Re: Rem's Journey

by JIL713

Rem manages to convince Subaru to let her travel with him after the White Whale battle. As of a result, she avoids being eaten by the Archbishop of Gluttony. As Rem travels with Subaru, she will learn many things that she wouldn't have in a comatose state. She will discover that the world is more complicated and sinister than she ever expected it to be.

21. Chapter 21

-En Route to Sanctuary Ruins-

Subaru and Rem begin to walk towards the ruins where they took their trials. It's also the very area where they first met Echidna and were granted permission to take the trials in the first place.

The two initially walk in silence. Rem figures that Subaru must still be reeling from the shock of figuring out that she knows about Return by Death. She couldn't imagine what he could be possibly thinking about right now. Is he relieved? Terrified? Wondering if Emilia will be killed since she knows of his ability? Though since Emilia is still alive as of when she first began to look for Subaru, a number of hours since she's learned about it, Satella is allowing her to live for some reason.

Eventually Subaru is able to compose himself to the point that he no longer needs to lean on her to support his body. However, he keeps a tight grip on her hand. It's as if he's afraid of letting her go. If he slackened off and let go, she might be whisked away by something and he'd never see her again. He didn't want that. He didn't want that at all. Not for this girl, this girl who's one of the most precious people to him in this world. The second most precious to be precise, second only to Emilia. And apparently, one of only two people to know of his ability. His ability to Return by Death, the ability he was forbidden to speak of to anyone. This didn't seem real. This didn't seem real at all.

"Rem?" He suddenly speaks out to her in a low whisper.

She turns her head to face him and gazes with a look full of concern and anxiousness. "Yes?"

"This isn't a dream…right?"

"No…not at all." She confirms.

"Will you pinch me?"

"W-Why?" She asks, not understanding why he'd ask for her to hurt him like this. She never wanted to hurt him ever again, even if it is just a tiny bit.

"Sorry. I just need to know if this is really happening right now or if my dream is just telling me the answers I want to hear."

"I…ok." Rem reluctantly agrees and gives a slight pinch to his arm. He flinches in response to this.

"Ok, I really felt that. This…this isn't a dream…"

"No…it isn't." She once again confirms. None of it was. None of what I saw was.

No matter how much Rem wished that everything she saw in that trial was merely an illusion, an alternate reality, there was no breaking through the rock-solid wall that is pure facts.

Silence befalls them once more as they continue to walk. Rem decides to pick up the pace a little. Her shoes click on the dirt path with increasing haste. Subaru matches her movements, refusing to be left behind. He doesn't know what to say to her. He wants to say something, anything, but no words will come forth from his mouth. Perhaps that is for the best, it'd be very unfortunate if Satella stops him here.

"...We're here." Rem announces as soon as they arrive at the ruins where the trials take place.

"Rem…are you sure…are you sure about this? Can…can I really…talk…about this…" Subaru grips her hand even tighter than before. His free hand clenches into a fist. One look at his face says he's on the verge of tears.

Rem gives him a solemn nod. "Yes, please, just wait one more moment." She leads him up the stairs to the ruins which begin to glow.

"How…how is this possible…" Subaru mumbles to himself as he lets himself be led by her.

"Witch of Greed." Rem calls out her name in a terse tone once they walk inside. "I know you can hear me. Take us to your tea party. We don't have time for trials."

Nothing happens. They aren't taken to the tea party like she expected to happen, though they don't fall to the ground and start the trials either.

She frowns at the silent treatment being given to them. She looks at Subaru, "Subaru-kun, I'm sorry, but can you also call out to her? She might be rejecting me now after what happened last time."

Subaru vaguely wonders what she means by what happened last time, but his thoughts are still mostly preoccupied with the fact Rem knows about Return by Death. Regardless of that, he does hear her and slowly nods in agreement.

"Echidna, please, let us visit. I'm begging you." He clasps his hands together. If he can talk to Rem about what in the world is going on there, then he'll do just about anything to get permission.

Rem is disgusted that he feels that he has to beg to get her attention. She is unable to voice her complaints as the cold stone floor beneath them gets replaced with soft luscious green grass. The walls and ceilings around them shift into a bright blue sky with a few white clouds drifting by.

-Echidna's Tea Party-

"We're…back." Rem says as she takes in the view.

Subaru remains silent as he also looks around.

"Ah, you're back Subaru." Echidna greets him with a smile. She turns to Rem and narrows her eyes. "You too…"

"Didn't expect me to return, did you?" Rem grins evilly as she could tell from Echidna's mannerisms that she didn't expect her to return after their last conversation. After saying that, she falls to the ground and begins to choke.

"Oh dear me." Echidna frowns as she gets up and brings down a teacup full of her body fluids. "This happens every time you come here." Leaning down, she forces the tea down her throat like she did the last two times she's visited her tea party. Once she does that, she stands and looks at Subaru, asking with a sweet smile, "What brings you two here today? Perhaps you felt bad about leaving a tender maiden such as myself all alone with no one to talk to?"

"Echidna." Subaru latches out and grabs onto her shoulders rather forcefully, surprising her greatly.

"U-Um…I'm not sure if doing it here would be the best…with her watching and all…" She nervously shifts her glance to Rem, who's still recovering from nearly puking on the grass.

"Do you and Rem…know. About…my ability?" Subaru asks with a tone of both great anxiety and anticipation to have his thoughts confirmed.

Her confident smile returns once more. "What ability? If you say it aloud, then we'll know."

"Hk!" Subaru lets go of her and takes a step back. Should he say it? If he says it, will he feel that feeling of fear being struck into the core of his heart by that witch? Will Rem die if he says it? There are so many risks to saying the name of that cursed ability of his. That he named himself no less.

He darts his eyes between both Echidna and Rem, the latter whom has recovered to the point of finally being able to stand. Finally, after what seems like hours, he shakily releases a sigh and shuts his eyes with much more effort than is actually required.

"You…you two might regret this. I…I don't know what's going to happen. This…this is…"

Rem walks over and places a hand on his shoulder. Gasping a little at the sudden feeling of being touched, he opens his eyes and looks at her. Her eyes look right back at him, and they are so tender and gentle. It's as if they're saying she's prepared for anything that comes next.

Meanwhile, Echidna responds, "Then test me. If I fall down dead, can I expect you to cry over my corpse?"

Rem gives a harsh glare at her, but she ignores it and continues to focus her gaze on Subaru.

"Rem…Echidna…" He grits his teeth in preparation. "I…I can Return by Death!"

As soon as he says the phrase, he brings his hands to his chest, expecting the witch to stop time and clutch his heart to forbid him from saying it fully. Many seconds pass, each one feeling like a full minute to him. Nothing happens. No time stop, no fear is ingrained into him, and both Rem and Echidna remain standing like before, with nothing happening to either of them.

"It's embarrassing when you stare at me like that…" Echidna eyebrows shift into such a state that shows her slight embarrassment. Subaru had unknowingly been staring straight into her eyes for a little while now.

"W-When I die, every time I die, I go back in time and restart from a certain save point. I Return by Death! I Return by Death! I can Return by Death! I've been Returning by Death!" Subaru's voice grows increasingly louder with each confession that he can Return by Death.

"S-Subaru-kun!" Rem calls out to him in a panic.

Without so much as a warning, Subaru turns to Rem and launches himself to her. He propels himself with enough speed that he knocks both himself and her to the ground. He wraps his hands tightly around her waist. "I-I've died and started again over and over! I Return by Death! I've been…!"

Wearing himself out by all the shouting, Subaru slumps himself further into Rem's chest. He pants over and over again.

Once Rem overcomes the initial shock of being knocked over, she lifts herself and Subaru up and embraces him just as tightly. A few tears trickle down her cheeks. She wants to tell him that she knows he's had it so difficult this entire time and without anyone knowing. However, she determines that for now it's best for him to let loose all of the feelings he's been keeping shackled deep inside.

"E-Ever since I came into this world…I haven't been able to tell anyone. Never ever have I been able to. She'd never let me…"

Rem's expression switches to one of shock. Wait. Since he came into this world? What is he talking about? Is he saying that…he didn't come from here? Is he…from beyond the Great Waterfall? It seemed unbelievable, but since Subaru had Return by Death, an inconceivable ability, anything is possible.

"So painful…each and every death is so painful. I've…I've had to start so many relationships over again."

Like me, right? She wants to say extremely badly, but she bites her tongue to prevent that thought from leaking out.

"No…no one ever knew. Over and over…every time…all alone. I…I…I was so alone. I…I…" Subaru is unable to get any more words out as he lets his emotions of turmoil take over. He cries and cries, not caring in the slightest how pathetic he may look to the average onlooker at this moment.

Echidna simply watches him as he cries his heart out to them. Rem decides to stroke his hair gently as she had sometimes done in the past.

In the sweetest and quite possibly the gentlest voice Subaru had ever heard from the blue-haired oni, she quietly whispers with a smile, "You're not alone anymore. You'll never be alone again. Your Rem is here for you."

"R-Rem…" He slowly backs his head away from her chest and looks her in the eyes. His eyes are filled with a sense of wonder and awe. Does she truly understand his suffering now?

"If you want…you can share everything you've been through. Ever since you came here, until now. Not what the world has seen, but what you have seen. Memories only you remember. Memories only you recall. I will listen, I will listen to it all."

"I…" Subaru opens his mouth to respond. However, Echidna quickly cuts in with:

"That sounds rather interesting. Should I pour some tea for us all?"

