Hooray, I'm not dead!
Thanks to anyone who stuck around after… oh, god, over a year? Ouch. It'll probably be a while before I post the next one, though it'll come eventually.
Shoutout to ImThePerson for beta reading this chapter and for dealing with my terrible 2 A.M. ideas.
As always, this story is dedicated to my wife and daughter.
Kindness
"I love you"
It didn't matter how much they fought. It didn't matter how strong the other Witches were. The Witch of Envy would always stand back up and proclaim her love to the one who would never return it.
Subaru ran in a zig-zag motion, weaving between shadow hands and bursts of energy alike. Were it a one-on-one fight, he would have long since fallen into her clutches.
But he wasn't alone.
He may have his own Hands to fight with, but they weren't a thousandth of Sekhmet's. Even they were not enough to hold Envy down, especially when her goal was so close to being realized.
"I love you"
"Really?! I couldn't tell!"
He batted away one of her shadow hands, but another snuck past his meager defenses. His skin wasn't punctured, but the force of it knocked the wind out of him and sent him flying back. Before he could hit the ground, Minerva dashed towards him, caught him, slapped him across the face to get rid of the soreness in his chest, glared at him, set him down on his feet, and then immediately ran back into the fray.
On any other day, he'd half-joke about how emasculating that was, but today wasn't exactly a normal day.
As a world-ending Calamity locked eyes with him and whispered her love, he realized that this was actually a pretty regular occurrence for him. That didn't mean he had to like it, though.
He almost turned and ran again, but it would be pointless. Envy would catch up.
They were at a stalemate. Subaru needed to find an alternative solution.
His mind whirled as he pieced together what was going on here. Envy's presence wasn't a mystery; she'd tried to end the world itself to remove any potential emotional attachments. Now, he was surrounded by people who were integral to his identity.
The real question was why Envy was here.
Last time, Satella herself had come, not Envy. She had saved him from himself and had given him the courage to succeed. She had resisted Envy's influence and had appeared on her own volition.
What was different this time? Had… Had something happened to Satella?
He shook his head. That wasn't it. If something had happened to Satella, then Envy wouldn't be in the Castle of Dreams. The entire world would have been destroyed. All other souls would have been annihilated.
That meant that Satella was still in there, but she couldn't fight Envy off. He needed to help her, but how?
Unbidden, his eyes wandered over to Daphne, but he looked away just as fast. Envy had clearly been here for a while, and she'd seen Daphne, yet nothing had happened. What worked in the past would not work again.
Once again, the Witches gained the upper hand against Envy. Carmilla distracted her with an illusion, Typhon tore off her limbs, Echidna bombarded her with spells, Daphne stamped out stray shadow hands using her Centipede Coffin, and Sekhmet held her to the ground. Minerva used the brief reprieve to heal everyone, bringing them back to full strength.
Envy's slate-like eyes stared directly at Subaru, making him shiver. He remembered how she had clutched him in that frigid wasteland, trying to hold him until he was nothing more than a skeleton. He looked for some hint that Satella was in there, but there was no gleam, no spark of life. All that existed in them was his own, somber visage.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his diaphragm. He imagined the air passing through his body like a current, going down his arms and tracing each finger. Wherever that current touched, his body relaxed. The tension left and, with it, his racing thoughts would slow. When he exhaled, it was like his stresses and worries were blown away into the wind.
Not for the first time, Subaru mentally thanked Beatrice for being a really good therapist.
When he opened his eyes, he was in the exact same place, but the air felt a little calmer, and the smoke didn't feel as suffocating. His mind was clear, even while traces of adrenaline kept him from standing completely still.
In the back of his mind, Subaru realized that the Witch Factors weren't holding him together anymore, yet he was okay. Not great, and maybe not even good, but… okay.
He was okay. He could do this.
He would get them out of this situation.
Once again, he looked at Envy and tried to understand why she was here. More specifically, why Satella wasn't here.
