Emilia sat on a grassy elevation in front of the burning building. Her knees were propped in front of her. It was chilly in the night breeze, although the heat coming off the blazing fire warmed her front. She hugged her legs, wrapping both her arms around them.
She looked over at Rem and Subaru who were sat a bit in front of her. She could see the boy balling his eyes out, shouting something to Rem. She couldn't make out his words over the sound of the collapsing mansion.
/ That must have been reeeeally stressfull for him. / Emilia rationalized the behaviour she was witnessing.
Emilia turned to see Ram, who was still unconscious beside her. She put a finger on the sleeping girl.
"She's low on mana." A familiar voice beside her rang out. It was Puck. "Her gate doesn't seem to be replenishing itself." There was some concern in the spirit's voice.
"No mana..." Emilia said. "That's not good is it?" She questioned.
"That's one way to put it." Puck materialised in front of her. "If this goes on too long, she'll die."
The floating cat approached Ram face, and and put a paw to her forehead. Emilia saw a dim glow where Puck was making contact with the girl.
"I can transfer some manually, so she'll recover, at least for now." Puck stated. "It's only a temporary solution though."
Emilia pressed her face against her knees. Her body language showed her unease at Ram's current state.
"Thank you Puck." Emilia said softly. "We owe that girl a lot you know? She saved our lives... They all did." Emilia was referring to the others present.
Puck let out a grunt, acknowledging her. At the moment, he was too focused on the transfer to give a verbal response.
"...It's not fine Rem!..." Emilia could here Subaru's raised voice. He still sounded torn up. "... you, the baby... It was a disaster..."
She could make out every other word he was uttering. / Baby? What are you talking about Subaru? /
"...We should've waited..." Subaru continued. "... Without Halibel..." "...That was the whole point of..."
Emilia was a bit lost. Sure, Ram was unconscious, but they were all alive. They were lucky to have defeated such a strong opponent, and had taken down yet another sin archishop. She had expected the usually self-assured Subaru to be rejoicing right now.
Emilia stood up, and Rem turned to see the silver-haired girl walking towards them.
"Okay?" Emilia mouthed the word in an exagerrated way. She subtly pointed at Subaru, and then gave a thumbs up, questioning whether Rem needed some help with him.
Rem nodded her head, and continued to stroke Subaru's hair. The boy was still resting his head in Rem's lap.
Emilia gave her slow blink, accepting that Rem had the situation under control.
To be honest, she kinda wanted to celebrate. She wanted to shout out in joy with the both of them, like they had after taking down Betelgeuse.
/ I guess it's a bit different this time... / Emilia's gaze was still glued to the two of them.
She rubbed her hand on her chest, feeling the slight relief of the curse mark Roswaal had imprinted upon her.
/ We can't go down to the village this time either. / The curse mark would only let them stay on the property. That meant the mansion itself, aswell as the gardens and the stables.
"...I'll never forgive him! Never forgive him! I'm going to kill that bastard clown!..." Emilia's eyes widened as she heard Subaru's words. / Kill Roswaal? Subaru... What are you thinking? /
As she reflected on Subaru's puzzling state, Emilia heard something behind her. It was the sound of trotting.
She rotated her head to see a carriage pulling up to the mansion. Beside the carriage, there was another ground dragon with a rider.
As they came closer into view, Emilia could start to make out the people steering the reptiles.
The person at the front of the carriage was a large, grey beastman. He was wearing a kimono, similar to Subaru's, and a large black mane dangled from his back.
Riding the other ground dragon it was...
/ No way... Crusch Karsten? What is she doing here? / There was only one woman Emilia knew with such distinctive green hair. Even from this distance, Emilia could recognize her.
They pulled up to the stables and got out. Crusch and the beastman walked up to where the four of them were.
Rem, seeing that they now had company, prompted Subaru to get up. Subaru's tear ducts were just about empty, and he managed to get ahold of himself as the two newcomers approached them. Rem and Subaru walked over to where Emilia and Ram were.
"Su-san! Rem-chan!" The beastman gave a tall wave as he came closer.
Subaru waved back lethargically, still tired from the assault he's had to overcome. "Halibel."
"You know him?" Emilia asked him Rem and Subaru.
"Yes. Halibel-san is friend of ours from Kararagi." Rem told her.
Halibel let out a long whistle. "You really did a number on the place huh?" He turned to Rem. "Cooking accident?" He joked.
Rem let out an amused hiss at Halibel's comment.
"Not exactly." Rem said. "This is pest extermination."
"Pest extermination?" Halibel questioned. "What do you mean?"
"Another sin archbishop showed up here. Burning down the mansion was necessary to get rid of her."
At the mention of sin archbishops, Halibel's face grew more serious.
"Archbishop?" He said dangerously. The beastman reached for his weapon.
"Yes, but we've already taken care of her." Rem answered.
Halibel gave a nod, but he didn't relax completely.
"Is Meili okay?" Rem asked him.
"Yes, Meili-chan is doing well. I managed to find her sister, and she's keeping an eye on Meili at the moment."
"Good." Rem gave a short bow. "Thank you for taking care of her."
