Greed Chapter 14: Frozen Bonds
The two Emilias looked at each other, both intrigued by this sudden interaction that shouldn't be possible.
The Emilia from another world first noticed that her counterpart had short hair, reminding her of Fortuna.
Meanwhile, the Emilia from this world was a bit taken aback by her counterpart, now seeing how she looked prior to cutting her hair short.
"Who are you?" The Emilia from this world asked, wanting answers. "You can't be real."
"I am real, I'm Emilia from another...world, I think." The silver haired half elf was a bit puzzled when saying this, finding it quite bizarre saying this to another version of herself.
Otto and Reinhard looked at the two Emilias interacting, the Sword Saint being nervous since his Emilia can be unpredictable.
As he was ready for anything to happen, Otto took this chance to speak with him.
"Reinhard-sama, may we speak? There's something I must tell you."
"Hm?" The Sword Saint turned towards the merchant, having noticed what he had said.
He was at a pause for a moment, at first on the defensive since it was the merchant that came here with the other Emilia.
Though his guard started to lower when one of his divine protections managed to detect no hostility or ill intent in his heart.
This prompted Reinhard's attention, curious on what Otto wanted to tell him.
While these two began to speak with each other, Petra looked at the pair for a moment before turning back towards the two Emilias.
She was a bit hesitant in this new Emilia since she's uncertain if this one acts the same as the one she's familiar with.
A part of her thinks no since the new Emilia has the same hair attire and seems to act similar to when her Emilia did before the events of the Sanctuary.
She can only hope for this...though it will still be a problem if the Emilia that she's familiar with doesn't start attacking.
She observed their conversation closely with the Emilia from another world continuing to speak:
"That's a lovely hairstyle."
"...thanks." The Emilia of this world said with a blank tone, not really caring for the compliment yet knowing that her Subaru would disapprove of her not speaking with some kindness. Thinking of Subaru made her have a question:
"Where did you come from? Is there a Subaru in the place you came?"
Emilia paused for a second, having noticed that her counterpart when saying Subaru's name, it sounded...odd. She dismissed this one thing though as she wanted to gain the trust of her counterpart by responding to her questions with:
"Yes, Subaru does exist in my world."
"Two Subarus..." The Emilia from this world paused as she thought about interacting with two Natsuki Subarus.
If she was already infatuated with one Natsuki Subaru, two of them might be a little more than she can handle.
It's very apparent since the area was slowly dropping in temperature as this Emilia was daydreaming of having two Subarus by her side.
The Emilia from another world was a bit confused on why her counterpart was just looking up at the sky, but what she was alarmed when her counterpart was slowly freezing the ground she was stepping on.
"Emilia, stand back." Reinhard said, warning the other world Emilia as he was suspecting that his world's Emilia was preparing to do something.
The silver haired half elf looked at the Sword Saint for a moment before turning back towards her counterpart.
She wanted to get her attention which prompted her to say:
"You look like Fortuna."
"..." The Emilia from this world paused her thoughts for a moment as she wasn't sure what her counterpart had said. "...Huh? What?"
Emilia's senses were telling her that her counterpart was preparing to attack, prompting her to mentally prepare for any sort of attack.
"I don't want any trouble. I just want to help."
"Help...how?" She spoke with a curious tone as she tilted her head. "What can you help with?"
"...I know about the trials."
"The trials?...the trials..."
There was a silent pause which prompting Reinhard to quickly grab both Petra and Otto.
"Wh-What's the meaning of this?" The merchant questioned.
"We need to get to safety." The Sword Saint responded swiftly.
As he said this, he quickly jumped away with the two while Emilia had her guard up completely. Her counterpart turned towards her before asking:
"What do you know about the trials?" The voice of this short-haired Emilia was very intimidating, serious.
Emilia knew that depending on her response would affect how her counterpart would do.
"I saw what had happened to our home, to Mother Fortuna, to Guese, to Arch, to everyone. I know everything."
There was a pause from this world's Emilia as she heard this.
Her mind somewhat being able to have a normal thought on the matter.
She took a second before her demeanor was one of unhinge as she looked with a menacing stare at her counterpart, unconsciously causing the area around them to start snowing.