His last interaction with Satella — the real one — was before he had fought the White Whale and the Great Rabbit. Back then, Satella was doing well and Envy was completely contained.
She'd seemed almost… not happy, but there was a sense of hope that she hadn't possessed before. As such, nothing from that interaction could indicate the cause of the current situation.
What about the Trials? Any one of them could have brought Envy here. Actually, Subaru wouldn't be surprised if Envy had arrived not long after he entered the Witch's Tomb.
Satella was always watching over him, so she must have seen all of the horrors within the First Trial. That could have caused her to inadvertently retreat, letting Envy take over.
However, she would have also received validation, knowing that Subaru was still the man that she married and that he had turned away from his dark path at every opportunity. Knowing her, that would have given her hope, not despair. The Second Trial would have done the same; it certainly did for Subaru, even if it hurt to watch.
By all accounts, Envy shouldn't be here.
She writhed on the ashen ground, struggling to reach her beloved. Her limbs were slowly regrowing, but they were either torn off by Typhon or broken by Sekhmet. She didn't cry out nor wince, but Subaru did.
Her pain was his pain. He wanted nothing more than to ease her suffering.
The Witch of Envy didn't have a light. He couldn't use Cor Leonis.
If he waited much longer, she would break free. The cycle would repeat.
He grit his teeth and evaluated the First Trial again, trying to find something, anything that would allow Envy to overpower Satella for such a long period of time.
What else was there? Was it before he even arrived at the Sanctuary? Was it when —
His eyes widened. A ball of anxiety formed in the pit of his stomach.
Emilia and Satella had formed a contract when facing Sirius. He didn't know the exact words that were spoken. He didn't know all that it entailed. All he knew was that, when making the contract, the Witch of Envy had been in control.
What if that contract hadn't fully ended? What if a part of Satella was still with Emilia?
Suddenly, the pieces of the puzzle started coming together. There was the rate at which Emilia's memories had returned to her, for one, but there was also the way that she had said certain things. It was as if someone was guiding her.
"It's been rough, hasn't it?"
Those simple words, whispered so long ago by an angel that held him close, had been his salvation. The only people who knew about that were Subaru… and Satella.
He pushed down the whirlwind of conflicting emotions. There was a time and place for everything, and staring down the Witch of Envy while psychoanalyzing his fiancé wasn't the best idea.
But at least he knew why Satella wasn't able to hold Envy back.
Upon being sealed four hundred years ago, Satella had willingly placed part of her own soul within Subaru to watch over him while the rest of her held Envy back. Now that more of her consciousness was in Emilia, there simply wasn't enough of Satella left to fight Envy.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Echidna give a smug smile. "Well, well, well." She shook her head slowly, unable to hide her grin. "It seems that your… 'beloved' let the Witch of Envy free. She never was very bright."
Subaru began to shoot back a retort, but Daphne beat him to it.
"M— Tella-Tella didn't know!" she said with uncharacteristic vigor. "Tella-Tella was scared!"
Sekhmet rolled her eyes. "They're talking… haah… about Emilia… haah…"
Daphne frowned, but she didn't say anything else. With her blindfold on, Subaru couldn't tell if she was still upset or if she was confused. He would have to explain all of this to her later. It couldn't be any more confusing than their family tree, right?
He shook his head to clear his mind. "It's not her fault," he said, emphasizing every word. "She did what anyone would do in her situation."
"Why yes, because anyone would ask the Great Calamity to possess them," Echidna mocked. It grated on his nerves. "She is a foolish child with neither thought nor foresight."
"Damn it, now is not the time!" Minerva yelled with enough force to blow Echidna's hair back.
"She's right," Subaru agreed, if only because he knew that there was no convincing Echidna when it came to Emilia. "What matters now is getting out of this situation."
Echidna glanced at him before looking back at the struggling Envy. "Then I suppose it is time for you to make your choice."
"My… choice?"
Amidst the whirlwind of emotions and the subsequent fighting, Subaru had nearly forgotten about what Echidna had said.