"It's no problem Rem-chan. In fact, I feel like I messed up not being here." Halibel responded to her politeness.
Halibel turned to Subaru, who was being oddly quiet. "Su-san?"
"Don't worry Halibel. You're here now, that's what's important." Subaru said seriously.
Subaru's grief had been converted into wrath. / You'll be here for the most important part Halibel. That make-up wearing freak isn't going to know what hit him. /
Subaru subconsciously reached for the knife on his inside pocket. He fiddled with it a little, running his fingers across the rough texture of the blade's handle.
"Right." Halibel took note of the boy's dark eyes. It looked like he had been crying.
Crusch cut in their conversation. "Emilia-sama."
"Crusch-sama. What brings you here?" Both Emilia and Crusch used a polite tone, there was a mutual respect between the two girls. Both of them were candidates for the royal throne of Lugunica after all.
"It's a long story." Crusch broke eye contact with the half-elf. "There was battle with the white whale."
"Ehhh, the white whale?" Emilia knew of the mabeast. She had heard it was extremely dangerous, and that it had killed the previous sword saint.
"Yes. It's sad to say, but we were defeated. I wasn't able to foresee the strength of that beast." Crusch said. Even when she discussing the most painful subject, Crusch's voice never lost its dignified quality.
"That's not all though." Crusch continued. "Felix and I... We were ambushed by the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony. Felix got hurt and... Anyway, I was hoping Roswaal might take a look at him. That's the reason for my being here."
"I see..." Emilia understood Crusch. It wasn't like Miss Karsten to rely on others, but Emilia knew Felix was very special to the woman. "I'm sorry to say Roswaal isn't here at the moment."
Emilia paused for a bit. "If he's injured, Rem and I know healing magic. Maybe we should take a look at him?"
Crusch shook her head. "His injuries are minimal. The problem is that he isn't waking up. I don't think simple recovery magic will be able to do much."
"I see..." Emilia twisted her long hair around her finger. / Betelgeuse, Lust, and now Crusch gets attacked by Gluttony... It feels like everything has become more dangerous. /
As Emilia thought that, she noticed Halibel staring intently at her chest. She blushed a bit.
/ Is this man literally a dog? What kind of friends does Subaru have? / She thought to herself.
She crossed her arms over her breasts, which made Halibel laugh a little.
"What?" Emilia's face showed annoyance and a slight blush.
"It's just that." Halibel's clawed finger dangled in the direction of her curse mark. "I know a thing or two about curses. I've not seen one of those in a long time. To be honest, I didn't think anyone in Lugunica knew about such magic."
"Oh?" Realizing the wolfman wasn't perving on her, Emilia relaxed a little. "You wouldn't be able to remove it, would you?"
Halibel shook his head in the negative. "With that type of curse, only the caster can remove it." he said.
"I see..." Emilia was a bit dejected.
"And Roswaal isn't going to remove it." Subaru cut in. His expression was glaring.
"What?" Emilia didn't understand how Subaru could say that with such certainty.
"That clown wasn't even going to let you live." Subaru saw Emilia's brow furrow. "That's right. Take a guess who sicked Capella on us." There was audible anger in Subaru's voice.
"Tell me Halibel..." Subaru recalled how he himself had been cursed once. "A curse won't activate if the user is killed, isn't that right?"
Rem noticed a familiar shine in Subaru's eyes. It was the shine that indicated vengeance. She had seen it with Betelgeuse, and she had recognized it in Kararagi too. Rem grabbed Subaru's arm, trying to calm him down.
"That's correct Su-san." Halibel responded.
"You plan on killing the margrave?" Crusch's confident voice was directed at Subaru, who looked majorly pissed off.
"Yeah. I do." Crusch didn't see any telling wind around Subaru Natsuki. The boy genuinely intended to murder the margrave.
Emilia's eyes widened a little at the black haired boy's proclamation. / That's insane Subaru. /
"And just who exactly are you?" Crusch inquired menacingly. Her goal of asking the margrave for help naturally conflicted with the boy's murderous rage.
"I could ask the same of you." Subaru spat out a response. Rem shook him gently, trying to get him to cool off, but it didn't have any effect.
"Crusch Karsten. Head of the noble Karsten family, and candidate for the throne of Lugunica." She said confidently. She held a steady gaze - with her chin held high, and eye contact unbroken.
Subaru instinctively took a step back. The expression on the woman stirred him up, but unlike with Ram, he couldn't lose his temper at royalty. / I can already tell... This girl, she isn't the type to back down from anything she decides for herself. /
"Is that so? Well my name is Subaru Natsuki. Unemployed at the moment, but a former butler at the Mathers manor." His title didn't sound as cool as her's, but titles weren't going to deter him from protecting his family.
"...Subaru Natsuki..." Crusch mulled over the name he gave her. It sounded familiar.
Suddenly it hit her. It had been reported that one Subaru Natsuki had been responsible for the take down of the Sin Archbishop Betelgeuse.
Crusch stared up at the mansion. By now, the fire had almost gone out, and the building was nothing but ash and rubble.