This made the Emilia from another world to be a bit on guard while listening to her counterpart ask:
"You do know what that means, right?"
"...No, what does it mean?"
"They are all liars. You know the truth just like me." As she said this, Emilia was starting to slowly lose control. "They all lied, left us! Abandon us! Everybody is a liar. Mother Fortuna is a liar! Guese is a liar! Archi is a liar! Puck is a liar! Only my Subaru isn't a liar."
"What...are you talking about?" Emilia hesitantly asked, confused by the anger her counterpart was expressing towards Mother Fortuna, Petelguese, and Archi. "They did everything to protect us—"
"That's a lie!" Emilia shouted as a sudden explosion happened right where her and her counterpart were standing.
Emilia from another world expected this to happen, prompting her to just barely avoid being caught by her counterpart's attack.
Had she been in the blast, it's likely she would've been killed.
Once having some distance from her counterpart, she moves her hand right towards her counterpart while creating a few crystals around her.
As she prepares to fire, she responds to her counterpart's comment:
"They aren't liars. They protected us from her."
"..."
The Emilia from this world looked at her counterpart, annoyed by this comment at first though a bit of confusion kicked in when she mentioned 'her'.
Trying to think who her counterpart was referring to was causing her mind to break, as if something was missing. This only caused her to think:
'She knows something...no, she's trying to trick me. Trying to take my Subaru away!'
"I won't let anybody trick me...I won't let you take my Subaru away from me...!"
Emilia remained silent as she could tell that her counterpart is more than crazy, she's broken. Clinging onto Subaru in an unhealthy way.
She reflected on what Subaru had said to this world's Ram, understanding that this version of herself had failed the trials.
Knowing this as well as seeing how dangerous her counterpart is, she gets herself mentally prepared to face herself.
She waited until her counterpart made a move, prompting her to be on guard.
As the Emilia from this world was able to see her counterpart, she didn't hesitate to start attacking her, viewing her as a threat.
This sparked a unique battle between two silver haired half elves, one that overcame the trials while the other was broken by them.
The started their clash with Emilia from this world firing an ice beam with her counterpart creating the same attack to counter hers.
With both beams encountering each other, it exploded and covered a large radius in ice.
As this explosion didn't seem to do anything to either Emilia, the broken Emilia charged right at her counterpart in an attempt to get her hands onto her opponent's neck.
Emilia saw this, which prompted her to jump high up to avoid getting caught before creating a couple of ice like projectiles to fire them right at her broken counterpart's direction.
Broken Emilia noticed this and just created a couple of ice projectiles to fire back and counter her counterpart's attack.
As both their attacks collided, both Emilias became aware that they weren't getting anywhere.
Broken Emilia looked at her counterpart with intense anger before attempting to just explode in order to kill her counterpart.
As she prepared to do this, the Emilia from another world landed onto the ground and quickly started to create ice clones of Subaru.
As she created three of them, the broken Emilia saw this, prompting her to pause.
"S-Subaru?"
She took a second before her mind figured out that these weren't the real Subarus but mere imitations of him.
"How...How are you doing this?"
"Subaru taught me."
"..."
Broken Emilia remained silent for a second, jealousy burning through her mind.
'Why didn't he teach me this? Why did she learn that from my Subaru?'
This intensity prompted the area to drop in temperature even more than before, to levels that made the Emilia from another world worried.
While the Emilias were battling each other, the others were watching from a distance.
Reinhard grabbed both Otto and Petra to get them out of there when the second Broken Emilia exploded the first time, managing to get them to safety.
Once they were a good distance away from the fighting, the Sword Saint turned his attention back towards the two Emilias.
The battle between the two worried him since the more crazy the Emilia he knows gets, the more dangerous she becomes.
"I'll have to interfere."
"I can't allow it, Master Swordsman-sama." Otto said as he got in front of Reinhard, not wanting anyone to interfere with Emilia's fight against herself.
He remained silent as he thought about something Subaru had said before splitting up:
("Yes. She's going to need your help. After all, you are the only person who can save your counterpart.")
'I now understand why you wanted Emilia-sama to encounter her counterpart, Natsuki-san. She's the only one who can save her properly.'