"When you leave this place, you will face a difficult choice. Acting rashly will result in temporary satisfaction, but it will be followed by endless destruction."
He dreaded hearing his options, especially since he had a feeling as to why the choice was his and his alone.
She spoke slowly and methodically, like an experienced teacher. "You bear the Authority of Envy," she said, confirming his suspicions. "More than that, you are the Od Laguna's chosen. When it comes to matters of the soul, your decisions are absolute."
He closed his eyes. He knew it to be true, but still… That was a lot of power for someone like him — someone who, by his own admission, was not fit to decide who lives and who dies.
Yet, once again, Satella's fate was in his hands.
"I see two options," Echidna said, holding up her fingers. "Option One: Satella's soul is called back here. She regains control of her senses and goes back to her seal."
Subaru didn't like that option.
It was condemning Satella to more pain. It was ripping apart a contract that wasn't his. It was making a choice that didn't belong to him.
Emilia wasn't here, and Satella wasn't truly present. Taking an action like that without their consent could have drastic consequences. Even if they did consent to it, what would happen if he were the one to break it and not them? He didn't know.
"Option Two," Echidna said, making his heart plummet further. She paused, but whether it was to think through her words or merely for effect, he did not know. "Option Two… is to separate Satella from her Witch Factor."
Subaru nearly gasped. It took everything he had to not immediately jump on that option.
He could feel the Witch Factor of Envy inside of him, just begging to be let out — to finally be used.
He knew what the Authority of Envy was. He knew how it worked.
The Trials had given him a purpose: to learn about his Authorities and how to use them. That included the Authority of Envy.
It was taking a soul and healing it. Mending it. Understanding it. Cradling it in his arms and nursing it back to health.
It was the polar opposite of what the Witch of Envy stood for.
He could use it to save Satella.
It was the power that he had always wanted — had always needed. It was a power that, for so long, he was not responsible enough, not wise enough, and not good enough to wield.
Now, however, Subaru would not sit idly by while his loved ones withered away. But, he would not harm others to save them, either.
Never again would he take a life. Hand in hand with those he loved, he would create a world where no one would have to make that choice.
Because of that — because of who he was — Subaru finally had the ability to heal the soul.
Finally, Subaru could save Satella.
Then, Echidna spoke again.
"Of course," she said with a slight smirk, "Option Two will most certainly kill her."
Her callous words jolted Subaru out of his fantasy, forcing his attention back to the desolate landscape. He gave her an incredulous look. "How? Wouldn't doing that save her?!"
She shook her head, not bothering to hide her widening grin. "Tell me, Subaru Natsuki: what happened when you last tried to mend her soul?"
In an instant, all of Subaru's hopes and dreams were mercilessly crushed.
He remembered the moment her heart had stopped. He remembered taking the life of another and trying to force it onto her. What was most relevant, however, was the aftermath of his failure.
When he spoke, his voice was hoarse. "She had two weeks left to live."
"And how long did she have left when you forced the Witch Factor of Envy onto her?"
"… Fifteen minutes."
Echidna spread her arms out in a "well, there you have it" gesture.
Everything that he'd worked for, everything that he'd accomplished to save Satella… It was all crumbling before him.
"If you remove her Witch Factor," Echidna said, "her soul will decay, disintegrating like sand and disappearing into nothingness… just like she has always wanted."
The words hit him like a jab to the gut. Option Two was unacceptable, plain and simple.
"I'm picking Option One," he said quickly.
"Oh? How interesting. I thought that after everything you have been through, you would not be so reckless."
His pulse jumped. Why was Echidna acting like that was even worse?
"We both know that Satella is the exception to many rules," Echidna stated. "However, she still cannot break a contract without consequences, even if you were the one forcing her to break it."
Subaru nodded slowly. He really, really didn't want to hear any more, but he forced himself to listen.
Echidna gazed off into the distance, her smug smile replaced with a small frown. Her voice was uncharacteristically soft and contemplative. "I was the Witch of Wisdom," she said. The non-sequitur threw him off. "Princes and paupers alike bowed before me, seeking answers to life's many questions. I was never wrong."