/ If what they say is true, then this boy has now taken down two of those cultists... Unlike the un-important title he gave me, his name does in fact hold quite a bit of weight. /
"I see." Crusch said slowly.
"So if you got a problem with-" Subaru was about to get confrontational, but Rem intervened.
"Subaru-kun, why don't we go down to village. Let's see if they have some tents and some food, we need to get some for Emilia and Ram." Rem spoke up. She could sense the conversation between Crusch in Subaru was taking a turn for the worst.
/ You're angry Subaru-kun, and Crusch isn't someone we want as an enemy... Please Subaru-kun, come with Rem for a bit. / She prayed.
Subaru looked at Crusch and gave a "Tschh."
/ You're not going to stop me, I don't care who you are. / Subaru looked at her, the last embers of the fire made his eyes shine dangerously.
He turned to Rem, who was holding onto him. Rem's eyelids squeezed downwards subtly, they were pleading Subaru to go with her. Seeing Rem's face made Subaru relax a little.
"Okay Rem." Emotions were running hign, but Subaru's logical side managed to win out. "You're right."
"Halibel why don't you stay here and keep an eye on everyone." Subaru directed the wolfman. Considering his luck, it would be better for everyone else to have some protection.
As they walked away, Crusch continued to stare into Subaru.
/ Who the hell is this guy? He comes out of nowhere and kills two archbishops, and now he wants to wack the Court Magician... And this has all happened in a few months. / Crusch considered herself well-informed about the goings-on in Lugunica. And yet, this boy had come out of nowhere and suprised her.
She also couldn't get a gage on how strong he was. From what she could sense, he didn't seem particularly dangerous. Even still, when she looked into his eyes, she could a fire burning inside him, a fire that would burn down the world if it had to.
* Scene Break *
It was a familiar trail, but it was the first time Subaru had gone down it at night. Rem was holding his hand, not letting him walk alone.
At first he had tried to resist her hand holding. It was as if his own anger had a will, and knew that Rem's comfort would be it's demise. It was futile though. He couldn't say no to that face.
They were walking in silence, and Subaru's mind started to wander.
/ I wonder if there's a point in me coming to this world... Was it random, or did the witch pick me? / He thought to himself. / In a way, it's like the question of destiny. Am I destined to have a certain fate, or is life simply what you make of it? /
He looked at the blue haired girl beside him and squeezed her hand a little. / Regardless, I don't know what I'd do without you. /
"Does Subaru-kun have any names he likes?" Rem asked him, seemingly out of the blue.
"What do you mean?"
"You know... For the baby." The question took Subaru off guard.
To Subaru, the baby still didn't feel real - it would be another six months before it was actually born. Yet, the question made that reality feel a little bit closer.
"Mmmm" Subaru pondered the question momentarily. "Well, I'm named after the stars, so maybe I would name my kid after a star aswell."
"Named after the stars?" Rem didn't get what he meant.
"Where I'm from every star has a name... Or, at least, all the bright ones do." He explained. "Sailors would use the stars to navigate the vast oceans of the world, so many of the useful ones had a name."
Rem nodded
/ There are no oceans on this continent, no sailors either. Maybe that's why they don't name their stars. / Subaru said to himself.
"If it's a girl..." Rem's blue eyes stared into own. He could sense her anticipation. "I might want to call her Stella."
"Stella..." Rem repeated the name to herself.
"Yeah. It means 'star'. That, and it's a delicious beer." He said, the last part of of that sentence was in a joking tone.
"Mmmm Rem likes it." Rem tilted her head down and patted her stomach. She could start to feel something, a small bump in her usually slender body. "Stella."
Subaru blushed a little bit. / I can't believe I'm going to be a father. God, how did a guy like me land a girl like her? /
"Rem really wants to tell the others. She can't wait to see Emilia-sama's reaction." Rem had a huge smile.
"Yeah. Emilia's too cute, you already know her reaction is going to be hilarious. Ram on the other hand..." Subaru faked a shudder.
"Sister will be happy, Rem thinks." Rem said to him. She moved her hand around in Subaru's, gently interlocking her own fingers into the boy's.
"Yeah. For you. It's hard to imagine she'll be too pleased with me though." Rem chuckled at that.
The village came into view in front of them, and they went to the hunting station. It was still open, even this late, as villagers would go hunt under the cover of darkness. The hunting station would have camping equipment and rations.
They got the stuff and Subaru carried two disassembled tents while Rem carried the food.
"Subaru, Rem doesn't want you to die again. Rem realizes she can't protect you anymore, but please..." Her voice trailed off a bit. "Maybe going after Roswaal isn't the best idea."
The mear mention of Roswaal had made Subaru tense up a little.
"How am I meant to do that? As long as that clown lives we are in danger." Subaru didn't turn to face her as he said that.
"Besides, he's go it coming." He muttered spitefully under his breath.
Gravel crunched under his feet as he began walking again. He didn't turn to see the expression Rem was making, but he knew she was sad.
Rem wasn't about to give up though. She knew that going after Roswaal would be too dangerous.
"And what about Miss Crusch. How are you gonna deal with her?" Rem said. "Or Emilia, or my sister. Do you think they'll be pleased with your plan?"