As he finished his thoughts, he also recalled his role in speaking with Reinhard.
"We need to help Natsuki-san."
"..." Reinhard was silent when hearing this, trying to contain his own rage since he's learned the truth about what exactly happened to Felt thanks to the merchant in front of him.
He knows that the merchant was referring to the Natsuki Subaru that came along with them...but he can't help but think that seeing either Natsuki Subaru would trigger him to just kill them right on the spot.
He turned towards Petra with a bit of shame in his voice.
"Could you accompany Otto?"
"What about you, Reinhard-sama? Will you not be joining us?" Petra asked, concerned for the Sword Saint.
He was silent for a moment before turning towards the two Emilias, noticing that things were escalating with their fight.
"I have to make sure their battle doesn't get too out of hand."
"Okay." Petra nodded as she said this, understanding why Reinhard doesn't want to join them. She turned towards Otto as she was curious:
"How can we help Subaru-sama?"
"We will need to see what kind of trouble Natsuki-san has gotten himself into."
"Understood, lead the way."
As she said this, Otto was prepared to leave with Petra though something prompted him to turn towards the Sword Saint to tell him one last thing.
"Allow Emilia-sama to save her counterpart."
"...are you sure? Emilia-sama—"
"Natsuki-san placed his trust onto her, we have to respect that."
"..."
The Master Swordsman looked at the merchant with a serious expression, understanding what he meant.
He gave a simple nod of understanding, allowing Otto to leave with a calm heart.
As he and Petra were leaving, Reinhard turned his attention back towards the battle of two silver haired half elves.
Broken Emilia was struggling to take down the ice Natsuki Subarus, not due to their strength but because she doesn't want to harm them because they look like her Subaru if he was made of ice.
This hesitation allowed Emilia to gain the advantage over her broken counterpart if only for a moment.
Right before Emilia had the chance to have her ice sculptures capture her counterpart, Broken Emilia's frustration to beat her counterpart caused another explosion of ice, managing to destroy the ice sculptures of Natsuki Subaru.
Emilia barely had a chance to react to this tantrum attack, causing her to be caught in Broken Emilia's freezing attack.
This attack is similar to one of Emilia's trump card attacks that could end all battles, Absolute Zero.
Absolute Zero is one of Emilia's attacks that allows her to freeze the atmosphere around her to such a degree, that a vacuum is created, inside which, even time can be stopped.
Any and all beings that find themselves in this vacuum have zero chances of survival.
This attack she had done when dealing with the Divine Dragon back in the Pleiades Watchtower, so having it happen to her made her uneasy.
The only benefit is that her broken counterpart wasn't using that level of power that she needed when using Absolute Zero.
As she was barely surviving this extreme cold atmosphere, she quickly gained her distance from the blast of Broken Emilia's attack before preparing for another attack from her counterpart.
She waited for a moment before seeing her counterpart send another projectile attack towards her.
She responded to this by countering it with the same attack, making her think while doing this that neither will get anywhere at this point.
She could start using more of her true power but that's not the goal here, the goal is to save her counterpart.
As the two were countering each other's attacks, Emilia started to think on the words her counterpart had said in regards to Mother Fortuna, Petelguese, Archi, and the others from the trial.
She recognized the feeling for sure since it was prior to losing her contract with Puck...which makes her think:
'Did she not see the true memories of that day?'
She had thought that it could've been possible for her to have failed the trial after the contract with Puck was broken but upon closer look, her counterpart wasn't wearing either the blue crystal she was wearing or the green crystal that was where Puck slept in.
"What happened to Puck—?"
"Don't mention him! Don't mention that liar!"
Broken Emilia's attacks grew more aggressive after shouting at her, giving Emilia a slight indication that perhaps this was after the contract was broken.
Though if that were the case, that would mean she would start getting all the memories flowing back to her.
She questioned herself if those memories had been the cause of this though something about that theory doesn't seem right.
"What did you see in that trial?" Emilia asked, wanting a straight answer from her counterpart.
"The truth! They lied to us! Hurt us!"
"What are you talking about?!"
"Don't act like you don't know!" Broken Emilia shouted as her attacks started to shoot in random directions that weren't even close to her counterpart.