Subaru scoffed. "Is now really the time for you to stroke your own ego?"
She ignored him. "A man knelt before me. He was in a contract. He wanted to break it without consequence. I do not know the details." She paused. Her next words seemed to physically pain her. "Apparently, I told him that the consequences for breaking a contract were nothing more than an urban legend. There were no records showing what would happen."
Subaru frowned. Come to think of it, he didn't know of anyone who had broken a contract, either.
"What happened?" he asked.
Echidna held out her arms. A thick, black tone materialized: the Book of Wisdom. She didn't open it.
"When he broke the contract," she began, sounding like she was reciting a passage from memory, "he experienced an agony unlike any other as if his very soul was on fire. His skin peeled off, and his bones disintegrated. His blood turned to oil, which was lit aflame. The entire time, he maintained awareness."
The Book of Wisdom disappeared. Her arms slowly fell to her sides. "I do not remember this man," she said evenly, "nor do I recall ever giving that advice. His name evaporated alongside his body. His consciousness was cursed to wander the mortal plane in perpetual agony. Slowly but surely, his soul dwindled like a candle's dying flame, pathetically flickering until it was cruelly extinguished. The only memory of his existence lies within the Book of Wisdom… and, as a result, me."
She turned to look at Subaru, piercing him with her dark eyes. "Now that you know this… what do you think will happen if you break Satella's contract?"
At that moment, Subaru realized what his options truly were.
It was not breaking her contract versus removing her Witch Factor. No, it was something much worse.
It was either cursing her with a slow, agonizing death… or mercifully ending her life now.
"Make your choice, Subaru Natsuki."
His heart didn't pound anymore. He wasn't even sure if it was beating. He just felt numb. Cold. Cut off from his surroundings.
He met Envy's gaze, which was as dead and empty as his own. He thought of those terrible days when her fleeting moments of lucidity were spent begging him to kill her. Were it four hundred years ago, he knew that she would have jumped on the opportunity to be granted a merciful death.
… That was no longer true.
"You've convinced me that there's hope for a happy ending."
He remembered her sweet smile as she told him that. He'd been so proud of her new, positive outlook.
Now, he was being told to take that away.
It felt terrible. It was hard to breathe. He hated that these were his only two choices.
Then again… this wasn't the first time where he thought that he had only had two choices.
He had convinced himself that he could save either Satella or Emilia, not both. It had torn him up inside. Then, he'd said, "Screw that," and vowed to save both. He hadn't looked back.
Four hundred years ago, two options had been presented to him: either kill Witches or let Satella die, both of which would inevitably result in his suicide. He'd never entertained the option of moving on — of letting her pass on peacefully and living for her memory — until the very end when he had held Daphne in his arms and promised her that it would be okay.
Back then, that choice had been ripped away from him, making him think that the only possible paths were filled with bloodshed. Was that what was happening here, too? Was the choice being taken away from him? Was he being manipulated by a Witch?
Echidna looked at him with thinly veiled eagerness — a look that was not out of place on her.
She'd given him that very same look before offering to form a contract with him, once upon a time.
"Make your choice, Subaru Natsuki."
Subaru shook his head slowly. He closed his fist and looked at it, idly noticing how it wasn't trembling.
"… I refuse."
Echidna narrowed her eyes at him, not surprised but not pleased, either.
"I made her a promise," he said firmly. "I promised to save her, and Natsukis aren't promise-breakers. I will never, evergive up on her. That's just who I am."
"How touching," Echidna said evenly. "However, I do not recall that being one of the options."
"I'm making it one. Go fuck yourself, Echidna."
"Such a cruel comment to a fair maiden like myself."
In spite of his words, she didn't seem bothered by his blatant disrespect. Subaru knew her well enough to know that she was only ever frazzled by intellectual matters, not brutish insults. She simply didn't care enough.
What she did care about, however, were his next words.