"It doesn't matter." Subaru said coldly.
"What?" Rem was offput by the change in his demeanour.
"Their feelings don't matter. None of that matters!" Subaru yelled. "You understand? I know perfectly well that Ram and Emilia will hate me. I know that Crusch and the nobles will be mad. I just want to make sure that you're safe! That we're safe!" Subaru wiped the sleeve of his kimono against his face, but Rem couldn't see the expression he was making. "And if I have to play the villain to get that outcome, then I will. Gladly."
"And this isn't about revenge, Subaru-kun?" Rem questioned him knowingly. She knew Subaru had a bit of a temper, and was prone to acting cruelly against those he made his enemies.
"Of course it's about revenge too." Subaru said quietly. He could deny it, but what was the point? Rem would know when he was lying.
"You can't expect me to 'forgive and forget' what I saw." Subaru said weakly. "What happened happened. I'm not going to let him get away with that."
Subaru looked back at Rem, who had unreadable expression on her face. She was conflicted. She always wanted to support Subaru, and be there for him. At the same time, she recognized that the path he was on now would only lead him into darkness. She felt guilty that Subaru would burn his relationships with Emilia and Ram for her sake. It was something she had never asked him to do, and yet, something she couldn't stop him from doing if he committed himself to it.
"Rem... Do you know what the sanctuary is?" Subaru's question came out of nowhere.
"Rem might know... Why do you ask?" Rem already knew the answer.
"The clown is there." Subaru's words didn't suprise Rem.
"Mmmmm." Rem pondered the question. Maybe there was something she could do after all. "Rem will tell you, but on one condition."
"What's that?"
"Rem wants you to help Crusch. Rem wants to speak with Roswaal too. Rem thinks everything will be best if we can reach a peaceful resolution." This was her gambit. It was the only leverage Rem had to stop Subaru from giving in to his vendetta. "Rem will take you to the sanctuary, but you have to promise to try and work things out."
Subaru continued to walk slowly towards the mansion, considering Rem's words carefully. After some time, he gave his response. "Okay, Fine. I promise to try and talk with Roswaal if we find him."
Rem gave a slight smile at that response.
"However, if that doesn't work out... If Roswaal can't be reasoned with... Then we'll be doing things my way. Alright?"
Rem shook her head in the affirmative. This was the best she could hope for in any case. "Rem agrees, although she hopes it doesn't come to that."
The mansion was now coming back into view, and he could see a small campfire in the garden, where the others were hanging out.
"We're back. And look what we brought!" Subaru put on a fake cheeriness. "Tents! And food!"
There were happy faces in the garden. Dinner had finally arrived.
* Scene Break *
It was the next morning.
Almost 11:00 now, they had been in the carriage for nearly three hours.
Subaru sat with Crusch and Halibel in the carriage. Rem was at the helm, guiding the ground dragon towards the sanctuary. There was a tense silence between them. None of them knew what exactly they were getting themselves into.
Subaru stared at the mysterious, green-haired woman across from him. / God, she's so calm... I thought nobles would be those cliche spoiled brats, but she's not like that at all. / Subaru thought her self-assured and dignified demeanor fit her status as a royal. In any case, she was very different from Emilia, who was more plucky and naive.
Subaru had managed to appease Crusch. He had given her his word that she would speak with Roswaal before Subaru dealt with him.
Subaru looked at Halibel, who was also sat very still. / Good. If Halibel isn't worried about all this, then that's probably a good sign. / The beastman was softly puffing his pipe, staring into the void.
"The sanctuary isn't too far now." Rem voice made it through the flaps of the carriage. "Another 10 or 15 minutes."
Subaru nodded his head to himself. / Alright... this is it. /
The mental image of Roswaal, with bloody hands and blood-red eyes sprung suddenly into his mind. He felt a slight pain in his stomach. It was a phantom pain of when Capella had stabbed him, and violated him with that black poison.
Subaru felt his hands starting to tremble a little. He grit his teeth and clenched his fists shut, feeling the wetness in his sweaty palms.
/ Jesus, how am I scared right now? This guy kills Rem, and I'm not even man enough to be angry? I'm like a little boy, just cowering in fear. / Subaru felt a pang of self hatred, a disgust towards his own cowardice and inadequecy.
The clomping of the ground dragon reverberated through the space. It seemingly grew louder, and Subaru felt the rhythm of the stomping get faster and faster.
He remembered Frederica in the library. She had been died alone, after being tortured by Capella. It wasn't like Subaru had known her a long time, but he still felt a surge of anger and sadness. / She didn't deserve that... Nobody deserves that. /
Suddenly, Subaru felt a bit light-headed.
"Huh?" He grumbled out. His vision had gone a bit fuzzy, and everything was spinning.
"Su...san...?" He could faintly hear Halibel's voice, but a ringing sound seemed to drown it out.
"..."
Subaru fell unconscious.
Or rather, his consciousness was pulled out of him, and brought to a new place.
Subaru was still awake, but his surroundings were different. Similar to Return by Death, Subaru had been in one place one moment, and now he had been sent to a new place, without any lag or delay.
