Chapter 1: Greetings, For A Reunion Unforeseen
(Re:Zero is owned by Tappei, not me. Hopeful Reunion is ArcherfromArnor's fanfic.)
(Author's Note: This Fanfic was made for the explicit purpose of being a birthday present for the writer of Hopeful Reunion. ArcherfromArnor. I asked him at the start of the year if I can use his story for a react fic and he allowed it without a second thought. So now we are here.
I know this year hasn't been good to you my guy. You've taken lots of hits and never fell down or gave us shit about how unfair things are for you. Thank you for being an older brother I couldn't have anywhere else. I always dealt with my darkest aspects because I wanted to keep going by your side more than anything. Even if it led me to horrible decisions and times, you always got to me before I could break something permanently and helped with your best intentions on your sleeve.
I love you man. Allhamdu lilah.
Enjoy your bday fic.
PS: If it's unfinished then it's your fault. Upload the ending motherfucker. Come on.
Disclaimer: I have asked the author of this fanfic if I could do a reaction fic to his writing, this is with explicit permission. I may have also edited the script of the chapters to allow more readability with the theater formula of Watching Him Die. Please go read Hopeful Reunion on ArcherfromArnor's account to get the full passion of the fic and immerse yourselves more.
A group of men hurried into the collapsed remains of a building right off the edge of the city's center. It was stable enough to have a few walls still standing even after the heavy damage it had received. The group quickly huddles behind the walls of the safest room before collectively falling in exhaustion.
From their weapons to their damaged cloaks to even their wounded faces, each man looked like a bandit who had escaped sudden doom. One would fail to recognize their royal duties as guardians of the kingdom. Their looks were a resemblance to the fatigued gutter rats from the slum districts rather than the proud defenders of the kingdom.
It was a pitiful sight, made more tragic when one of the men staggered to the far end of the room with someone in his arms.
The man's red cloak was the only one of its kind amongst the dirty white ones of the rest. It was wrapped around the person in the man's arms. They were a child; the size was telling. He sat the small child down on the ground, far away from the other occupants. His eyes were both kind and furious when staring at the kid.
She was a girl, hair black as midnight, with a striking resemblance to the man's own hair. Her breaths were low and inaudible as she struggled to breathe.
"She wouldn't be in this state if you let me do my thing…" A masked man spoke from behind the black-haired knight. "Has it really gotten that bad between us, Subaru? You really think I'd hurt her?" The man sounds offended at the notion that was implied.
"You said this would save her, Jack?" Subaru turns from the child to face the masked man. "Just like you saved our world? Or the way you saved Priscilla by betraying her—"
"That was the only play we had," Jack responds with conviction, his fists balled. "I have no power to control situations like that. Not even you could've saved Priscilla from getting captured. Did you even see what we were up against?!"
"IT GOT MY FAMILY HURT!" Subaru shouts at him uncaring of the pain it caused from his wounds. "You were supposed to leave before they came for you! You had one job to do and you screwed it up! Now my world has to pay for your mistake!"
By now, Subaru's hand was latched to the sword on his hip as he bared his teeth toward the helpless man in front of him.
"I should cut you down right here and now… Make Volcanica's job easier…" Subaru stops for a second, staring at the mask on the man in thought. "... I can probably make a deal to get everyone back and unhurt."
"It won't happen in such a way," Jack scoffs. "You can sell me to the wolves if you wish, but this won't help you heal anybody. They don't care about you, you're just an alternative version of the one they want."
"Or you could be trying to save your ass."
"Do you want your daughter saved or not, Royal Protector?" Jack demanded the threat visible in his words.
The man in tattered royal clothing stops, taking a moment to compose himself… before punching the masked man in the stomach. While the Warden withered at his feet, Subaru only gave him a scathing look.
"Begin this process right away! I'll be protecting you from Priscilla and all others you brought behind you."
Jack coughs a few more times, trying and finally succeding at catching his breath. In the process of his small reprieve on the floor, he began thinking about the events that led them into this position. Once again, a version of Subaru was disgusted with him. Once again, someone close to his beloved friend got hurt because of his machinations.
"I'm not doing this for protection anymore." The man said while painfully struggling to stand.