Rem had totally forgotten about Echidna's existence. Her face souring at being forced to deal with this nuisance, she scowls, "No! Why are you still here? This is a private matter between me and Subaru-kun. No outsiders allowed!"

For the first time since they arrived, Echidna frowns at her words. "Don't forget who brought you here in the first place to even make this possible. I could easily eject you two out and forbid either of you from returning ever again. And by the way, when did you decide it was a private matter between you two? Subaru never stated his desire to make it private."

"I'd…I'd like it to be private between us Echidna." Subaru expresses his desires with a shaky tone. "I know you are aware too but…we're basically strangers."

"Tch." It's very, very subtle, but she clicks her tongue upon hearing that. "That's a pretty mean thing to say to a tenderly maiden. And after I did so much for you and that oni girl."

"I hate to admit it, but you did provide me with a lot of valuable knowledge." Rem grumbles. "Regardless, Subaru-kun was right when he said we're strangers. I have a lot of things I want to talk with him about that I'd certainly rather you not hear, even if you already searched our memories and know our pasts."

"I've already done quite a lot in allowing you two to come here again. You may not realize it, but every admittance into my Castle of Dreams requires that you wish to come here. In general, each admittance requires that you wish to arrive more adamantly than the last. This is Subaru's second tea party, but this is the oni girl's third. If you two leave then it'll be even more difficult to return."

"Wait…you've been here again Rem-tan?" Subaru asks in shock.

She nods, "Right after I took my second trial, I called out to meet with her because I had to know why she showed me everything she did in that trial."

"The trial where you learned Return by Death…"

"...Yes."

At this point Subaru has mostly gotten over his initial shock of both Echidna and Rem, though mostly Rem, learning about his ability. He calms his nerves enough to where he is able to stand on his own again without having to lean on Rem for support. Though she still decides to stand right next to him, prepared for if anything happens to him.

Now knowing with full certainty that this is no dream, the logical side of his brain begins to kick in. How do they know? Well, Rem figured it out through the second trial somehow. But how does Echidna know?

He looks at Echidna with newfound solemnity, "Hold on…I remember you saying something to me right after I finished my first trial. In order to recreate the area where I originally lived, you had to look through my memories, right? Is…is that how you figured out Return by Death?"

She smiles and claps her hands once. "You've certainly got a gift for deduction. That's correct."

"I see."

"Alright Witch of Greed, if you could go over and sit at your chair up there and let me and Subaru-kun talk, that'd be much appreciated." Rem says as she tilts her head over towards the lone white table with two chairs of the same color sitting at the top of a hill.

Echidna lightly sighs, "My, you really are becoming a pain. If I recall, I thought you were going to leave him to me. Why are you back here at all?"

"For how knowledgeable you claim to be, you're awful at giving relationship advice. All you need to know is that I had a meaningful conversation with someone who made me realize where I've gone wrong, unlike you, who did nothing but give me despair."

"Hold up, what did you say to Rem-tan that made her feel awful about herself?!" Subaru suddenly shouts angrily. "How dare you!"

Echidna rolls her eyes at Rem, "Now look at what you did. You're making him apprehensive of me with your exaggerated remarks."

Rem feels a warm fuzzy feeling in her heart at hearing Subaru speak up in defense of her. She once again realizes just how precious he is to her. With a heartwarming smile, she says to him, "Thank you Subaru-kun. I promise to tell you what she said. That is, if she'll ever leave us alone." She turns to Echidna and gives a stink eye as she says the last sentence.

"Disrespectful as always." She puts a hand to her forehead in frustration. "I already did a great deed in bringing you two here. I believe listening in your conversation and observing your behaviors and mannerisms as you discuss will be adequate compensation for that."

"I really want to talk with her alone. Is there any other compensation I can give in place of that? I'll do anything." Subaru pleads.

"Subaru-kun! Don't say you'll do anything! You might get taken advantage of!" Rem quickly says in hopes of deterring him from accepting whatever shady deal Echidna may come up with.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything unreasonable." He responds to ease her worries. Honestly, he's not willing to do absolutely anything for her. He's already wary of her as it is. Rem's recent comment of her did not help improve his reputation of her in the slightest. Just the opposite.

Echidna's all-knowing smile forms upon her lips as an idea comes into her head. "I do have an idea of what you can do that'll be adequate compensation for allowing you two, especially her, to enter and talk in private.

"W-What is it?" He asks as a rush of anxiety spreads throughout his body.

"Enter into a contract with me, Natsuki Subaru."

Rem isn't entirely sure, but she felt there was a certain tiny amount of desperation in that request.

"A contract?" Subaru says, his tone filled to some degree with doubt.

"Don't stare at me like that, it's mean. I promise that this contract is very beneficial to you."

"Knowing you, you'll likely have a ton of stipulations underneath all of those 'benefits'" Rem says accusingly to her.

"You really are irritating." Echidna mumbles under her breath while tilting her head down, frowning deeply for a moment. Facing Subaru head on once more with a smile plastered on her face, she says, "I truly have this contract with you in mind."

"What is it about?" Subaru asks.

"It's quite simple. Knowing how much you've struggled all this time with dying over and over again, I wish to help you. From now on, whenever you run into an obstacle you can't overcome, when you feel you're being crushed by the weight of your sins, I will give you my support." She smiles proudly and puts a hand to her chest to emphasize her sincerity. "I'm rather confident in the amount of knowledge I have. I should be able to come up with a way to help you overcome any problem that obstructs your path. Above all, I can share in your Return by Death ability."

"This really feels like a sales pitch…you're actually telling me the selling points of making a contract with you?"

"I think it only makes sense to explain the merits of such an act." Echidna says. "All the better for me if it makes you lean toward agreeing to it at all. It's all calculated." She shrugs her hands.

"Now this really feels strange. There's obviously something you're not telling us." Rem narrows her eyes on the witch once more.

"I think it'd be better to stay quiet than to speak about your evident bias." Echidna crosses her arms. "Besides, this is his decision to make, not yours."

"I'm with Rem-tan on this Echidna. You obviously want me to do this contract with you, but all you've explained so far is how it benefits me. From what I know about contracts, both parties benefit equally from it. Yet I haven't heard how this will benefit you in any way."

"As expected of Subaru-kun! I was thinking the same thing." Rem smiles proudly at him. Although she is now aware that his ingenious plans more than likely came from having to die numerous times to get valuable information on his enemies, she still firmly believes that he has a natural talent for observing and analyzing his opponents and deducing various things about them. Alongside creating innovative plans on the fly.

One of Echidna's eyebrows twitches ever so slightly at hearing this. She says, "I really do not desire much from this contract. All I wish is to observe and guide you Subaru. I feel that as you embark on this journey and consult with me when times get tough, then we'll both be able to exchange valuable information. As the Witch of Greed, nothing would make me happier than that." To seal the deal, she closes her eyes and smiles sweetly at Subaru.

"I don't know…" Subaru awkwardly looks away from her. Honestly, he would much prefer consulting with Rem about what to do whenever he feels like he's at a dead end. Though at the same time, Echidna's vast amount of knowledge could not be underestimated. That knowledge could easily become invaluable when Subaru has no idea what to do. In the end, he is still very much leaning towards relying on Rem and keeping Echidna out of it entirely. After all, he still doesn't feel he can trust her completely.

"You have a choice, it's either the contract, or allowing me to listen in on your conversation." Echidna states in a calm and peaceful manner. However, both Subaru and Rem can tell that she is dead serious and will not listen to any alternatives.

Then, right after she states their, or rather, Subaru's options:

"Chidna! You're so mean!" A child's cry rings across the open field.

"Huh?!" Subaru and Rem gasp as they turn their heads towards the source of the sound. There they see a little girl with short messy green hair with a slightly darker skin complexion compared to the three currently present. She wears a white dress with some aqua frills. The base of her dress is stylized in blue flowers. An aqua colored scrunchie is on the base of each of her arms. She wears a wreath of blue and aqua colored flowers. She's the perfect image of a pure child full of innocence. However:

"Ugh! The smell! It's so much stronger now! Is it coming from her?!" Rem cries out as she plugs her nose in disgust for a moment due to breathing in a brand new batch of miasma. She's already used to Subaru's and is just starting to tolerate Echidna's, but even that is a lot. If she hadn't drunk Echidna's tea, she would've long already gone unconscious.

"Typhon?" Echidna also turns around to see the little girl stomping her way towards them while her cheeks are puffed out in an angry manner. Subaru finds the expression cute.

Once she arrives in front of Echidna, Typhon points an accusing finger at her and shouts, "I've been wanting to meet them and you said you'd let me the next time they came! They're here now and you haven't told me! You're so mean, Chidna!"

Echidna sighs at her behavior, "Sorry about that. We've been so busy talking that there hasn't been a chance to tell you."

"You wanted to meet us?" Subaru asks in a confused tone. Why would a girl who he's never seen or heard of before want to meet with them?

"And who are you anyway?" Rem glares coldly at the girl. "Based on your stench, are you one of the witches?"

"Oh! The pretty blue-haired girl catches on quick!" Typhon cheerfully says as she skips over to said girl. Then she pouts, "But that was a really rude way of putting it! Anyway, yeah, I'm one of the witches. My name is Typhon! I'm the Witch of Pride! Nice to meet ya!"

Subaru and Rem's eyes widen at hearing this. They never expected to encounter another witch aside from Echidna here.

Typhon continues, "You're Rem right? I heard about you from Chidna! And you're…" She looks over at Subaru and gives him a hard stare before smiling happily, "You're Baru! Baru, right?"