"Where am I?" Subaru breathed out. Despite everything that had happened Subaru felt very calm.
His surroundings were completely foreign to him. The sky was a pale shade of blue, and he was surrounded on all sides by grassy hills. There was no wind here, everything was unnaturally still, as if frozen in place.
A lone silhouette pertruded from the uniform landscape. A woman, sat down by a table. Subaru walked towards her.
The woman had long white hair, and a stunningly beautiful face. Her unnatural prettyness reminded Subaru of Zerestia the wind spirit.
He got to the table, and the woman spoke:
"Envy, Sloth, Lust." The woman said, seemingly to herself. "You've been busy, haven't you, sage candidate?"
"Who are you?"
The question brought a smile to the woman's face, as she sipped from the teacup in her right hand.
"My name is Echidna. Although you may know me as the Witch of Greed."
"The Witch of Greed? Like the Witch of Envy?" Subaru stared at her pensively.
The woman simply nodded.
"Why am I here?" Subaru asked her. "What is this place?"
"Why don't you have a seat. Have some tea as well, I'll explain everything to you." The witch motioned for him to sit down.
Subaru sat down, and took a sip of the tea. It didn't taste very good. It was like warm, slightly salty water. He gulped down the sip bitterly, and put the teacup down.
"Gross... This tea is nasty!" He commented.
"Hehe. It's not exactly a tea... It's more of a personal brew of mine, shall we say." The witch seemed amused. "It should help to settle those authorities in you."
"Authorities?" Subaru asked.
"Yes... The spirits of Betelgeuse and Capella." she responded.
"Huh? Those guys have their spirits inside me? Are they gonna possess me or something?" Subaru looked a bit panicked.
"No no. You don't need to worry about that. The authorities are yours alone to wield now."
The cryptic answer left Subaru confused. However, he realized he wasn't in any danger, so he relaxed.
"I'll ask again... Where am I?"
"This is the castle of dreams. A reality of my making, where the souls of the witches reside." Echidna explained to him. "Echidna the Witch of Greed, Daphne the Witch of Lust, Typhon of Pride, Minerva of Wrath, Sekhmet of Sloth, Carmilla of Lust, and Satella the Witch of Envy."
Subaru just stared blankly at her. "And why am I here."
"It seems you were summoned. The barrier of the sanctuary can bring those of interest to me. It is probably due to you being a sage candidate."
"You're using to many words I don't know." Subaru was a little exasperated. He was getting more questions than answers.
"A sage candidate is one who has passed some requirement for being a sage." Echidna gave him a look as she said that.
"You certainly remind me of him. Although I hope you don't follow in that sage's footsteps." She muttered under her breath.
"I don't know what you mean by that, but honestly, I'm not too interested..." Subaru said. "I just remembered that I'm on an important mission. I need to get back to the others." He stood up.
"Ehhhh!" Echidna looked horrified at him saying that. "Don't you wanna stay here a little longer? I get awful lonely by myself."
"Whoa. you almost make that sound like an indecent proposition... I'm sorry but I got a girlfriend." Subaru chuckled at Echidna's flustered look.
"EHH!? But I'm the Witch of Greed!" Echidna shifted around in her seat. "Endless knowledge can be yours. You can ask me anything!"
"Sorry, not interested." Echidna gave him a desperate look. "Maybe after I've dealt with Roswaal."
The name 'Roswaal' seem to completely change Echidna's expression. "Roswaal?" She questioned.
"Yeah. That guy's a real pain in the ass." Subaru said.
"Hehehe... He certainly is the stubborn type." Echidna cooed.
A black portal opened up behind Subaru.
"You're free to leave if you like then." Echidna pointed at the portal, which seemed like a galaxy-speckled tear in the fabric of space-time.
Subaru gulped. / I have to go through that crazy-lookin thing? /
"You seem to have given up rather easily. Why let me go now?" Subaru asked her as he began approaching the portal.
"Don't worry." Echidna smirked. "If it's Roswaal, then I'm sure we'll meet again."
Subaru didn't know what she meant by that, but it gave him a bad feeling. He was right in front of the portal now.
"And by the way. The name is Subaru, Natsuki Subaru." He smiled at the witch. "Don't you forget it!"
He stepped into the portal and disapperead, travelling back to reality.
"Ohh Rest assurred. I will not forget you, Natsuki Subaru."
* Scene break *
Subaru woke up. He was back in the carriage.
"Ahh good. You're awake. You had us worried there for a minute Su-san." Halibel was kneeling above his body.
"Hal... Ughh" Subaru covered his eyes to block out the searing daylight. "I'm back."
"Strange cravings and sudden fainting, maybe your the one who's pregnant Su-san!" Halibel joked.
Subaru chuckled a little bit.
"Pregnant?" A voice piped up.
/ Crap I forgot Crusch was here... / Subaru thought to himself. / Oh well, she probably doesn't care anyway. /
"Yeah." Subaru found that this might be a good opportunity to gloat a little bit. It was an urge he had been suppressing since he had gotten back to the mansion.