Subaru squints as his prisoner collects himself from the floor. It wasn't lost on Jack that the knight held his weapon with bloodied fingers to keep himself from throwing another punch. Not out of fear or necessity… but out of pure anger.
"Your princess will be saved. Fate should decide if my life will be worth the cost or not," he says with honesty. Knowing how risky it was to bring the daughter up after what just happened a few hours prior, Jack hoped that taking this risk with Priscilla's Knight would show how sincere he really was.
Subaru grabbed Jack by the scarf around his neck and looked down at him with disdain and bitterness. Through Jack's goggles, the Warden could see glints of disappointment in his eyes too.
"No one here cares about your life. It is worthless compared to what you owe!" Subaru shouts, outraged at the audacity. "Never think for a second that you have a noble cause to fulfill. This is not a favor being asked of you. It is your damn duty now!"
Between the two men, Subaru kicks a fallen rock and pushes the man in his grip like cattle on a leash, the fury of the Queen's husband wasn't meant to be fought, that is why Jack allows Subaru to push him until he was face first with the remains of Lugunica's royal castle.
"This world used to be the best version of itself without you." Subaru spat. "You brought those things here, and they followed you into my home, where my family was." The man did not expect any pushback for his accusations, he didn't want any. If Jack did pushback, Subaru was prepared to skew the man alive where he stood.
"... It's all true," luckily the man agreed with Subaru. "You can blame me for what happened to your country, house, castle… and family all the same. It's all my fault for existing here and bringing all my enemies behind me." Jack's smooth acceptance finally managed to calm Subaru down. The furious grip on his scarf loosening to the point Subaru moved away completely to let the masked man stare at the burning structure, his body still as stone.
"However." The goggles moved until they met with Subaru's eyes once more, compelling the king to swim into their dark endlessness.
Subaru's fists clenched.
Jack's stoic voice echoed throughout the room. "Do not kid yourself and forget how great my effort here has been."
"... Do you want me to kill you?" Subaru's disbelief manifested on his face, before swiftly turning into anger.
"Bring yourself to remember how your sky looked before they threw me into your palace," the masked man stepped forward, surprising the raven-haired knight. Before Subaru could think about what was being said, the man in the mask continued.
"There is no proof that I specifically picked your universe to fall into, is there? I was thrown here. By accident, and fate itself."
"So?! Are you saying that the fault falls on us for not protecting ourselves from the threats you brought here?!" Subaru stepped up to Jack, seeing red but the man in front of him refused to budge.
"I'M SAYING THAT I HAD NO OTHER WAY OUT OF THIS SITUATION! THE SAME AS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!" Jack's furious yell halts Subaru from punching the man again.
"Huh?"
"... I already told you that I fell by force into your world. I had no power over my transport in or out of here. I can only run and run until there is another crack to swim into. I left behind the worlds I go through, either to be burned or to thrive." Jack looks down when saying this, making Subaru harshen his nasty-eyed glare.
"Don't give me that bullcrap!" Subaru glowered and unsheathed his weapon out of rage. "What happens if there are versions of me who lose all of their loved ones because of your mistakes, huh?! What are you going to do to make it up to all of them? I bet you're still trying to find a way out of this one so you can escape any consequence for my Hele—"
Subaru didn't expect the tough hook to come from the scrawny coward behind the mask. He also didn't expect the goggled eyes he was spitting on a few moments ago to tower him as he was picked by the collar of his shirt to face Jack.
"I am facing the consequences for all of them, asshole. "
Subaru is let free from the man's hold. The two men stood at a standstill, unable to accept each other's words but still able to acknowledge the wrongness of both sides.
"They would've come for you, anyway," Jack whispered.
"What?" Subaru inquired, to the shaking head of the Warden.
"... Nothing. It's nothing. I'll go start the process of getting the princess into the realm. She will be able to heal better when sleeping inside of there." Jack's turned away from the furious eyes of the Royal Protector, who was judging him and his every word with intense scrutiny.
"You won't believe this. But I shouldn't be doing anything to help you. I shouldn't be wasting time—"
"Just try and jump into another crack. I swear—!"