"Baru? Well, my name is Subaru."

"Are you a bad guy Baru?" She asks, continuing to use her nickname for him. "I've wondered that this whole time!"

"A bad guy?" He tilts his head.

Typhon silently holds out her hand.

"You want me to take your hand?" He asks. "Wait! No! There's something I want to ask-"

"Teehee!" She grins widely and shows all of her white shiny teeth. Her expression is quite adorable and her soft voice is endearing.

"F-Fine!" Subaru gives in to her cuteness.

"Wait Subaru-kun! Don't casually hold a witch's hand like that!" Rem tries to warn him, but it's too late. Subaru has already grabbed her hand.

"Sin can only be repaid with pain." She says.

"Huh?" Subaru mumbles.

"S-Subaru! Y-Your arm! Your arm!" Rem screams out in horror.

Somehow, without either of them knowing how it happened, Subaru's right arm, which is the one that was holding her hand, is completely ripped off its socket and is now being held in Typhon's hands. "Oh! If you don't feel pain, you must not be a bad guy! That's great!" She announces, pleased with the result.

"What the hell?!" Rem launches herself at Typhon and pins her to the ground. Her expression is full of hatred for the seemingly pure and innocent girl who is anything but. "Why the hell did you rip apart his arm?! Are you out of your freaking mind?! What did he ever do to you?! Now he'll be without an arm for the rest of his life!"

"But he doesn't feel any pain, right?" She shamelessly says.

"That's not the point! Die!" She stands up and in the blink of an eye, brings her Morningstar out.

Meanwhile, Subaru freaks out at having finally realized that his arm is nowhere to be found on his body. "Give it back! Give it back!" He rushes over towards her in an attempt to snatch away his arm from her.

"Sin will become a wedge that allows no escape." Typhon says. After she does, both Subaru and Rem literally shatter like glass into many different pieces. Their body parts lay all across the grass bed. Rem's Morningstar drops to the ground and rolls a little before settling into place.

If normal logic were to be applied, they would easily be completely and utterly dead right now. Somehow not only are they not dead, neither of them feel any pain, and they are able to move their eyes normally. However, none of their other tiny individual body parts respond to their mental commands to move.

"Oh wow, so you see yourself as a sinner even though you're not a bad guy? You have such a good heart Baru! Rem also views herself as a sinner too." She glances over at Rem.

"Well, that's all Typhon came here for. See ya later!" She's about to start walking away from them when suddenly a loud cry is uttered from the skies above.

"Oh my, another visitor?" Echidna chuckles amusingly to herself. She makes no effort to stop the current chaos that is unfolding and instead opts to see how it'll all play out.

"First! To strike all that defies reason in the world!" The person from up in the skies shouts at the top of their lungs. "Second! Who cares about committing every heinous evildoing?! Third! Whether it's ugly or beautiful, if you're here in this fleeting world, don't expect to make it back unscathed! Fourth! To stop that contract from being made!"

With all those decrees being made, the person, whose voice sounds feminine, descends towards the surface at unimaginable high speeds. Reeling back her hand, she reaches the surface and punches it with her fist as hard as she can. The impact is so forceful a small crater is formed, with her figure at the center of it.

Slightly taller than Subaru, she has sky-blue eyes and long blonde hair that is tied into a messy ponytail on the left side of her head. A pink and blue heart pin is attached to the left side of her hair. She mainly wears a long white sleeveless coat with an extremely short sleeveless one-piece purple dress underneath the coat.

"My anger will cleanse the world! My rage, the fury of my fists, shall be my answer!" With that, she brutally punches the multiple fragments of Subaru. Miraculously, completely backwards from what would be expected, his body is fully returned to normal. His face shows how dazed and confused he is.

She does the same with Rem and a moment later, she's back to normal as well. Each time the new individual finishes punching someone, a giant pink heart forms and fades away for no explainable reason.

"What the…" Rem feels over her entire body to confirm everything is reconstructed properly. To her relief nothing feels out of place. "What just happened? And the smell…"

It's even stronger. She finishes in her mind. That must mean this crazy girl is another witch. Though she is grateful to her for restoring their bodies.

"Why are you crying?" Subaru asks her, seemingly unconcerned with having his body literally torn apart and reconstructed.

"I'm not crying! I'm just angry!" She shouts in response. Although a couple tears running down her face betrays her answer. Now bear it in mind she has been shouting the entire time, not stopping once to catch her breath. She takes a step back, "That's right! I'm angry! It's Typhon's fault for hurting you like that!"

"It's not my fault Baru and Rem see themselves as sinners." Typhon responds to the accusation with an excuse. "They didn't feel any pain. And should you be saying that when you punched them to oblivion yourself?"

"What does that mean?! Stupid Typhon! I hate this world for allowing you to do that! I hate all of it!" The witch stomps her foot in fury numerous times. The impacts are so severe that tremors are sent out throughout the grass field.

"Um…thanks for saving us?" Subaru questionably gives his gratitude, not really sure what to make of her and her attitude. "…and you are?"

She points a finger at him and says proudly, "I'm the Witch of Wrath, Minerva! My name isn't worth giving!"

"You literally just did!"

"Witch of Wrath…that makes sense…I think. Where are all these witches coming from anyway?!" Rem shouts irritated beyond belief. She and Subaru initially came here to talk about Return by Death where the taboo wouldn't trigger. She thought it was basic decency to allow some private time between them to discuss such a sensitive topic. Yet here Echidna is, demanding to either listen in or have Subaru form a contract with her that sounds suspicious at best. Now two more witches randomly enter the scene, with one nearly killing them both! Is it so much to ask to be left alone with Subaru for a little while?! Not to mention that with four sources of the witch's miasma within her vicinity, she feels that she may need to drink another teacup full of Echidna's body fluids to cope with the smell.

"Now's not the time for such nonsense! You were about to accept a contract from Echidna, weren't you?!" Minerva shouts at Subaru, apparently disappointed in him from the looks of it.

At the same time, Rem shouts at Typhon, "What in the world was all that for?! You could've killed us! No, that would've killed us! How did it not?! Just what in the world did you do?!"

Typhon responds, "I wanted to see if you and Baru were good people! Well, I suppose I haven't fully checked to see if you're a good person yet. Should I?" She slowly approaches her with a grin.

"No! Stay back! I already know I've been a terrible person!" She steps back several feet, trying to stay as far away from this little witch of destruction as possible.

Subaru responds to Minerva, "No! I mean, I was thinking about it a bit, but the deal feels weird, like I haven't been told everything about it yet."

Her eyes widen at his words. She then smiles proudly, "Great! You're smarter than you look! Because that's exactly how it is! That jerk hasn't told you what parts of the contract will be bad for you!" Stomping her foot into the crater a few more times, more cracks appear at the center of it. Subaru isn't sure whether she's stomping because she's happy or because she's furious.

"Of course there is compensation I would want from you, but to describe it as a bad thing is, I believe, a bit of an exaggeration." Echidna calmly explains.

"Then what is it you want from me? What payment do I have to give?"

"It's very simple." She turns to face him. "Everything you feel, everything you think, everything that remains in your heart, the future as you know it, anything you accomplish, all the potential within you, all the fruit of the unknown that is borne from your very existence. I want a taste of it."

"I-Impossible…" Rem mutters as she falls to the ground. Not to what Echidna just said, but to the fact the stench of the witch has increased again in potency. Getting up quickly, she rushes up to the top of the hill to see if there is any more tea available in the teacups. Luckily, the two teacups set out are filled to the brim with an orange-brown sort of liquid, the liquid Rem is slowly becoming more and more acquainted with.

The reason the stench increased once more is another person has arrived. Though considering how this is all progressing, it has to be another witch.

"T-That's all true! B-But, don't assume she just t-told you everything…" The newcomer says timidly. She has red eyes and long, pale-pink hair. She wears a giant white coat and a super large light-green muffler around her neck.

"W-Wha?! W-Who are you? Why are so many of you appearing all of a sudden?" Subaru suddenly jumps around, having been startled by her suddenly speaking, despite how soft and quiet it was.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry! M-My name is Carmilla. I'm the Witch of Lust…"

"The Witch of Lust? That's surprising…" Subaru says and mumbles the last part to himself. Having such a title, he expected her to be in much more lewd attire. Rather than that, she seems to be dressed the exact opposite of that, purposefully trying to keep herself as modestly dressed as possible.

"E-Echidna-chan…isn't lying. But there's a lot…she's hiding from you." She appears to lack confidence in her speech, but she did put in a lot of effort to say that. Thus, Subaru considers her words just as seriously as Minerva's.

"Don't bother listening to them, Natsuki Subaru." Echidna says as she holds her hands out to him. "Once you form a contract with me, I will, without fail, guide you to the future you desire."

"This wouldn't be the promise you always precede with 'In the end…' would it?" A brand new voice makes itself known. To Subaru's shock, it belongs to a woman laying on her side in the crater just a few feet behind him.

How did she get there?! Subaru screams in his mind, swearing she wasn't there just a moment ago. "And who are you?!"

By now, Rem has returned to the base of the hill and is shocked that the stench has once again increased to levels that without the tea in her system, she'd likely have fallen over dead by now. "Another one?!"

"Wow! Almost everyone's here! I never expected this to happen!" Typhon shouts excitedly at the growing crowd.

The brand new witch answers Subaru, "The Witch of Sloth, Sekhmet." She briefly sighs, "Just letting you know my name, for the record and all."

With long straight dark magenta hair, a strange silver scepter-like pin attached to said hair, and wearing a black sultry outfit, she appears to be the very personification of sloth.