Subaru sat up and turned to Crusch. "My beautiful, perfect, and oh so sweet Rem is pregnant with my child." He said gleefully, hamming it up a little bit. "See for yourself. She is literally glowing." Subaru held an outstrectched arm to the front of the carriage, where Rem was steering.
Crusch walked up behind Rem.
Without even saying anything, she wrapped her arms around the maid, placing her hands on Rem's stomach.
"Ackkk-!" Rem yipped out. "What are you doing, Miss Crusch!"
"Ohhh. Subaru said you were pregnant, so I..." Crusch looked a bit embarrassed.
"So you..." Rem had a questioning face. "Took the liberty of feeling me up? Rem didn't know that the noble houses acted so lecherously."
"Feeling you up!" Crusch was beat red. "Not at all! I shall not let such an accusation stand!"
Rem looked unimpressed.
"I was simply... I wanted to know... Does it kick!" Crusch managed to sputter out.
"Huh?" Rem didn't have a response.
"Do you feel the baby kick. All the women I know talk about how the babies are always kicking!" Crusch exclaimed. She had big, puppy-dog eyes.
Rem smiled. "No. It's still an early stage, so no kicking yet." Rem said. "Although Rem is sure the kicking will start soon. Any child of Subaru-kun and Rem is bound to be feisty after all."
"Ah! I didn't know that... I thought they were kicking constantly." Crusch, who seemed awfully composed, had finally let the mask slip a little.
"Are you curious about the baby, Miss Karsten?" Rem said.
Crusch meekly nodded 'yes'.
"Then you can ask Rem about it. You know, if you want..." Rem said.
Crusch had big smile on her face, and proceeded to ask Rem many questions. Some of which were quite personal, to which Rem would respond with some variation of:
"I don't wanna talk about it." or "You're as bad as Emilia." or "Stop being such a little perv!"
As the women conversated, they soon came to the main village of the sanctuary.
The first thing they noticed was the smell. The smell of burning wafted through the air.
The village came into view, but it wasn't the sleepy, small town Rem had remembered.
No. It was a hollow, burnt-out shell of its former self.
"What could have done this?" Rem said, as she looked at the houses.
Many of the houses were destroyed. Some were burnt down, while others had seemingly been destroyed by some large object. The impact of which had blown them down like a house of cards.
There were still a few people in town though, seemingly busy with some reconstruction. The group got out of the carriage.
"What happened?" Rem asked one of them.
The person Rem had asked was a beast-woman, with a crinkled face, and matted brown hair. "It was Garfiel, the tiger. He lost control." She said.
"Garfiel... No way." The name had some meaning to Rem.
"Do you know who that is Rem?" Subaru asked her.
"Mmmm" Rem shook her head affirmitavely. "He's a boy who lives here but... This doesn't seem like him. Garfiel is a sweet boy."
"He was a sweet boy. But not anymore." The woman responded. "He's lost himself. He won't come out of his beast form. Even as we speak, he is rampaging through the forests of the sanctuary."
"Rem can't believe it. Garfiel... Did this?" She looked out at her surroundings.
"Yes. Thankfully he attacked when many of us were working. There were no deaths." The woman said. "However, as you can see, he left our homes in quite a state."
Rem pondered the revelation.
"I have another question for you ma'am... Have you seen margrave Mathers?" Subaru asked her.
The woman seemed to freeze up. "Why do you want to know?" She whispered to them.
"We need to find him. To speak to him." Subaru responded to her.
"Well, I don't know where he is." The woman responded. "In any case, I better be leaving now." The woman left quickly, reluctant to involve herself with dangerous outsiders.
"Let's look for him then." Subaru stated to the group.
They went back to the carriage and headed off into the forest.
The forest of the sanctuary was dark. The thick treeline blocked out all light, and the imagination produced beasts around every corner.
They rode in the darkness for 20 minutes, simply wandering around.
"So who's Garfiel?" Subaru asked Rem as they travelled.
"He's just a kid. A good kid too." Rem said. "He's been playing hero here for too long."
"Playing hero?" Subaru asked her.
"Garfiel is the self-proclaimed 'Champion of the Sanctuary'." Rem made air-quotes. "He's strong, I'll grant him that, but his chuuni delusions are too much. Aye." Rem rubbed her forehead with her hand. The thought of Garfiel's behaviour gave her a migraine.
"Sounds like an interesting fella. Although wrecking the town is too much." Subaru responded.
A tall shadow suddenly loomed over the carriage, and the group got out to see a large temple. It seemed ancient. It was carved out of granite, with vegetation bursting out of each crack in the building.
Subaru, Rem and the others went up to the building. Subaru stretched out a hand, and leaned on the building.
"What do you think?" Subaru turned to Halibel and Rem. "4 bedroom, 3 bathroom, with a historic build and surrounded by scenic beauty."
Rem and Halibel laughed. It was like a spark of Banan resurged in that joke.
"Do you know what it is?" Subaru looked to the others. He himself was clueless.
"No idea... But it's probably old." Halibel said as he gazed up at the building, his neck craned back.
"A real Sherlock." Rem and Halibel didn't understand his retort.