Reinhard saw this and quickly blocked away any attack directed towards either the mansion or Otto and Petra's direction.
While he did this, it caught Broken Emilia's attention.
This gave Emilia a chance to try and trap her counterpart in a block of ice.
Once attempting to do this, Broken Emilia jumped high enough to avoid the attack before firing projectiles towards her counterpart.
This stalemate continued for another five minutes with Reinhard observing from a distance.
He knew that eventually both Emilias mana would run out though it seemed limitless at this moment.
He looked at how their battle had frozen over a large part of the forest which was also starting to reach the mansion.
This problem is starting to cause the Sword Saint to want to intervene only to remember what Otto had said.
He understood that the Emilia that resembles the one from the start of the royal selection is the key to saving the one he's been protecting.
While thinking of this, he ended up thinking of the Natsuki Subaru the merchant was speaking of.
If the Natsuki Subaru he speaks about is the same one that he had met back in that alley, then he would like to fight for him.
The one he has been following...he attempts to not have dark thoughts about it but learning that he had basically threatened Felt to leave has filled him with pain and hatred.
'I...must not think of such feelings at this moment. I must believe in Emilia-sama.'
As he thought this, he kept his distance to watch as the two Emilias continued to counter each other's attacks.
As it seemed like it was an endless battle, Emilia eventually created more ice sculptures of Subaru to throw her broken counterpart off balance.
This only worked for a moment before she attempted to destroy the ice sculptures though that moment of hesitation gave Emilia the time she needed to close the distance between herself and her counterpart.
The second she was within reach, she managed to pin her counterpart to the ground.
Using every ounce of strength to restrain her, she began to talk to her.
"You are not alone. I know the pain you are holding onto."
"..."
"Losing Mother Fortuna, Guese, Archie, and everyone in Elior Forest, it hurts. That man tried to hurt us. That woman tried to make us break a promise with Mother Fortuna. She hurt Guese. I get it."
"What are you talking about?" Broken Emilia questioned, not familiar with what her counterpart is speaking of and yet feeling that the memory she's speaking of was oddly familiar. "Those memories...I-I can't..."
She continues to fight with her mind, wanting to reach for the memory her counterpart was speaking of yet all she received was pain.
"Tsk. No! They all lied to me. You are talking nonsense!"
"What?"
"Get off!"
Another powerful ice explosion happened with Emilia taking the full hit of her counterpart's attack.
Just as it seemed like she was about to be killed by this attack, Reinhard was about to jump in to protect her, yet a sudden glowing light shot from the mansion and went directly towards the two Emilias' direction.
The moment Broken Emilia's attack was about to hit Emilia, the sudden light managed to grab Emilia and get her out of the blast radius.
"It's him..." Reinhard was surprised.
Emilia remained still with her eyes closed for a moment until she realized that she wasn't in any danger anymore as well as that she's in the air.
"Huh?"
"That was close, Lia."
"..." Emilia felt her surroundings stop, almost as if the world had suddenly stopped.
This happened the second she heard a nickname she hasn't heard in a long while.
She slowly looked up with a surprised facial expression, her eyes tearing up when she saw someone familiar.
"Puck!"
"That's me!" Puck spoke with a happy tone, seeing that Emilia was happy to see him. He set her down before the two had a talk. He looked around and noticed that there were two Lias...which left him a bit puzzled. "Two Lias. I can't help but feel happy but also confused."
"It's good to see you again, Puck."
As she said this, the two could sense the atmosphere dropping even lower than it already was, prompting the two to turn towards Broken Emilia. She was giving the most hateful look directed towards Puck, all the anger she's towards her guardian and contracted spirit.
"PUCK!"
"Lia." Puck knew instantly that the one he's contracted with is the one giving him the death stare and yet he couldn't help but be attach to the Emilia right next to him.
"Lia, I know you hate me right now. I left you all alone with him—"
"You abandoned me! You lied to me! You are nothing more than a liar!"
As she was losing her mind once again in complete anger, the area was starting to be frozen in ice.
Emilia and Puck were on guard when this happened, knowing that they'll need to restrain Broken Emilia if they wish to reach her.
"Puck, have you broken your contract with her?"
"No, why do you ask?" The floating cat asked out of curiosity.