"There's five of you now…" Subaru says, unable to believe he's seeing so many witches at once.

"I'm only here as a watchdog to preserve the fairness of this place." Sekhmet sighs again, "But I will fulfill my obligation to her."

"Oooh! What's this delicious smell over here? It's been a long time since we've had a tea party! You should have invited me." Yet again a new unfamiliar female voice enters what she declares is a tea party.

"You're kidding me…" Rem says despondently towards the newest member. At this rate, she and Subaru are never going to be able to talk. "And what the heck is she traveling in?"

The thing Rem is referring to is a black coffin with purple stripes in an upright position. At the bottom of the coffin are eight legs that look very similar to what one would see on a crab or spider. Inside the coffin are purple cushions and chains. Bound to those chains is the witch herself. She looks to be around 12-14 years old. She has ashen colored hair. Her outfit is rather peculiar as it is a black straitjacket over white clothing. Finally, she wears a black and purple blindfold, so neither of her eyes can be seen.

The eerie girl commands her coffin to move forward towards Subaru. Once she does, she sticks her head out as far as the chains will allow and she sniffs the air in front of her.

"Hey! Don't get so close to him!" Rem shouts at her, afraid that she's going to do something harmful to him.

"Oh…this might be toxic to me." Saying that, the girl hastily moves her coffin several feet away from him.

Subaru initially grits his teeth from how close she is before switching to a bewildered expression as she moves away. "Huh?"

Her coffin tilts back and forth and side to side many times in a creepy manner, "My body is throbbing. You give off a scent I really, really love…" She moves back towards him.

Getting right up in his face again, a little drool spills from her mouth as she says dreamily, "It's making me want to eat you." She licks her lips.

Rem comes and pulls Subaru back while she stands in front of the witch, holding her hands out in a defensive position. "I smelled him first! And don't eat him! There are people he needs to return to!"

"Oooh! I feel like someone's getting jealous!" Typhon puts a hand to her face as she chuckles.

"U-Um…please don't fight!" Carmilla weakly tries to interject herself into the conversation.

"Pointless dribble." Sekhmet yawns, already feeling bored.

"Yeah…what Rem said, I'd rather not be digested inside a tiny girl's stomach. That sounds so wrong. Besides, I already nearly became mabeast food a few times." Subaru says to the ashen-haired girl. "And anyway, who are you?"

The girl retreats herself and the coffin once more a few feet back. "Daphne, Witch of Gluttony. So, you already met my children?"

"Hold up…your children?" Subaru widens his eyes at what Daphne just said. Did she really just say the mabeasts are her children?

"I made them Subarun." She confirms. "Everyone is always so hungry, aren't they? The White Whale is so big, don't you think? If people killed it and ate it, their hunger would be satiated, right? The Great Rabbit can multiply itself indefinitely, so people can always eat its delicious meat. And as for the snake, it's also massive! Then there are the various mabeasts all throughout too. Don't they do such a good job of feeding people? They make it so no one would go hungry ever again."

"N-No way! It's that massive whale that you made that ate everyone up! It was so large, massive, and powerful that I heard no one was able to kill it for hundreds of years! It ravaged towns, villages, and I think maybe even a city or two! It ate so many people and caused so much catastrophe. I don't know about this Great Rabbit or snake, but if they're anything like the White Whale…"

"Not only that, but from what I've heard, mabeast meat is absolutely disgusting! They hardly qualify as edible at all! They've brought nothing but terror and devastation to our world!" Rem adds on to Subaru's gripes about the mabeasts.

"Don't you think it's a bit selfish to try to eat another without considering the possibility of being eaten yourself? Don't you think everyone takes gluttony too lightly? The appetite is the most important of all the desires that keep people alive. Even if the heart feels sated, people die if they don't eat." Daphne says, explaining her thoughts hunger and starvation.

"I-I'm not taking Gluttony lightly! It's honestly really terrifying!" Subaru voices his honest thoughts about Gluttony.

A childlike smile creeps onto Daphne's face. "Alright then! Good enough for me."

"Seriously though…" Subaru sighs as he looks around and views each witch one by one. In total, six witches are present. Echidna, Typhon, Minerva, Carmilla, Sekhmet, and Daphne. Rem's also here, but she obviously isn't a witch. Actually, with so many witches present, she's got to be feeling super uncomfortable!

"Rem!" He runs over to her. "I'm so sorry for all these distractions. Are you feeling alright? Do the other witches smell like Echidna?"

"Rude." Sekhmet sighs.

"W-We smell?! I'm so sorry!" Carmilla profusely apologizes for causing Rem to feel disgusted.

"Hey! I put a lot of work into smelling all pretty every day! Don't make light of my efforts!" Minerva stomps a few times in anger.

"What do you use Ner Ner? It sounds delicious! Can I eat it?" Daphne approaches Minerva and sniffs her.

"Do you even use anything Nerva? I doubt you do!" Typhon teases her heavily.

"Ew! Get that freaky coffin away from me!" Minerva jumps back several feet, getting as far from the coffin as possible.

Subaru and Rem ignore the admittedly silly antics of the witches. The latter replies to the former, "Don't apologize Subaru-kun! It's all the Witch of Greed's fault for not letting us have the private time we need to talk. As for the smell, unfortunately they do all have the stench. It's not surprising since they are all witches. Thankfully the Witch of Greed's tea has kept me from passing out."

"I see. That's good to hear at least. Still…what are we going to do about that contract?"

"Geeze! I'm so sick of this!" Minerva stomps over to him and picks him up by the collar of his shirt. "Just say what you want to say about it! Don't let anyone stop you from saying what you truly feel!"

"Hey! Put him down! Now!" Rem demands.

"Hmph." With that, she lowers him to the ground.

"But…she's right. Subaru-kun, it's your choice. No one, or, well, I don't think anyone will stop you from making the choice of whether to accept her contract or not. I won't at least. However, and I may be stepping out of line in saying this but, I believe she has much more sinister motives for that contract than she lets on."

"You're not stepping out of line. I think the same thing as well. Echidna." He turns around and walks a few steps towards her. "I refuse. I will not agree to the contract you've proposed.

She remains silent for a few moments before responding, "Very well then. Then it's either I listen in on your conversation, or you two leave."

"...I see. Let's go Rem." He grabs her hand and is about to ask Echidna to open the portal when:

"Now wait just a damn minute!"

Subaru turns around to find Minerva standing with her body hunched forward, her fists quite close to touching the ground. The latter shouts, "Did I just hear you say you want a private conversation with that blue-haired oni?"

"Yeah, but Echidna won't let us. So we have no choice but to leave."

"T-That's really mean Echidna-chan! Why won't you let them speak to each other?" Carmilla asks, rather disappointed in her behavior.

"Dna Dna's greed, like my hunger, knows no bounds! She wants to know any and every little thing."

"Is it such a bad thing to desire knowledge? I don't complain when you get hungry Daphne." Echidna responds to her.

"I haven't stated anything untrue."

"I agree with her, and with the boy as well." Sekhmet lets out her opinion with yet another sigh. "He went through a lot, let him have his moment with his girl."

Subaru and Rem blush a little at her choice of words. They both fantasize going on a date with each other.

"Baru is a good guy. And I think Rem is a good girl too. So they deserve a reward." Typhon says.

"You all…" Echidna looks around and sees that every witch here is in agreement with Subaru and Rem's wish to have time alone to themselves.

"L-Let's allow them to talk alone. B-Besides! It's been such a long time since we've all last gathered in one place…" Carmilla says.

"Agreed! I'm so, so hungry! And Dna Dna's body fluids are super delicious! I can't wait to have some!" Daphne adds.

"That's so disgusting!" Minerva points her finger at Daphne and sticks out her tongue, showing just how repulsed she is by her words. "For occasions like these, you need to have sweet baked treats!"

"Those are super tasty too!" Daphne licks her lips in excitement.

Somehow or another, the witches are able to drag Echidna away from Subaru and Rem, leaving only the two of them there. It isn't until the voices of the witches die out that the two no longer stifle their breaths.

"I can't believe they all left like that…" Rem breaks the silence. She can still see them in the distance setting up a giant table and some chairs, but they are well out of hearing range now.

"Yeah…they're all really strange and weird. But aside from Echidna, they also seem rather considerate in their own ways.

"You're really nice Subaru-kun, I don't think I could ever allow myself to get along with any of them."

"I never said I'd get along with them. If this is how they regularly act, then they're going to exhaust me to death!"

"What?! Seriously? Then we need to make sure you never meet them ever again! Absolutely never again!" She vigorously responds.

"W-Wait that was an exaggeration! A joke! Mostly. But I'm sorry, that was tasteless of me."

She firmly nods in agreement, "Please, never joke about your death like that ever again. In the past, my naive self probably would've laughed at that. But now…I can't. Not anymore."

A few moments of silence pass by. Subaru turns around to make sure none of the witches, mostly Echidna, decided to try to sneak back to them. Thankfully, they all begin to set up a giant table that he isn't sure where it came from.

After confirming their location, he returns his gaze to Rem. "Rem-tan…" He looks sorrowfully into her eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"What are you apologizing for? You have nothing to be sorry about. It's that damn Witch of-"

"I'm not the hero you think I am." Subaru cuts her off with this declaration.

"What?" Her jaw opens wide in shock.