"Because the more I stay, the more people die in this city, Royal Protector." Jack finds a bit of humor in the name, enraging the man who held the title. "The more I spend time on saving her, the more your precious country burns. Isn't that ironic?"
Subaru found humor also, in the way his fist was aimed to connect straight into Jack's cheek.
"I'll still save her, regardless of the lives of your people and my own."
The fist stops midway. Subaru's boiling glare didn't lose any edge, even if the masked man stopped him by his casual words.
"She will be fine," he whispers, almost to himself, more than to the father holding his neck hostage. "I swear it."
Subaru lets go of this person. Undeniably shitty as he was, Jack was truthful about his intentions and was suffering to make it all happen. The Royal Protector didn't lose sight of how far Jack's wounds extended.
"... Why are you fixed on helping her then? If running away means so much to you, then why?" Subaru questioned.
The Warden let out the most cryptic of replies that made Subaru unsure if he deserved another punch or a kick this time.
"She played hide and seek with me…" Jack rubs the back of his head. "It was fun."
"..."
The Royal Protector continued to look at the masked anomaly with amazement and complete bewilderment. It was only when those damn goggles moved to look right back at him that Subaru found the strength to talk after that weird confession.
"... Will… If that's what you are doing to hide your true intentions, then this is a very botched way to do it."
Subaru couldn't find any human expression through the mask, hood, or glasses. There was no body language, no signs of fear or weakness.
"Are we going to do this or what?" Subaru's response was stopped when the rubble of the castle begins moving unnaturally to eventually turn into a giant mesh of bug-like creatures that surround the structure from which they were born.
"... How much do you need?" Subaru quickly takes the lead of the situation as he scans the creatures and if they will come towards the city.
"Not much, just a few hours at most." Jack readies his weapon of choice and quietly activates the cursed orb from which Subaru understood was the cause of all this.
"Fine." The Royal Protector of the kingdom held Jack by his makeshift leash one more time and gave him the stare of complete distrust, yet full-blown faith at the same time. "I'll hold them off with my team. You do whatever it takes to save her."
Subaru keeps the masked man in his grip as he gives his final command in the form of a growl. "And after she's saved from your mistake, you get your ass away from us and our world. Is that understood?"
The Warden only gives a firm nod, understanding the small mercy Subaru was giving him even if he was responsible for all of this, his freedom would still remain as it is. "Understood."
Subaru lets go of the scarf and stomps away to get his knights under order. Those creatures and the master who summoned them are probably halfway through the first quarter of the city, so he would need to be quick.
"Good luck."
Jack's orb inflates until it can be seen to all surrounding the Royal Castle.
He aimed his palm towards the sickly little girl that had been laying on the makeshift mattress behind him and Subaru this whole time.
"Damn, I was excited to finish Subaru's story." Jack curses as the light shoots from his hand towards the small child. "Guess you have a story to tell of your own, huh, little Helena?" He chuckles as the light disappears from around him, leaving him alone in the corner of the room.
"Always on time aren't you?"
He never forgot why he urgently teleported the girl into his pocket realm.
His legs moved on instinct upon that shrieking, high-pitched voice coming from the distance.
"BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK!"
—And the Warden ran away with a new plan for his theater fully set to motion.
Opening his eyes, the sight of a peculiar set of decorations caught his focus almost immediately. He tried to move but soon noticed the immobile state his body was this, he could only stare at this very special ceiling before him with a hint of nostalgia, and very much present confusion and rational fear.
"Unfamiliar ceiling…"
The boy started to feel more in control of his neck at first, so he began moving his head in order to view the room's upper parts more. He wouldn't look down due to an irrational fear that a hidden part of him had been instilled with. For some reason, he didn't feel like exploring the room's contents just yet. Instead, his eyes focused on the one spot that's been the center of his gaze this whole time.
The source of brightness stuck into the ceiling of this room was a more than missed sight for the boy. As if the careful flower artistic curving inside of the stone wasn't enough to tell him how familiar he should be with such architecture, the light coming from in between the stone and wood was the biggest offender for him.