"...I see, so that's why she failed the trials." Although she meant to whisper this key information, Puck overheard this.
He looked at his Emilia and could see that he had made a mistake.
He was planning on doing this back in the sanctuary when Emilia had first tried to take the trials but he never had the chance due to his contractor having lost her mind by then.
Had he done it the moment he realized that the memories were the key to helping her, perhaps his Emilia would be like the one next to him.
"You've done all you can, Lia. Allow me to help my daughter from this world. She's my responsibility after all."
"A-Are you sure, Puck? I can help."
"I know you can, and you will but first, I need to do something. Once it's done, it'll be your turn."
He paused himself as he turned towards Reinhard, knowing that the Sword Saint was listening to their conversation.
"I know it's a lot to ask but look after her for me?"
The Sword Saint was silent for a second before nodding with respect, understanding what he was about to do.
Puck still didn't trust the Sword Saint however he was the best option compared to the others.
He knows that two versions of his daughters can't exist in the same world, meaning that this one came to help, so asking her to do this wouldn't be beneficial for either of them.
Broken Emilia started to fire a barrage of ice projectiles directly towards Puck, wanting to eliminate him.
As these projectiles seem to be hitting him, Emilia prepares to interfere and stop her counterpart only for Puck to tell her:
"Don't. Let her release all her frustration. I kinda deserve it."
"..."
Emilia was silent when hearing this, caught off guard by that comment.
Puck remained calm for a second before slowly approaching his Emilia despite her firing more projectiles at him, each one being stronger than the last.
The moment that he was right in front of his Emilia, he remained calm as he looked at her face filled with hatred but also pain.
"Lia—"
"Don't call me that, liar!"
"I know you are in pain. It's my fault. I shouldn't have left you all alone."
Broken Emilia tries to punch Puck only for the spirit to dodge this attack, knowing that she's putting all her strength into this attack. As he dodges, he continues to speak:
"I'm sorry Lia, I'm sorry it took me so long to finally reach you...but I'm more sorry that our reunion is going to be cut short."
"Abandoning me again?! You are the WORST!"
As she shouted this, another burst of mana happened with Puck taking the full front of her fury.
Reinhard was worried though he noticed that Emilia seemed to remain calm despite this attack from Broken Emilia was indeed destructive.
As the dust settled, Puck was still there though he was now glowing.
"I hope that you got all that anger and pain out with that attack."
"SHUT UP!" Broken Emilia continued to attack her contracted spirit, mad at him that he had the gull to not only appear after a long time of being gone but also say that he'll be gone again. "I HATE YOU!"
"You don't hate him." Emilia said, knowing that those words would never be uttered by any version of herself, at least the ones that made a contract with Puck. Broken Emilia slowly turned her attention towards her counterpart, wanting to kill her from just that comment alone.
"Stay out of this!"
"I won't!" Emilia shouted. "You know deep down you don't hate him!"
"Oh really?" Broken Emilia pointed her hand towards her counterpart, ready to attack her.
Emilia looked at her broken self with no fear, understanding just how far she's gone and how her counterpart can still be saved.
As both Broken Emilia and Puck noticed the determination from Emilia, Puck smiled as he said:
"I'm sure the Puck you are contracted with would be very proud of you." As he said this, Emilia caught the sadness in his voice.
Puck turned towards Emilia as it seemed like he was about to fade away.
Broken Emilia noticed Puck's gaze, prompting her to try and throw another punch at him only to pause when she saw him fading away.
"Huh? Wh-What's going on?!" Broken Emilia's rage had finally died down as reality set in, Puck wasn't leaving...he was disappearing. "What are you...?"
"I'm atoning for my failure to protect you, Lia." As he said this, he closed in to Emilia and tapped her left cheek. "I will entrust you in the Sword Saint's hands, Lia. After all he's a hero, that's all he can be."
Reinhard was silent when he heard this, knowing it to be true.
Both Emilias shared the same confused expression when hearing Puck say this, with Broken Emilia dismissing this in an instant as her concerns were on Puck.
Although she still hates him, she doesn't want him to leave her either.
"Puck, what are y—?"
"I love you, Lia."
The second he said this, Puck suddenly disappeared which caused both Emilias to be left in distress.