"You know, I often admired those super heroes you'd see in manga and comics. They'd have this great sense of justice and whenever someone was in trouble, the people could always rely on the hero to solve all of their problems. They would have this amazing super power like flight or super strength or laser vision or heck, even invisibility to help them. Sometimes bad guys would come in to try to stop their heroic efforts or threaten harm to an innocent civilian, but the hero would always save the day. Everyone would be saved and no one would be lost."

Rem doesn't understand what manga or comics are, but at the very least she understands he's comparing himself to strong, brave people. Like Reinhard or Julius for example. She remains silent and lets him talk.

Subaru's voice starts to tremble, "When I first came into this world, I had this mindset that I'd have some really awesome power like those heroes in the comics and manga. I didn't really care what I got, but I figured it would've been something awesome like a fireball spell, an ice spell, or super speed. I don't know, something. Well, as you've seen by now I got none of those things. Heck, on my first day here I tried casting magic by putting out my palm to save a boy who was about to be run over by a carriage from a distance. I didn't really know what would happen, I just thought something would happen that would save the boy. Guess what happened? Nothing. I stood there looking like an idiot while a soldier came by and saved him at the last second."

"I-It was the thought that counted. Even if you didn't save the boy, your desire to save him is really wonderful!"

He chuckles lightly, "You're way too nice to me Rem-tan. The thought means nothing if I can't back it up with the appropriate action. Had that soldier not come by when he did, that kid would've probably died!"

Rem could tell that he felt some level of responsibility for not being able to save the boy even though the situation was completely out of his control. She was about to say it was out of his control. However, he continues before she can open her mouth.

"But that's besides the main point. Rem-tan, I'm not some amazing strategist that can predict the movements of my opponents. I can't tell what my enemies are thinking. I wasn't granted some amazing power like that. The only thing I can do is Shamak! And even then I can't cast it without my gate breaking apart! The only reason I knew what I knew about the Witch Cult and the White Whale is because I died many times and slowly learned over time who they were! So what you saw that was supposedly my grand master plan to deal with them both was nothing more than the cumulative knowledge from my deaths! If I didn't have my ability, we would've all been dead from the very beginning! I'm a fraud Rem! I'm a fraud! I would've been dead, Emilia would've been dead. Ram would've been dead, Beatrice would've been dead, and you would've been dead too Rem! All because I don't have the supernatural ability to figure out my enemies' moves nor the strength to deal with them!"

Having begun to cry, Subaru wipes away his tears and looks at Rem again with a somber expression. "All those 'heroic' plans I made…they're nothing of the sort. They are simply the results of me dying over and over and just so happening to figure out their plans before I die. I know you told me I'm your hero Rem. And honestly…I did believe that. I thought that as long as I saved you and everyone else, I could be that hero. But…I've let you and so many others die multiple times. Because I wasn't strong enough, quick enough, tactical enough, I've let everyone around me die. It's only because of my ability to Return by Death that any of us are even here, and it's a rather pathetic one at that. And because of me constantly dying, I was ready to give up on everything and run away! I was planning to run away and leave everyone to die! Only when you told me to not give up and that you believed in me did I actually try to do something productive with my life! I'm no hero Rem. If anyone's the hero, it's you, for not allowing my horrendous self to give up on everyone and run away."

A few moments pass by with neither of them saying a word. A pondering look forms on Rem's face as she takes in everything Subaru has said so far. He imagines that she's likely feeling very betrayed at this moment for leading her on, proclaiming to be her hero when he's even weaker and pitiful than she likely could've ever imagined. He prepares for a hurl of abuse and scorn to be thrown at him.

"Subaru-kun, can I ask you something?"

Closing his eyes tightly and bracing for the scornful words to attack him, he is instead presented with a question.

"H-Huh? Um, sure."

"What is a hero to you?"

"A hero to me?"

She nods, "Yes."

"A person who's able to help and save others. I guess it's not technically required, but a friendly and amicable personality is really nice too."

"Then you're a hero."

"W-Wha?" This sudden declaration makes it feel like his heart stopped for a brief moment.

"You've helped and saved so many people Subaru-kun. I know you know that. I can understand the guilt and regrets you're feeling for everything that went wrong in those loops. If I was in your position, I'd probably be feeling the same way too, so I don't blame you for how you feel. However, none of those deaths were permanent. We're all still here. Emilia-sama, Nee-sama, and everyone else is still alive at this very moment because of you. That's why, everyone who has died and came back owe their life to you. If it wasn't for your ability, none of us would even be here. And the fact you had to literally give up your own life to allow us to have another chance at living is…I can't even imagine it. I could completely care less about whether you're a master tactician or not. If I'm being honest, I find it even more amazing that you were still willing to face your enemies head on despite experiencing how terrifying they were firsthand."

"Rem…"

"And if you're thinking about that time you were willing to give up everything and run away, wanting to blame yourself for ever thinking about doing that in the first place. Please, don't. I didn't even know a tenth of what you were going through. I'm genuinely shocked you didn't try to run away sooner. Your love and support for Emilia-sama is that strong. I find that incredible."

"I…I was obsessed with her Rem. Of course I love her and I want to do all I can for her, but the way I went about it was unhealthy. I'm glad I learned to not be all up in her personal space and respect the decisions she makes. But um, anyway, thank you. I really thought you'd think of me as lame, stupid, idiotic person who has to cheat his way to victory through death."

"I'd never think of you like that Subaru-kun! I already admired you so much before, and after seeing what you've done for all of us, especially me and Nee-sama, I can't help but admire and respect you even more!"

"Even more?!" He shouts in shock. He knew Rem adored him, but now to such a large extent? He couldn't wrap his mind around it. Then he thinks back to what she said just before that, "Well, putting that aside, Rem-tan?"

"Yes?"

"This second trial you went through…would you be alright with telling me everything you saw? Along with how you learned…about Return by Death?"

He nervously asks this of her. He's certain she likely saw some pretty awful things if her previous behavior from that evening is anything to go by. It's not like he wants her to recall that trial, but if he doesn't gain a grasp of just how much she knows of his previous loops, then they won't be able to get very far about discussing Return by Death and more importantly, what they will do from now on. Thus, for the sake of understanding what Rem went through and appropriately planning for the future, he asks this.

Rem stifles a breath hearing that question. She knew this would get asked. It was inevitable after all that he'd be curious of exactly what she saw and how she came to learn of his ability. Still, she didn't expect the question quite so soon.

Steadying her breathing and clenching a fist slightly, she mentally prepares herself to recount everything from that trial. A few moments later, she replies, "Yes, I'll tell you everything I saw."

Sitting down on the ground as she knew this would take a while, Subaru follows suit. Right there on that grass field, she begins to recount her experiences to him. First, the alternate reality where Rem gets consumed by Gluttony and goes into a coma.

As Subaru hears the whole story, he becomes genuinely disturbed by everything that occurred. Once Rem finishes, he says, "No way…so is that what would've happened if I never took you with me?"

"Possibly. I don't know. But since Crusch-sama has lost her memories to Gluttony, I think it's reasonable to assume this is what happened, just with my presence. I…I couldn't do anything to save her. I was completely useless in that fight!"

"Rem-tan!" Subaru envelopes the girl into a hug as she starts to cry at how useless she is. "It's not your fault! You did the absolute best you could've in that situation. Clearly these Sin Archbishops, Regulus and Lye, are way more formidable than we gave them credit for. I have no idea how we'll be able to take them on if we ever encounter them." He releases Rem from the hug and frowns deeply at the thought of facing them. He remembers Emilia saying back at Crusch's mansion that they would help Crusch figure out how to reverse the damage Gluttony has done to her and everyone else. If what Rem saw in the trial is accurate, then they've got a lot on their hands after they leave the Sanctuary.

Rem blushes a little from the hug, but quickly regains her composure and nods, "I see, thank you Subaru-kun. I loathe what they did to Crusch-sama and the other soldiers, but we can't do anything about it right now."

He nods and releases her, "Agreed. We'll come back to it when the time is right."

She nods too and proceeds on with the next vision she saw in the trial, being attacked by Meili and dying to the mabeasts she controlled. Subaru feels awful that she had to observe her own corpse. Not even he has had to do something like that. After that, she talks about how Subaru, Ram, and Garfiel arrived to look for her only to find her dead. A battle between them and Meili's mabeasts commenced, with Subaru losing his life in the end. Throughout her story telling, he didn't interrupt her once, but she could see constant expressions of grimace and his face constantly tensed up at the more gruesome details, along with his death.

"And…and then…you…you died Subaru-kun. I s-saw you die…" Tears stream down her face at recalling the horrific sight. "The blood, the guts, e-everything…I…I couldn't take it. I had to throw up when I saw it."

"I'm so sorry you had to witness that! If I could erase that part from your memories, I would…"

"No!" She firmly and forcefully places her hands on his kneecaps while giving him a slightly angry look before quickly switching to one of dejection. "It's…it's fine. I want to better understand you Subaru-kun. Understand what you've gone through all this time by yourself with no one to confide in. If I deduce from what you've just said, then I take it that means…"

"...Yeah. That was one of my failed loops." He picked up on what she meant by that and confirmed her suspicions. "I had no idea Meili-san would show up with all those mabeasts and attack us like that. We were caught completely off guard and had no chance against her."

"...I see. She is definitely one we can't take lightly. Subaru-kun, I have another question."

"Go for it."

"Why did you initially come looking for me in the first place?"

"...Right after Emilia-tan failed her trial, Ram suddenly fell to the ground and started panting heavily. She said you were in danger. I assumed she sensed you were in trouble with the synesthesia you two share. So we and Garfiel ran as quickly as we could to find you and bring you back. But…it was too late."