"Let's check it out." Despite everything that had happened, Subaru felt his mood imporve. A twinge of excitement ran through his heart. / Exploring an ancient temple, tracking down a killer clown, and helping a noble princess! I guess I am in an isekai! / He even started smiling a bit.
They entered the building, and ventured into the dark hall of the structure. The entrance loomed like a giant, shadowy mouth, ready to swallow them whole.
Crusch produced a small mana crystal from her satchel. It lit up, revealing their surroundings as they wandered the hall.
After some exploration, they came upon a large room. In the center of the room, there was a large, blue crystal. There was a pink-haired girl encased inside the crystal. The blue light of the crystal lit up the whole room.
No sooner then they came onto the structure, Halibel suddenly spoke up.
"We need to get out. Now." Halibel said seriously.
There were no portests as Crusch, Rem and Subaru jogged towards the exit with Halibel.
"What's wrong Halibel-san?" Rem asked as they ran.
"Something is coming. Something big enough to take down this building." Helibel responded. "I can hear it."
/ He can hear it? Maybe he has the hearing of a wolf too. / Rem thought to herself.
Daylight could be seen at the end of the tunnel, and loud stomping made the ground start to shake.
"What the hell?" Subaru ran faster.
They exited the building, and in the distance Subaru could see a large tiger-beast, rampaging through the forest.
"Garfiel..." Rem breathed out beside him.
"That's Garfiel? I thought you said he's a boy!" Subaru said loudly.
The noise seemed to alert Garfiel to their position, and the tiger let out a massive roar. It began to run in their direction, obliterating the trees in his path.
"He is a boy! He's a beastman!" Rem informed them.
"Beastman?" Subaru said to himself. / I didn't know they could do that! Wait, Halibel is also a beastman right... /
"Halibel, could you go beast mode and fight him off?" Subaru asked the wolf.
Halibel cracked a smirk at the comment. "For everybodies sake, I think it's better if I don't do that."
"Alright well, do you think you could take him on normally then?" Subaru and the others had begun running away from the approaching creature.
"I'm sure I could kill him but..." Halibel looked at Rem.
"You can't kill him." Rem stated. "Can you not just hold him back?"
"Unfortunately, I use curses. Curses aren't good for much other than killing." Halibel said matter-of-factly.
"Darn it." Subaru bit his lip. "Rem couldn't you like... Snap him out of it. Like, if he saw you, he might come to his senses." / That's a thing right? Or is that just a movie trope? /
"Don't bother." Halibel cut off that line of thought. "I can see he's too far gone. For him to calm down, he'd need to be overcome."
"Fear not!" Crusch suddenly spoke up. She unsheethed her sword. "A mindless mutt stands no chance against the techniques of the Karsten household." She held her sword up towards garfiel.
As the giant tiger lunged towards them, Crusch swung her sword in the air in front of her. A large, luminous wind blade shot out from the sword, and struck Garfiel.
The impact left a deep cut horizontally along the whole of Garfiel's chest. For a moment, the beast seemed vanquished.
But it was only a moment, as hot steam started to seep out of the injury. Subaru watched in horror as the wound began to heal itself. It turned from an open wound into a scar almost instantaneously.
"No way, another healer?" Subaru couldn't believe it.
"Not quite. Look closely Subaru-kun." Rem pointed at the scar that had formed. "It's not like Capella. Garfiel still takes damage, he's just more durable."
"You sure seem to know a lot about him, Rem." Subaru remarked a he started running again. The beast was in hot pursuit of them now.
Crusch held her ground though. She wouldn't be chased off by some beast. Not again. / I'll do now what I should have done last time! /
She let off another wind blade. The tiger, with no sense of tactics or strategy, didn't predict a repeat attack. The blade hit true again, leaving Garfiel battered.
Crusch felt that one too though. One swing was easy. Two was doable. Three would be her maximum.
She looked on, praying that the beast would stay down, but a familiar steam one again burst out of the beast's wounds.
She was horrified as it stood back up. It prepared itself to charge at them once again. Crusch turned around and ran to join the others.
She could feel the tiger closing in on her. There was not much distance between them anymore.
Just as she felt the wind from the tiger swinging it's gaint paw, Crusch was shoved out of the way by a Halibel.
Crusch watched in horror as Halibel was torn apart by the massive claws of the beast.
"AHHHH!" She let out a piercing scream.
"Karsten! Get back up." A voice told her.
Crusch turned around.
"It can't be."
Behind her was Halibel. "What?"
"That's just a clone. Come on, you need to get up." Halibel told her.
"A clone..." Crusch looked at the corpse in front of her. It sure was a convincing clone... The fleshy innards that were torn apart would fool anybody.
Halibel shook her hand and forced her up. They started running again towards Rem and Subaru, who had stopped to let them catch up.
"I will not..." Crusch was muttering something as she panted. "Be bested by an ungracious beast again!"
"Crusch don't!" Halibel could tell Crusch was nearing her limit.
Crusch stopped running, and for the final time, turned to face the oncoming danger. She whipped out her sword, and held it confidently in front of her. She may have lost against the whale, but Crusch still had her pride as a warrior. / I will not let you, you foul animal! /
"AL FULA!" Crusch exclaimed. All of Crusch's frustrations were channeled into this attack.