"Satella's here, but she's not just here," he said, his voice much softer. "And I don't mean in her shrine or with Emilia, either. There's another soul fragment that you haven't accounted for."
Echidna inclined her head, choosing not to respond to his statement.
"She's been watching over me, just like she promised." He smiled and put his hand over his heart. "This entire time… she's been right here."
He could have sworn that he heard a quiet "aww" from Carmilla.
He looked at Envy, but he didn't speak to her. He'd have plenty to say to Satella soon enough.
With that, he looked deep inside of himself, into his very soul.
As expected, he could not reach the exact place he wanted to. Hiding in the depths, right outside of the very core of his being, was the Shadow Garden. It was where all of his Witch Factors resided.
He had thought that this was simply how they manifested in people. He had thought that this was normal, or at least as normal as having a Witch Factor could be.
But, it wasn't. It was simply a visual representation of his attempt to fathom the unfathomable, to perceive what he was not meant to perceive.
He smiled at each of them in turn.
"You've been in here for so long," he said quietly. "I'm sorry for pushing you away. Will you come with me?"
None of them said anything. They didn't need to. Their will was his own.
In this place, he didn't have eyes or hands or even a body. He'd kept them at a distance, refusing to let them in. He'd viewed them as a substance of sorts. Something external. Witch Factors.
He'd never stopped to consider that, maybe, the reason why people kept saying that they belonged to him… was because they were actually a part of him.
One by one, they returned to him, granting him hands, a face, a heart, and more. They were the missing puzzle pieces that he didn't even realize were missing.
All that remained was for him to get a mouth so that he could say, "Thank you."
At long last, the Shadow Garden vanished.
The Witch Factors were gone. His Authorities remained, but it felt wrong to call them that. They were simply abilities that he was meant to have — abilities that belonged to him.
Now, he was finally looking upon the core of his soul. He had always thought that it would be dark, twisted, and ugly, but it was as bright as a cluster of stars.
Is this what people saw when they looked at him? A beacon of hope that brightened their lives?
Slowly orbiting around the glowing orb, diligently protecting it, was a small, jagged fragment of a once-perfect soul. He reached out and cradled it in his arms, smiling all the while. It was bittersweet, but he knew that it had to be done.
He opened his eyes.
The ashen, barren wasteland before him was a stark contrast to the bright sanctum of his soul, but he quickly adjusted. He was focused on one thing and one thing only: the soul fragment in his arms.
Slowly but surely, he walked towards Envy, not looking anywhere but at the real, tangible piece of Satella that he held. Even whilst fractured, she was beautiful and pure.
For a fleeting moment, the edges of his vision were a cacophony of color — an explosion of fractals and prisms that he could derive no meaning from — but when he looked, it was gone. There were only the Witches, anxiously watching his every move.
He turned back to Satella's soul fragment, pushing what had just happened out of his mind. Right then, only one thing mattered.
He sat on the ground in front of Envy with his legs crossed. But, now that he was here, he hesitated.
Was he really willing to give this up?
Satella had always been with him. From the very beginning, it was her love that had guided him. Every time that he had died, Satella had been there to hold him tight and give him the strength to succeed.
Now, he was relinquishing that to a monster.
'Close your eyes. Inhale, exhale. It will be okay. Remember what you're fighting for.'
He reached out… and used the Authority of Envy.
As gently as he could, he sewed the soul fragments back together. Stitch by stitch, seam by seam, he breathed new life into the angel before him.
He sat back and admired his handiwork. He had always taken pride in how the clothes and dolls that he had sewn had very tight seams, but this? It was as if those fragments of soul had never split.
After what felt like an eternity, his task was complete.
Not daring to look away, Subaru waved his hand in a dismissive motion, signaling for the Witches to stand down. Even Typhon, as eager as she was, quickly complied.
He gave her a worried look, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "Are you okay?"
She opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. Just how long had Envy been in control?
"I…"
"It's okay. Take your time." He smiled at her. "I missed you."
