-neesama, are you there? I brought you those pills of yours"
"I'm here. Come in"
Frederica, inside her room, was muttering to herself in Fear, before she placed a smile on her face so that Petra won't be worried as the little girl entered the room after Frederica allowed her to do so. Once inside, Petra wordlessly gave Frederica some white pills.
"Frederica-neesama, are you alright? You're looking rather pale" Petra asked in worry, with Frederica mentally cursing herself for not being able to hide her ailment.
Those pills that Petra gave to Frederica were to stabilize her mental condition, which was made due to an incident that happened four years ago during her search for her mother, where a Guiltylowe attacked her and traumatized her. This was the point where Frederica felt the fear of Death for the very first time in her Life, requiring medications to calm herself down.
"I-I'm fine, Petra. Thank you..." Frederica replied, patting the head of the little girl to ease her mind and to not worry her about herself. Petra then blinked upon seeing Frederica's hand having a cut on it, completely unaware that Frederica harmed herself to forget about the Fear by using pain.
"Is that blood on your hands, Frederica-neesama? Are you hurt? We need to treat it right away" Petra said in concern for her sister figure, only for Frederica to smile at the cuteness of the little maid and how she was worried about her.
"It's just a scratch, Petra. Don't worry about it. I just need to take my medication" Frederica said.
"Umm...Frederica-neesama...I've read to you the instruction on how to take these pills. Are you...Alright?" Petra asked, now genuinely worried about her senior maid.
"Yes, Petra...This is something that happened four years ago...They're tragic memories, and I...I would rather not talk about them..." Frederica muttered.
"Umm...It's okay, I guess. Anyways, I shall depart for the night. It's getting late. Are you sure you don't need my help in anything else?" Petra asked, still concerned about her sister figure. And this made Frederica smile gently at her.
"I'm fine. Don't worry. Just sleep tight, Petra" Frederica said, which in turn made Petra smile sweetly back at her.
"Goodnight, Frederica-neesama" The little girl said, saluting before exiting Frederica's room, where upon seeing Petra leaving, her smile dropped into a solemn sad expression, staring at the ground with narrowed, sad eyes.
"I suppose that I have to get over it..." She muttered.
Memory Fragment File #17: End
And Done!
Alright! Here you have it! The most horrifying Ending, from my own perspective, second only to the Otto and Petra Duo Ending.
Alright, now to the comments.
To Reaper 10398, Yes, I really felt so sorry for Petra, and I'm glad we didn't see the graphic details of the Tails and Cream Duo Ending. It was disgusting enough to hear about Tails eating Cream to the bones.
As for Sarah, that was a typo of my own. Her name is indeed Helen, so in the incoming chapters, her name will be Helen, but actually, I think you already know who Helen's and Maria's reincarnations in the story are...
Also, I'm sorry if I forced you to see another 18+ story, but this one is also essential to the plot of the series, and besides, I decided to show both of Kaylin and Kotaro's reincarnation at the end of this Arc, since they will be essential to the fight against the final antagonist of this Arc. Keyword: Final Antagonist.
And yes, this orgy kingdom by the way shall be introduced in the EX Side Story, since it will be the main plot of it, and in the main story, Kaylin and Kotaro's reincarnation will be two of the central figures in it later on.
And that's all! As always, I hope from the bottom of my heart that more reviews rain down on me, and if you have any ideas or questions, please leave it in the reviews. Your support is what makes me move forward with this story.
Next Chapter: Round 2. Ending 13: A Tiger and a Little Girl, meeting an unexpected existence.
Until Next Time And Next Chapter!
Jude Warble, Out.