A massive wind blade rushed out from her at unfathomable speed, connecting with Garfiel and sending him flying. He crashed into the trunks behind him, as Crusch fell to the floor.
Her mana had reached its limit, and now Crusch completely exhausted, she couldn't even walk.
"Did that... get him?" Crusch spat out.
"Yeah that seems to have done the trick." Halibel, who had been standing beside Crusch, saw the the giant tiger body shrink down into the form of a young man with blonde hair.
/ A half-breed. / Halibel thought to himself. He had met a few of them before.
Subaru and Rem ran to Crusch and Halibel.
"Crusch that was insane! I didn't know you could fight like that!" Subaru exclaimed, a bit awed.
Crusch just smirked a little, too tired to speak.
They quickly loaded the paralyzed Crusch onto the carriage.
"What do we do about him?" Subaru asked Rem as they stared at the unconscious Garfiel.
"Let's load him on too... Rem will speak with him when he wakes up." Rem said.
Without too much protest, they loaded him on too.
Halibel, Subaru and Rem went back inside the decrepid temple.
They borrowed Crusch's light to illuminate the path before them. They again came upon the large crystal with the girl inside. A faint blue glow from the crystal basked the entire room in a cold light.
They went past the crystal, and went down another hall. As they went further and further into the massive building, their surroundings became cooler. The humid heat of the sanctuary was all gone, and Subaru was a little cold.
Soon, they came upon another room. As they approached it, they could hear chanting coming from it. They entered.
There was Roswaal. He seemed to have him eyes tightly shut, as he chanted some magic spell.
"...Umba Daka. Umba Umba..." He bellowed.
The floor around him had a massive seal painted onto it, with Roswaal staning at the center of the strange markings. As Roswaal chanted, the ink of the seal faintly glowed white.
Subaru noticed something else too.
At the back of the stone room, Beatrice was sitting on a stool. A channel of glowing mana seemed to be going from her to Roswaal.
In front of Roswaal there was a glass box. It seemed to have something inside of it.
"Roswaal-sama." Rem's words made Roswaal's eyes snap open, breaking him out of his concentration. "What are you doing?"
"Ahhhhh. It seems you made it hereeeee after all." Roswaal seemed a little amused by their presence.
Roswaal couldn't see Halibel, who was hiding inside of Rem's shadow. As Rem and Roswaal spoke, Subaru ran to Beatrice.
"Master. Rem must speak with you..." Rem started. "Why have you done those things to my sister and Emilia, and is it true that you gave Capella the order to attack us?"
"Youuu know I always liked you Rem..." Roswaal said, ignoring Rem's questioning. "I thought it would be fine to save you, even if you weren't written in. A competent maid, a hard-working employeeeeee, and yet..." Roswaal looked at her with disgust. "That was greedy of me. I see now that keeping you around was my biggest mistake."
"I don't understand! Are you saying you did all this because of Rem? Why!?" Rem just wanted answers.
"Pschh. You don't understand how important Subaru is." Roswaal glared at her. "Your screwing the help has made this entire world veer off course."
"What are you talking about?" Rem asked him. / Please, just go back to normal. If you can't be reasoned with... 'I'll kill him'. / Subaru's words rang in her head.
"I'm talking about his purpose! His purpose isn't youuuuuu, you self-centered child!" Roswaal yelled. "To make Emilia ruler. That is Subaruuuu's sole reason for being."
"How can you say that as if you know anything! One's purpose isn't an unchangeable fate, your future is what you make of it with you own two hands!"
"The pride. The greed. The sheer arrogance." Roswaal spat out. "Your self-importance is enough to bring Lugunica to ruin." Those words didn't make sense to Rem.
"I don't understand... Why are you doing all this?" Rem's master had always been eccentric, but this was another level.
"The Tome of Wisdom is worthless now, I'll never find that dragon. That's whyyyy, even if this spell is only an impure resurrection, it's the best I can do."
"An impure resurrection?" Rem questioned him. Rem got out her flail, and readied herself. Roswaal's aura was becoming more intimidating. "And who exactly are you bringing back?"
"Echidna." Roswaal pointed to the box in front of him. "Or as you may know her, the Witch of Greed."
Getting a better look, Rem could see a white-haired woman sprawled inside it.
"You're crazy." Rem concluded. / I'm sorry sister... But my hands are tied. /
"Stop this now, return to the mansion and-"
"Things will never go back to how they were." Roswaal stated. "You shouuuuuld've stayed away. I would've let you live."
Glowing orbs of yellow and red formed above Roswaal's hands as he prepared for combat.
"It's over." A yellow beam shot out towards Rem.
"Halibel-san!" Rem screamed.
Halibel jumped out of Rem's shadow. He threw a knife so fast that it intercepted the beam and destroyed it.
"Roswaal L. Mathers." Halibel grinned. "Court Magician of the Kingdom of Lugunica, and holder of the title Red, Yellow, and Green." Halibel ran a sharp, black claw against another kunai he was holding. "This should be good."
"Infuriating." Roswaal said simply.