She was pleading for him to do something, but he couldn't figure out what. Was it to hold her? To save her? To free her?
He hoped more than anything else that it wasn't to kill her.
"P-Please…"
He tucked her hair behind her ear. He wished that he could give her the salvation that she had given him.
"... I'm sorry."
Her quiet, anguished plea barely reached his ears when she fell limp, barely conscious.
That tiny fragment of Satella's soul wasn't enough to fully overpower Envy. Satella was still too scattered, too broken.
Now, she was trapped in her own mind.
He wanted to scream, to cry out at the injustice of it all. He had finally unlocked the Authority of Envy, yet he couldn't ease any of her pain.
"Make your choice, Subaru Natsuki."
Echidna's voice made him bristle. "I told you, I'm not going to let her die. I'm going to save her."
"And your efforts to achieve that went splendidly," she said drily. "I don't suppose you have any more soul fragments lying around? Perhaps you could try again."
He wanted to argue, but he knew that it was pointless. A soul fragment wouldn't just appear out of thin air.
… But what if he could bring one here?
"Wh-What if," he began, feeling like he was bargaining, "what if we got Emilia here, and they both agreed to end the contract? Satella would gain control back from Envy without consequences!"
"That would work," Echidna acquiesced.
Subaru's heart filled with hope, but he squashed it down, knowing she was about to do that as soon as she spoke again.
He hated that he was right.
"That, however, is not an option," she said, giving him a look that he didn't like one bit.
It was a look that said, "I've been waiting for the perfect moment to say this."
"Even if I wanted to let that wretched creature in here," she continued, ignoring the various protests at her terminology, "I simply could not."
She fell silent, clearly waiting for Subaru to ask her to clarify. Her flair for dramatics annoyed him, but he gave in.
"Why can't you?" he asked, his voice hardly above a whisper.
"Because your precious wife created a barrier — one that I have been unable to break through."
That was crushing and disappointing, but it was the fact that Echidna still had that look that made his heart plummet.
"It is quite interesting," she said airily. "Yin is the magic of 'separation,' primarily of space, but Satella seems to have developed an aptitude for time dilation. A minute in here translates to… My, my, I cannot fathom how long it must have been out there. Days, months, years… even centuries."
Subaru couldn't breathe. He couldn't wrap his head around that.
The Trials were instantaneous. No matter how long he was trapped in here, only a few minutes would pass in the real world.
But now… Just how long had he been in here?
"Every second that you waste virtue signaling and showboating could be another year out there." She shook her head slowly, letting her voice warble. "Poor, poor Beatrice… She must be utterly miserable, waiting for you to come save her. Perhaps she is wondering if she chose the wrong person."
"Stop…"
But Echidna was relentless. "Fortunately, there is an easy solution to this problem. All you have to do… is make your choice."
"I said stop!"
Subaru yelled those words, unable to hold it in any longer. The sudden burst of adrenaline faded as quickly as it came, however, leaving him dizzy.
Echidna's smug look faded.
"I refuse," he said quietly, but the resolution was the same as before. "I will not let her die. Not when she wants to be saved."
"... Hmph."
Echidna's tone, combined with her annoyed expression and crossed arms, was uncannily similar to Beatrice.
"I believe that your homeland has a fitting saying for this situation," Echidna said. "What was it again? Ah, yes. 'The clock is ticking.'"
With that, she turned away, leaving Subaru to his thoughts.
He was now acutely aware of every second that passed. Every breath he took could be a lifetime. He didn't have a way out. There were no avenues that he could take to escape.
At least, not any that he would ever consider taking.
His only option… was Satella, herself.
If Satella were able to wrest control from Envy, she could dispel the barrier. He could get out of here and go directly to her shrine. He could finally bring her the peace that she deserved, but he couldn't do it on his own.
It seemed that in order to save her, she would first need to save him.
Once again, he kneeled before her, searching Envy's eyes for any hint of Satella. He couldn't find anything, but she wasn't thrashing around anymore. Now, she only gave him a blank look.