Emilia having seen this before and not necessarily liking this event replaying for her again all the while Broken Emilia felt that Puck is truly gone now.
"PUCK!"
She's hated him for so long and despite all this abundant hatred clouding her, somewhere in that broken state of hers, she longed to reunite with Puck.
As she can feel her contract with Puck fade away, Emilia and Reinhard noticed that she was about to explode again.
Being the fastest out of the two, the Sword Saint didn't hesitate to appear instantly behind Broken Emilia to knock her out.
Right as he was about to knock her out, he was shocked when suddenly Emilia hugged her counterpart.
'How did she...?' He wasn't sure on how Emilia managed to move swiftly towards the version of Emilia he's familiar with. Before he can act, he heard Emilia tell her counterpart:
"It'll be okay. There's no need to be afraid."
"..."
"You aren't alone. I'm sure Subaru cares for you deeply. I know Subaru, he'll do anything to make sure you are safe."
"..."
"He'll be there when new memories start coming back, memories that are unfamiliar to you. Conversations that you aren't familiar with, everything will come back to you. You'll learn the truth about Elior Forest, how Mother Fortuna truly loved us. How much we still love her, miss her. Guese and how kind he was. Archie and how much of an older brother he was to us. You'll remember it all, but you don't have to deal with it all alone. Aside from just Subaru, I know that the others would take care of you. Ram, Frederica, Beatrice, Petra, Meili, Otto, Reinhard, and Garfiel, I'm sure each of them would help if you reach your hand out."
"..." Broken Emilia remained stunned as she was allowing the comforting words from her counterpart to reach her broken heart.
"It will be tough, it will be scary, it will feel all sorts of terrible feelings, but you will overcome them. Even when you hated Puck after he disappeared, he still loves you, he still believes you."
"Then why did he break his contract with me?!" Broken Emilia shouted as tears were running down her eyes, wanting answers. Emilia continued to hug her counterpart while responding in a calm and friendly manner.
"To make sure you can be happy."
"Huh?"
"He knew that you can't be truly happy until you were free to learn of the memories you couldn't access because of the contract. That's why he did it, for you."
"..."
The Emilia from this world were still hesitant to accept any of this.
The only thing she had known was that the only person she could rely on was Natsuki Subaru, her knight...but what if her counterpart was right?
What if she can rely on others?
What if she can overcome her past without the trials?
These questions scared her but the warmth and comfort from the Emilia of another world finally broke her frozen heart.
She let go of her pain and finally started crying.
Emilia smiled as she patted the top of her counterpart's head.
Reinhard watched as Emilia was able to help her counterpart out, prompting him to see why Otto Suwen had told him to leave everything to this Emilia.
'I see now.'
He closed his eyes while sighing in relief, happy that someone was able to get through to her as well as learning that he has a long way to go before he can help his Emilia in overcoming the issues she has.
He turned towards the mansion while thinking to himself,
'That merchant mentioned his Natsuki Subaru, I genuinely want to know what kind of person he is. How did he prevent his Emilia from ending up broken like the one from this world? Is he really that amazing friend I had made back in that alley?'
He was curious, but he also wonders if Otto and Petra are currently safe.
'I should go and help them out.'
He turned towards Emilia from another world.
"Could you take care of Emilia-sama?"
"Yes. Please be safe, Reinhard."
"I will, Emilia-sama"
The two nodded at each other before the Sword Saint made his way towards the mansion.
As he was leaving, Broken Emilia finally calmed down though she had a question for her counterpart.
"...what did you see in the trial?"
"Hm?" Emilia turned towards her counterpart.
"I want to know the truth...please."
Emilia was hesitant to tell this since...well, it would be revealing that she succeeded on three trials while her counterpart couldn't handle one.
However, she did say please.
"Okay, I'll tell you everything I saw."
Author's note:
Merry Christmas, I must say that I was planning on releasing this chapter well earlier than when it had released but everytime I began to work on this story, some real world shenanigans came up that I couldn't ignore. I'm working on the next chapter but so rest assure that we will see the end of the Greed if story. Also, I managed to finally hit 1k subs on my Youtube Channel so I'm happy about that. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the chapter.