"I wasn't strong enough…I couldn't fend them off. If I had, then you…then you wouldn't of…" Rem grips the helm of her outfit and trembles in place.

"I keep telling you, it's not your fault. Seriously, I'll slap you the next time you say something along the lines that it's your fault." He gives her a stern look.

"Alright, I'm sorry."

"And another thing, I heard this from Emilia-tan once, a single thank you is much better than a hundred sorry's. Or was it a thousand? Well whatever. Either way, stop apologizing so much."

"I'm not sure I should be hearing this from the one who apologizes all the time himself but…thank you. Seriously, thank you for putting up with all of my shortcomings."

Subaru blushes and rubs the back of his head in embarrassment at her praise, "Well…when you say it like that I don't know how to respond. I'm working on that apologizing thing myself. So…I'll say this. Thanks for putting up with me as well."

She chuckles slightly, "Of course."

"Anyway um…what's next?" Subaru asks, referring to the next vision she saw in the trial.

"The next one? It was well…the one I mentioned before, the one with the wagon and Otto-san and the White Whale."

"Oh…that." Subaru shudders as he recalls what happened in that loop.

"D-Do you need to take a break? I don't have to talk about it if you're not comfortable with it!" Rem immediately says, severely concerned about his well-being and how he's being forced to remember the atrocities he saw and experienced.

But he shakes his head, "No. It's fine. Sorry. Let's continue."

"What did we just say about saying sorry?" Rem's eyes narrow a little in frustration.

He cracks a small grin at his own error, "Whoops."

With that, Rem speaks about everything she saw in that loop. The encounter with the White Whale, then Otto's betrayal along with her response to it.

Subaru is surprised to hear she tried to strangle him. "Wow! I didn't think you'd go that far. But if I'm being honest Rem, I see why he did that. His fight or flight instinct kicked in and in that moment, he was trying to do everything he could to run away. And since I was hindering his ability to run away successfully, he reasonably tossed me out. I've already forgiven him for that."

"Even if it made sense that doesn't make it anymore right!" She shouts, "But…I can see now that that's how it was. I'm not entirely sure what incited a change in him, but I had a talk with him not that long ago and I realized that he really does care about you and everyone else close to him. He doesn't appear to be the type to abandon his friends when a situation gets really bad. So for those reasons, I've forgiven him as well for what he did to you."

He warmly smiles, "I appreciate that you don't hold a grudge over him anymore. That would've definitely complicated things…but anyway! I agree with you, I don't believe he's the type to abandon his friends in times of need either. Especially after what he did tonight. Back then I was merely an acquaintance of his, if even that. It makes sense he did what he did."

With their feelings for Otto settled, Rem gets back on track with the next part of what she saw, which was Subaru riding back towards Arlam Village and subsequently Roswaal's mansion.

"And that's where I saw how the White Whale's Mist of Elimination came into effect. Nee-sama…completely forgot who I was." Rem says somberly. Seeing the one family member she has left treat her as if she never existed really stung in her heart back then.

"I was really surprised when she regarded you as a foreign person who she never met. I almost couldn't believe it myself until I…um…" Subaru trails off as he remembers what he did next. He barged into her room like it was nothing. If she figured that out:

"Barged into my room like it was nothing, right?" Despite the current heavy atmosphere, she managed to smirk at him as she correctly guessed his exact thoughts.

"I-I have my reasons! I mean, I had to prove to Ram that you existed! And I…uh…"

"Intended to rummage through my room, pick out my personal items, and present them to Nee-sama. That was the general plan, wasn't it?"

"N-No! I wasn't going to go through your personal stuff! I have that much decency at least! I just wanted her to see your personal bedsheets, pillows, and curtains. You know, stuff you can readily see with just a quick glance into the room…" Subaru turns his head in embarrassment as he imagines going through her drawers and finding her undergarments.

Rem laughs a little at Subaru's response. "That sort of answer probably wouldn't be enough for most girls Subaru-kun. However, since you have done so much for me and you're very precious to me, I'll permit you to go into my room and do whatever you need to do when I'm not there."

"W-Wait, seriously? Isn't that like, a super bad idea no matter how you phrase it?"

"I don't allow just anyone in there Subaru-kun. You and Nee-sama would be the only ones granted permission to enter and exit my room whenever you want."

"I-I see…" Subaru still isn't exactly sure how to feel about this. On one hand, it feels amazing to be allowed to do something only Ram is permitted to do. On the other hand, he'd never enter a girl's room when the owner in question isn't there. That would be way too irresponsible and insensitive of him. Beyond that, Ram would likely punish him severely for it.

He doesn't dwell on the issue for much longer though, as Rem has now continued on with what she saw next, that none of her personal items were in her room to begin with. After that, it was his conversation with Emilia. And with that conversation, came the moment when he tried to reveal Return by Death to her.

"It was at that moment I first heard the words…Return by Death." Rem's voice becomes quieter and even more somber as she says this.

"So that's how you figured it out…" He mumbles to himself in a whisper, which Rem barely hears.

"Actually, I wouldn't piece it all together until a little later. But…yes. That was ultimately what made it all click. As I went through the trial I theorized that with how you behaved back at the mansion, the moments your miasma levels increased, and with your incredible timing when finding me right when I was getting attacked by Meili-san, alongside other things, you had some sort of ability to reverse time. Like a Divine Protection or something. But I had never heard of such a thing before. Also, even if it did, it didn't line up with why you looked…why you looked so heartbroken whenever your miasma increased."

Timidly drawing in a breath so she can continue, she starts to tear up again. "A-After I heard that, Emilia-sama died. The witch…the witch punished her for hearing about your ability to die and come back to life. Then…the scene changed to you holding Emilia-sama outside the mansion and that damn Archibishop, Petelguese, attacked you. Puck then appeared and killed him. But then he…he…he killed you!"

Subaru's a little surprised Rem wasn't shown the scene where he got teleported out of the mansion by Beatrice, but that wasn't really relevant to the entire situation.

"It…It was then that I fully realized what you meant by Return by Death. You die…you die and come back to a previous point in time." She tilts her head to look at the ground. Her nerves are so tense that she picks some of the grass in an attempt to relieve the tension. Unfortunately for her, this has very little effect.

"Ah…" Subaru also tilts his head down and watches her pull the grass blades.

"S-Subaru-kun?" She bravely lifts her head up and looks into his eyes. Seeing how upset he looks, she immediately frowns herself and says in a panic, "I-I said it too quickly…"

"Oh! No, no." He breaks out of his trance-like state and quickly waves his hands to reassure her. "I'm not mad or anything. I'm just…thinking about it all."

"I see…" She says in a way that does not sound like she feels any better about it.

"Rem-tan." Grabbing one of her hands, he calls her name. Eliciting a tiny gasp, she stares deeply into his eyes.

"I'm…I'm sure you must have questions about Return by Death. If you want to ask me, please, ask me anything. I want to help calm your fears and anxiety."

Her heart flutters internally with happiness at how even in this situation, where Subaru is very vulnerable right now and forcing himself to remember painful memories, that he's thinking of her feelings rather than his own. He's always like this. It's one of the many reasons I love him so much.

"I…I do have many questions. I would be eternally grateful if you could answer some. Um…first, are you sure it's really alright for me to know about Return by Death? You know…with you being unable to tell it to anyone. And…how do you feel about me knowing?"

He averts his eyes as he lets go of her hand and shuffles his legs back a few inches.

She quickly says, "W-Wait! If you're uncomfortable answering, that's totally fine! I understand it's pretty-"

With a shaky tone, he cuts off her panicked reply, "I…I don't know. I have no idea what that witch wants from me. If I'm being honest, I'm surprised she hasn't come after you yet. You know about Return by Death and from what you've been telling me, it seems you remember the last loop too. As for my personal feelings, well, I was pretty scared about you knowing it. As I said before, I thought you'd see me as some sort of fraud or you'd be vastly disappointed to know I'm not as great as you make me out to be. But…you still believe in me. You didn't…push me away. I'm so, so grateful Rem. If you wanted to kick me out of your life forever, I would've understood. But at the same time it would've been so, so painful. You're precious to me Rem, more than you'll ever know."

I should be the one saying that. She muses. She couldn't believe that Subaru hasn't abandoned or harmed her for what she did to him yet. "Subaru–kun. I'll never push you away. I'll never abandon you. And I'll always believe in you. You're more precious to me than you could ever imagine. Even if you're the most pathetic and unfortunate man in the world, that will never make me stop loving you. No matter what happens, I'm very glad I was able to learn about Return by Death, because that means you have someone to confide in if you ever need it. Like now."

Latching onto her, he quietly says, "Thank you."

Returning the hug, she simply hums softly acknowledging his thanks.

Releasing her, he asks if she has anymore questions.

"Um, yes. Are you able to control how far back you go?"

He shakes his head, "No. As far as I can tell, I get a save point and whenever I die, I respawn at said save point. I think I've had a total of five save points so far. I have no idea when it will update or where. I only find out upon dying. I've had points where I've returned as far back as five days and other times where I went back only about thirty minutes."

Rem is shocked to hear this, "That's so random…"

"Yeah…I don't even get the luxury to choose. With the latest spawn point, I can barely get to you in time to save you from Meili."

"If only I hadn't gone to pick up those herbs…" She grumbles to herself.

"Stop that. You were just doing what Roswaal told you to do. I'm sure you were also acting with Emilia-tan's best interests in mind.

"That's true." She admits. "I did want to take precautions when it came to Emilia-sama's wellbeing."