Satella wasn't in control, but she was still holding Envy back.
He gave her a sad smile. "I'm proud of you," he whispered, hoping that his encouragement would give her the strength to succeed.
His vision blurred. Slate-like eyes stared back at him. Her lips were pursed, not flat.
He kissed her forehead. "It's going to be okay," he quietly said, gently laying her head in his lap. "You can fight this, Ella."
From behind him, he heard a creaking, almost metallic sound. Without looking, he knew who had approached.
"Is that… Is she…"
Daphne's mixture of confusion and solemnity made her sound so lost.
Subaru hung his head. He couldn't bear to know what she was thinking. He was hardly able to handle his own questions.
Did Daphne still think of Satella as her mom? Did she think of Subaru as her dad?
This was the first time that the three of them had been together in four hundred years. But it wasn't truly them. Satella was corrupted, Subaru had been reincarnated, and Daphne…
"Why does Subarun get to decide what's real and what isn't?"
Well, perhaps Daphne could answer whether she was really the same or not.
He stroked Satella's hair with a single hand, leaving the other at his back for Daphne to take. After a moment, he heard Daphne's restraints unclasp, followed by a soft thud as she landed on her feet. She took his hand, looking down at Satella without flinching. Satella herself was nearly comatose, but she still stared at them.
How pathetic must they seem? How somber must they look?
Daphne sat on the ground beside Subaru, placing a hand on Satella's shoulder with a gentleness she hadn't often used when she was still alive.. Her hand moved over Satella's form, trying to feel what she could not see.
She chose not to take off her blindfold, unsure as to whether it would affect Satella or not. It was so considerate, so unlike Daphne, yet it was exactly what she would do in this terrible, twisted situation.
Even as the sight tore him apart, Subaru patiently waited. All he did was stroke Daphne's hand with his thumb, watching closely to ensure that Envy stayed dormant.
Eventually, Daphne leaned forward, placing her lips by Satella's ear. What followed was a whisper that Subaru could barely hear.
"Are you in there, mom?"
Her words reached his heart and tore it in two.
His pulse thundered in his ears. That kind of question could either save or break Satella. He tensed, preparing to shield Daphne with his body if needed —
Satella's head raised ever-so-slightly. Her amethyst eyes turned to meet the one who had called out to her. The world itself held its breath as a mother looked upon her daughter for the first time in centuries.
With visible effort, Satella pushed herself up, trying her best to reach eye-level with Daphne. When it seemed like she couldn't make it, Subaru put an arm around her back. Her hands trembled, barely reaching out, but she still managed to pull off her daughter's blindfold.
Just like her husband, she marveled at the beautiful golden hue. Now, however, those golden eyes were filled with tears.
Daphne's gaze was heavy on Satella as she searched for something that only she could see.
As she searched, the world fell still.
Without warning, Daphne launched herself at Satella, burying her face into her shoulder as she let her tears fall free.
Satella could barely move her arms, let alone speak, but her arms still managed to envelop Daphne in a weak embrace and whisper three words in her own voice.
"I love you."
Subaru looked down at them with a sad smile. In the Second Trial, their embrace shared the same tenderness, but they were happy. They had not a care in the world.
Reality was so much crueler.
They were shaking, weeping… dead. Daphne was nothing more than a soul in a construct, and Satella was a mere fragment of herself.
Subaru vowed to make things right.
As soon as that promise passed through his mind, Daphne reached out and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him in with surprising strength. He crashed into them, creating a mess of limbs, as both Daphne and Satella wrapped an arm around him. Countless emotions overtook him as he found himself wedged into the most uncomfortable hug they've ever shared.
Nevertheless, it was perfect.
"I don't want to let go," Daphne whispered.
Satella opened her mouth to respond, but she could only exhale.
Then, Subaru asked a question so suddenly, so off-topic, and yet it was the only thing that he could think to say.
"Hey, Daphne…" He gulped. "Do you… miss being alive?"
Daphne didn't even need to think before responding. "I miss feeling full."