Subaru notices she doesn't say anything about Roswaal, but puts that detail in the back of his mind for now.

Seeing as how he went silent, Rem takes this as he's ready for the next question. "What exactly happens whenever you try to mention Return by Death to anyone? Does Emilia-sama die everytime it happens?"

His facial features tense up as he recalls that instinct feeling of fear whenever he tried to bypass the taboo. Having that eldritch hand creep up on him and grip his heart has been excruciatingly unpleasant.

Breathing in deeply and letting out a sigh, he calms his nerves a little. "Basically, time stops for everyone but me. This really creepy and weird hand like thing then slowly approaches and enters my chest like it's nothing. It then I think grips my heart and…I don't know. I don't know how to describe the sensation of it, but I just know that it's impossible to speak about Return by Death any further. And no, Emilia-tan doesn't die every time. That's the only time I ever saw her die because of me trying to tell her about it. I…I honestly have no idea why the witch killed her rather than clench my heart as usual."

"How cruel…" Rem never noticed or even questioned the possibility of time stopping whenever he tried to mention it. If there is anything positive she can take from his explanation, it's that it's very unlikely for someone to die whenever he triggers the taboo.

"It is what it is." Subaru slightly shrugs as he has no intention of fighting it. "I just have to be very careful avoiding to trigger it. I think it only happens when I mention my ability, but I'm not fully sure of everything that is forbidden."

"I see…so we won't be able to talk about it once we leave here." She concludes based on the current information.

"I'm not entirely sure, especially since you now know of it. That hasn't ever happened before. But I don't want to take any risks, so I think it'd be best if we refrain from speaking about it directly. I think as long as we're vague about it, we can pass crucial information to one another. We'd still need to be really careful though. I don't want you to die from me trying to talk about Return By Death. I really don't want that to happen…"

"I agree. I'll make sure to be extra careful about discussing it in the future. And now, for my final question, at least for now. Um…how…how many times have you died so far?"

Subaru frowns hearing this question as multiple deaths flash by in his mind. He grimaces at recalling how painful nearly every one of them has been.

"I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry for making you remember them all. You don't have to answer." Rem pleads with a worried expression, feeling really guilty to have unintentionally caused him more heartache.

"It's alright. But um, I believe I've died thirteen times now."

"THIRTEEN?!" She shouts. "H-How have you managed to stay sane all this time…"

"Because you, Emilia-tan, and everyone else have been there for me. If you guys weren't there, I surely would have gone completely crazy. Heck, I nearly went crazy a few times even with everyone's support for me…"

Rem remembers the day he wanted to run away with her. Not only that memory, but another one from way back when Subaru first joined the mansion emerges. It's the one where he acted really weird during one of the first days he worked there. At least, one of his first days in her memories. He acted really creepy with his enthusiasm for Emilia and even with her he acted like a crazy lunatic. Only later that evening did she find him all passed out on Emilia's lap like a child. She was still suspicious of him, but she admittedly thought, even back then, that he looked a little cute. Now that she looks back on it, she realizes that crazy behavior of his must've been his way with trying to cope with all the deaths he's been through up to that point. Then, she thinks about what Emilia said to her right before she left.

"Subaru is a good person."

You couldn't have been more correct Emilia-sama. Even if I didn't see it at the time.

"I-I see. I'm very glad we were all able to help you. Still, your mental fortitude is incredible." She says. "Anyway, I think that's all my questions for now. I will continue with what I saw."

With that, she begins to explain the next loop she saw. The one where Subaru wouldn't respond to anything or anyone and got tortured by Petelguese. Unlike the other loops, Subaru only remembers part of this loop. His memory is really fuzzy, primarily in the early part of the loop. So he listened with even greater interest than before to hear what exactly happened. When she gets to the part about Petelguese, Subaru asks her to skip it as he doesn't want that whole ordeal to be described in detail. However, he does give Rem deep gratitude for saving him even when she was in severe pain and could barely move her body.

"Of course, I'd do anything to save you Subaru-kun. I don't have any idea how painful it was to experience that since I've sadly forgotten-"

"Sadly?!" Subaru shouts at her choice of words. "Don't say that! Sure, there are times when I wish you could've remembered previous loops I went through, but that's not one of them! I don't want you to ever remember the sort of pain you went through then! I'm sure it was much, much worse than anything I went through!"

"Subaru-kun…" She affectionately calls out his name at once again seeing how much he cares about her. "Thank you for your concern. Though I feel it's only a fraction of everything you've undergone."

"Hk…" Subaru stifles a yelp as he can't deny what she is saying. He's died way more often than she has.

"After all…that. I saw you carry me out of the cave. Now, if you'll please let me ask you since the scene changed at this moment, did you carry me all the way back to Arlam Village on foot? Or did you take a carriage?"

"I carried you on foot."

A tear runs down her face as she gives a sad smile at him, "I don't know why you carried me all the way back, since I must've been heavy, but…I really, really appreciate that you did so. Thank you."

"Even if it was only for a little while, you saved my life Rem. It was the least I could do. Besides, there was no way I was leaving you in that cave alone."

"I see." She simply accepts his explanation and internally thanks him once more. Finally, she reveals that she saw everyone in the village die and that Puck killed Subaru once more. As she explains what she saw, she makes her disdain for Puck very clear.

"That spirit…I couldn't believe he killed you twice just because Emilia-sama died. He's even willing to destroy the world if she's gone."

"He cares about Emilia-tan a lot, and I totally understand him on that front. But to destroy the entire world…yeah, he's going too far with that."

"Right?! I'll never forgive him! He knew you would never kill her, and yet…and yet…!"

"I understand how you feel Rem. I'll admit my feelings towards him are way more complicated now considering that all happened. But…he was right in that I broke my promise to Emilia. I was stupid and foolish for how I treated her at that time. I wish we could've talked it out compared to what he did but…that's all in the past now."

"Y-You don't desire revenge against him? Even after he killed you twice?"

"If I held grudges and feelings of revenge against everyone that killed me, I would have never realized just how good those people are if I didn't take the time to get to know them better and understand why they did what they did."

Like you…Rem-tan.

"O-Oh…" She notices that he shifts his gaze away from her ever so slightly when he says that. He must be thinking about me among those people. So…he really never held a grudge against me. Her heart feels a mixture of happiness and guilt. I keep saying this but…you're too kind Subaru-kun.

Rem still cannot forgive Puck for what he did to Subaru, but she is proud of Subaru for being able to do something she can't. After silently praising him like this, she proceeds to talk about the next scene where Subaru got taken over by Petelguese. She asks Subaru if that was how he knew about Petelguese's ability to take over bodies, and he confirms that is indeed the case. She then thanks him for allowing her to confess despite being in the condition that he was in at the time.

After that is the loop where Subaru commits suicide at the cliff. First, she simply describes everything as it happened and asks Subaru to not say anything until she's finished. Once she describes the entire experience, she prostrates herself before him.

"W-What are you doing Rem-tan?!" He blurts out frantically.

"Subaru-kun, please allow me to profusely apologize on Nee-sama's, no, Ram's behalf. She presumed you were responsible somehow for my death even though there was no evidence to prove such a thing. She went way too far with attempting to kill you. Please, forgive her. I promise as her younger sister that I will never allow her to ever threaten your life ever again like that, or to get away with anything she did in that loop."

"L-Lift your head Rem! I feel really uncomfortable when you do that!" He says. She complies with his order. Looking into her light blue eyes, they glisten with a mixture of guilt and determination, likely to set her sister right if there is ever a need for it.

"I've already looked past it. Don't worry about what she did. I know she won't try to do something like that again. I know we probably don't show it that well, but I think we really do care about one another now. She just has trouble showing it is all. Though it certainly wouldn't hurt if she became a little nicer to me. Or at least referred to me by my real name. That'd be nice."

"Then I'll work on improving her image of you! Leave it to me!" Suddenly, she smiles brightly and clenches a fist, feeling quite motivated at the new task at hand.

"Erm…I don't know if you can do that much at this point. I'm already the epitome of a lazy and foolish man in her eyes. Ah well, I'll just have to keep trying to get on her good side!"

"That's a great attitude Subaru-kun! I'll be rooting for you and supporting you whenever I can!" She cheers.

After a few moments of this joyful atmosphere, Subaru brings it to an abrupt end, "We should probably keep moving along. What did you see next? Or was that all?"

Suddenly, Rem's smile freezes in place as her entire body freezes up. A few drops of sweat begin trickling down her face and arms.

"Um…Rem-tan? Are you ok?" He asks, worried.

Her face unfreezes and her smile immediately flips upside down as she begins to cry.

"R-Rem!" He grabs ahold of her and pulls her towards his chest. Feeling the warmth of said chest and hearing his heart beating soundly, she manages to calm down a little.

I-I-It's time… She thinks to herself. Puffing her cheeks out with a deep inhale, she shakily lets out an exhale. There's no time to falter now, not when she's come this far. She could take the easy way out and say there was nothing more to see in the trial, but that wouldn't be fair to Subaru, and it would defeat part of the reason she's even having this long conversation in the first place.

"S-S-Subaru…"

"Rem?" Noticing her drop her honorific for him, he realizes that this is serious. Whatever she saw next, it must've been much worse than everything else combined. A thought pops into his head about what she could have maybe seen, but he tries to push it aside, hoping with all of his being that she didn't see it.

If she saw that…I can't imagine how horrible she would feel…

"Do…do you remember…p-puking?

"Puking?"

"O-on the spiral stairs. In the dark of night…"

"W-Wait…"

"And…then heard the sounds of…of…c-chains?"

Oh…oh no. Subaru panics in his mind. It's not the loop he was thinking of, but this was almost just as bad. Crap! Don't tell me she saw…

"D-Don't tell me you saw…"

She timidly nods and confirms one of his greatest fears at that moment. "S-Subaru!" She tightens her grip around him to the point where he feels she's about to crush his ribs. Thankfully, she doesn't do that or come remotely close to actually crushing them.

"I-I-I-I'm so, so, so, so sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry for everything I did to you! B-Because of my stupid, utterly ridiculous, and idiotic jumping to conclusions, I believed you were a witch cultist! I-I-I killed you! I KILLED you Subaru! A-A-And even w-worse I-I even had the a-audacity to t-t-TORTURE you! I…I committed so many grave sins against you. I put you through so much pain! So much agony! And you were completely innocent! You never did anything wrong! I-I never thought I could do such things to you but…but I did! I'm a monster! I'm no better than Petelguese! I deserve to die! Nothing I do could ever atone for what I did to you! I never deserved your love! I don't know why you even fell in love with me in the first place! Falling in love with your murderer?! Who does such a thing?! I don't deserve to be near you, let alone have a place in your heart!"

Crying and shouting through her numerous apologies, her explanation for what she did to him, her severe self-loathing, and finally questioning why he ever fell in love with her in the first place, she separates from him and attempts to run away from him.

"Rem!" Subaru shouts as he grabs one of her arms after she begins to run, forcing her to stop in place.

"L-Let go! Leave me! Go back to Emilia-sama! She is far, far more deserving of your love than me!"

"REM!" Yanking on her arm, she stumbles backwards and falls onto the center of his criss-crossed legs. She tries to get up but he wraps his arms around her waist and holds her tightly, putting his head to her back. She attempts to resist his rather tight grip, but he manages to keep her in place.

"Please don't run!" He begs with all his heart. "If you truly hate me embracing you right now, then I'll let you go. But if by any chance you enjoy being embraced even a little bit…then please don't go."

Hearing that, Rem's attempts to resist his affection quickly die out as she slumps her head forward and bawls. She mutters apologies over and over again.

"Hey, Rem. I want you to listen to what I'm about to say, alright? It's important."

Lifting her head up, her eyes are now bloodshot red from how long and intense she has cried. Staring into his own with a mixture of guilt and anticipation, she quietly awaits his next words.

"I forgive you."

"...Huh?" Her expression changes to one of dumbfoundedness.

"Come on, don't give me that look. What were you expecting me to say after what we talked about earlier? That I wouldn't forgive you?"

She slowly nods. Who would forgive a monster like her?

Extending a hand to her forehead, he flicks his index finger at said forehead rather roughly. She yelps a little in pain and puts her hands to the afflicted area. "I knew you were stupid sometimes, but I didn't think you'd be this stupid!"

"W-What?" She has no idea what he's talking about.

"In case it's not abundantly obvious, I really, really love and care about you Rem! If I hated you, I would have stopped involving myself with you long ago. Yes, it's true that you did those things to me. The past, or rather, my past will never change no matter how much we may wish it to. But, do you want to know why I didn't try to get revenge on you or hate you?"

She nods.

"I suppose I should say that there was a small period of time where I was indeed very afraid of you and Ram. I also harbored some feelings of resentment towards you both. I don't know who wouldn't. But! And I know you've forgotten this now, but you and Ram held my hands one time when I was asleep. The memory is fuzzy, but I distinctly remember the soft and warm feeling of your hands as they gripped mine. I don't know why you two decided to do that, maybe I had a nightmare at that time, but it was that action of kindness that made me realize that you two weren't heartless. If you two couldn't bear to see me suffer, then I couldn't bear to see you two suffer either. I couldn't hate either of you. I just couldn't. And ever since then, you two, and especially you Rem, have shown time and time again just how wonderful you are."

"A-A-And that's w-why you s-sacrificed yourself to s-save us on that cliff?"

"Yes. I wanted another chance to really get along with you two. I'd say the pain I experienced getting skewered on those spikes was worth it to have the relationship I share with you and Ram now. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Y-Yes! Ever since you've thawed my heart Subaru-kun, I've enjoyed spending every moment I could with you these past few months. It's been wonderful. I never want to leave your side ever again…" She tenderly admits with a small smile.

"Then don't." He declares.

"Huh?"

"I don't want you to leave my side either Rem. It may be, no, I know it's selfish of me to wish this but…I want to keep you close to me. I want to talk to you about the things that happened in loops that no longer exist anymore. I want to be able to confide in you whenever I Return by Death. Honestly, if I wanted anyone to know about Return by Death, it was you. I really don't like showing my weak and pathetic side to others but…I don't know, it feels different when I show it to you. I'm sorry. I know I'm sounding super lame right now but-"

"Say no more." Rem puts a finger to his lips and smiles. "Yes, that is a very selfish wish if yours to want to keep me by your side. Being all weak and pathetic while confiding in me whenever you die and come back."

"R-Rem?!" Subaru didn't expect her words to be so harsh. Now he feels like he really is asking way too much of her!

"However, I would not have it any other way."

"S-So that means…!" Subaru get excited at what she's implying here.

Then, all of a sudden with no warning, Rem grabs ahold of Subaru's cheeks and pulls them closer to her. Then, their lips tenderly connect.

Subaru hesitates for a moment. He's never been kissed by a girl before and he's not really sure what to do. Then, he returns the kiss in equal force, allowing their lips to be pressed together even tighter than before. It's a simple kiss, their tongues don't touch one another's, but all their love and feelings for one another is conveyed in that simple action.

About fifteen seconds later, they separate their lips and gaze into either other's eyes as lovers would. It is then that Rem softly shuts her eyes and says with a sweet smile on her face:

"Yes Subaru-kun. Your Rem is here, ready to help however she can. Let's start the next part of our journey together."

-Author's Corner-

What is with me and making these chapters so much longer than I ever intended them to be? Ah well, that just means more content for everyone!

So yep! All the witches aside from Satella are introduced in this chapter. I don't believe I'll get an opportunity again later on so I'm doing it now. I did re-use a lot of their canon dialogue, but I had fun coming up with original dialogue for them along with them poking fun at one another.

Main highlight of the chapter is of course Subaru and Rem's conversation. I've said it once before and I feel I need to say it again, I'm not that confident in my ability to write deeply emotional scenes like this. Of course I did the best I could, so please let me know what you think of it. I thought it would be appropriate for Rem to go through what she experienced in the trial one by one and they talk about the important highlights of each loop she saw. Now she realizes that Subaru truly forgave her, she can finally take steps to put that past behind her and focus on what's ahead.

And they even kissed! It is possible Rem could've been a tad too forward here, but considering she kissed his forehead towards the end of their big talk in canon, I believe she could do something like this.

That's all from me for this chapter. Feel free to try to predict what will happen in the next chapter. Though I will say one thing. Remember that retcon I mentioned several chapters back? (Specifically, chapter 13) Well, it will be happening in the next chapter. I'm honestly not sure how it'll go over with everyone, but I hope it will be received well!

Dovahking2023: Yeah, I recently figured out that I think the taboo is triggered whenever Subaru so much as briefly mentions Return By Death in any fashion (direct or indirect). Though I have likewise noticed that if Subaru whispers anything about Return By Death to himself without anyone hearing, then he seems to generally be spared. The exact triggers for the taboo are not super clear. Especially considering like you said Roswaal does know that Subaru goes back in time (just not how he does it). You'd think that Satella would not allow that, but she does for whatever reason. So please forgive me for potentially taking some liberties here. And about Satella watching Subaru and the others through a screen, heh, I can picture it too.

danielsantiago4545: Thank you so much! Indeed, Rem will go above and beyond for Subaru. And that's partially why I like her so much! Poor man needs support. Lots of hugs were exchanged in this chapter, and even a kiss too!

Mathis B: Don't worry about the spoiler, I've read the entirety of arc 6. As of writing this, I'm at about the halfway point of arc 7. Though I am confused by what you're talking about. Roswaal doesn't know about how Return by Death works. He knows that Subaru is able to go back in time, but he has no idea that he has to die in order to trigger it. Also, at no point in arc 6 does Satella kill him. Are you talking about Louis (also spelled Rui)? What you're saying here seems to match what she goes through.

demon god noir: Yep, Echidna definitely caused problems for them as they simply wanted to talk in private without her listening in. Regarding Otto, yeah you're right. According to a Q&A with Tappei, Otto can actually understand what the mabeasts say and that was actually the reason why he went crazy and pushed Subaru off. Though I'm certain them being chased and Subaru being hostile with him were other factors that led to Otto pushing him off as well.

Maximum Rhapsody: Nope, Garfiel is elsewhere at the moment. As for whether Rem can remember the failed loops, the answer to that is sorta. She cannot remember any loops from before she learned about Return By Death. That means she cannot personally recall ever torturing or killing Subaru. She only knows about that thanks to the second trial. However, she does personally remember everything she experienced in the last loop, since that was the loop she learned about Return by Death. From now on, she will remember each loop she goes through personally, just like Subaru.

Guest: Thank you! As for her sudden change into her maid outfit, you witnessed me completely forgetting she was in a nightgown! Apologies for that, I tend to imagine them in their regular outfits when writing the scenes so I just wrote it as I imagined it, forgetting that detail. She's still in her nightgown. I'll fix the error. Thanks for pointing it out!