He squeezed them both as tight as he could. That was all the confirmation that he needed. "I swear… I will save both of you."
She looked up at him, surprised. He met her gaze head-on. Her Authority nearly tore him apart, but he didn't care. He just needed to let her know that he was serious. That was all that mattered. .
"You both deserve to live a long, full life," he said. "Not starving in a wasteland, or imprisoned in a shrine, or… or this. You both deserve what was cruelly ripped away from you. I refuse to live in a world where the people I love are suffering."
He closed his eyes and looked inside himself — at the power that would make this possible. He looked at the power that had been corrupted by strife and had borne suffering beyond compare. He looked at the power that would save them.
He opened his eyes to see Daphne's golden, glimmering eyes, filled with admiration and hope. Then, next to her, he saw slate-like purple eyes that simply stared impassively back.
Subaru didn't have time to think. He dove forward, pushing Daphne out of the way as his side erupted in pain. Blood spurted from the deep gash near his ribs, but he paid it no mind.
As if it had never been interrupted, the fight between the Witches resumed in full. Daphne fixed her blindfold, reentered the coffin, and quickly joined in.
The options were for Subaru to lay there in Envy's arms, just as he had in the frozen tundra… or fight like hell.
Needless to say, he chose the latter.
Unfortunately — or perhaps fortunately — now that more of Satella was confirmed to be present, most of the other Witches were even less eager to go all out. Typhon would tear off fingers instead of limbs. Sekhmet wouldn't use as many Unseen Hands. Echidna…
Well, okay, Echidna was fighting about the same as before.
Amidst all of his dodging and running, he thought about using Cor Leonis, but he saw the injuries that Minerva was healing. If he took on those burdens, he'd be as dead as the rest of them.
They were at a standstill once more. He almost gave up hope.
Was this where it ended? Fighting the Witch of Envy in a desolate wasteland, trying and failing to gain the upper hand? Being tortured, tantalized with the idea of saving Satella, only for it to be ripped away again and again?
As Envy's cold gaze locked on to him, he couldn't help but focus on the fact that he didn't have Return by Death anymore. There were no do-overs. If Envy's shadows pierced his heart, he was done. If she absorbed his soul, there would be no escape.
As if sensing his despair, something in Envy's demeanor changed. She was done playing games. She was going to end this, right here and right now.
The shadow that she sent at him was faster, more targeted. It slipped past the other Witches and bypassed Subaru's meager defenses.
He twisted and tried to dodge it, but he knew that it was over. The moment that it touched him, he would be hers, forever.
… It never reached him.
Just as the shadows were a mere inch away, a rainbow shield manifested in front of him, deflecting the shadows as though they were mere toothpicks.
Subaru let out a sigh of relief, looked towards Echidna, and gave a grateful nod, but her confused expression gave him pause.
With a jolt, Subaru realized that she hadn't cast that shield.
The clouds above them parted. A beam of shadows slammed into the ground, cutting deep into the core of the domain. From inside, muffled yet strong, everyone present heard a voice cry out:
"El Minya!"
Forty flaming spears of crystallized shadow rocketed toward Envy thrice as fast as they normally would. They encircled her, forcing her to dodge, but they also trapped her, rendering her vulnerable to the assault from the sky above. Cylinders of shadow struck the battlefield, forming craters at their point of impact. With her path blocked, Envy took a shadow spear head-on. It enveloped her, freezing her within the confines of a dark purple crystal.
The crystal shook. It wouldn't hold her for long.
When the dust settled, a glowing figure was revealed. She shook with overflowing power. It emanated off of her in waves, dwarfing even the other Witches.
She fell to her knees, biting back a scream. Cracks of light seemed to break through her skin, yet she remained firm, focusing all of her pain and rage at the Witch of Envy.
When the crystal finally broke, she raised a single palm, preparing an attack so powerful that the domain itself threatened to collapse.
With unbridled fury in her eyes and words, the figure spoke:
"Keep your filthy hands away from my contractor, I suppose!"