"That's an LED light… This is from Earth…" The boy's bearings were now in full swing as he focused on the strange lights far longer than his weakened eyes were comfortable with. "No way. These things aren't in Lugunica…"
Quickly, his mind caught up to what he was seeing finally as all rational went out of the window.
He's spent so much time away from such technology to the point he thought there wouldn't ever be another reunion between him and the modern day ever again after his transport. Yet this sight before him was clear as day, proof that this room was not a Lugunican one.
"I need to move. This wallowing in the past won't help with anything." The boy's nerves finally recieved his efforts to fight the numbness and get some blood flowing into what felt like cold, heavy parts attached to his body.
Little did he know that once his mind regained feeling, the consequences would be unpleasant at best.
The boy moved his shoulders, then the cracked bones came, which gave him a huge sense of relief. "Whewwwww! I feel as if I've been sitting like this for years!" There was alarm in that statement, but he had no point to dwell on it when he was going to investigate just what happened once he is able to move. So, he put more effort to move his body from the upper parts like his neck, chest, and torso. Slowly, his shoulders transcended movement and feeling into his arms.
"... Hope Emilia-tan and Beako are not worried about me," he gives a smile at the thought as he continues to clench his muscles to remove the numbness from them. "I really hope I can see them again."
He would've had a sad look on his face, his mind racing at the implication he was doubtful of seeing his friends and beloved… If he wasn't busy gaining control over his hands again.
More specifically, finally feeling the pain from them.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF—- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" He couldn't finish his blood-curdling scream as another scream of pain tore through his throat, superseding it.
The problem he next encountered in the room was not one he expected.
"Wha…" He sobs uncontrollably as he unwittingly moves both hands towards his eyesight. Now he can see… The mangled bruised forms of his messy fingers and palms. Needless to say, the raven-haired boy had tears run down his cheek and whimpers coming out of his mouth upon immediate observation of his newly deformed appendages.
"What the hell?! What happened to my hands and who crushed them like this?! Ah~aaaaaaaaa! This hurts so bad… I can't feel my fingers! THEY ARE PASTE! AAAAAAAAAA—"
"Would you quiet down my guy?! I'm trying to metal gear my way out of this shit!"
Disoriented from the monumental hell that was the pain of his hands, the boy only registered one part of that sentence coming from a smooth unobstructed voice within his head.
"Ahhhhhh! WHY AM I HEARING SOMEONE FAIL TO DO A SNAKE!"
This didn't sit well with the owner of the voice inside the boy's head.
"I'll have you know that the explosions behind me are very much Snake's styl— Wait a minute. WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO YOUR HANDS?!"
He didn't know if it was due to the companionship of someone else being just as confused as he was, or if the agony has fully fried some of his brain cells, but the boy began sobbing in comfort as he began to hallucinate a sudden coldness overcome the busted extremities, cooling the searing heat that had tortured the body for the past minute.
After but a few moments, the pain that caused him to fall on the floor of the room had almost completely dissipated, replaced with a comfortable feeling of relief.
"There we go! Healed! So sorry I forgot to fix them after the last watch… Nevermind who's done it. It's not important."
"W-What?" Subaru said, gasping for air. The boy's teary eyes began clearing with a few wipes from his jacket's sleeve and his breathing grew controlled.
The boy looked at his hands to find that his fingers and palms looked human again and not like a fifth-grader's art project.
"...Thank you." The boy whispered in gratitude. A new set of tears began flowing from his eyes, but those were out of relief rather than pure anguish.
"... I tried to tell them that they should stop but… They kind of needed the stress relief."
"Huh?! Who's this 'they'?!" the boy shouts, jumping on his feet for the first time. The shock of the pain seemed to reinvigorate his muscles enough to make him move like normal again. "What the hell were they doing to me— Where am I?!"
His questions stop as he looks around at the room he was in. It was a fairly small room with modest furniture such as a couch, a few chairs, a table, a king-sized bed and…
"A plasma TV?!" The boy jumps from his spot next to the bed and runs towards the middle of the room. "Where am I, wait? Where are you?!" The boy realizes that there was nobody else with him in the room and that there was, in fact, no one by his side talking to him like he thought.
"You won't have much luck stressing over every little thing here."
"Don't give me that! These things aren't very common where I was living, you know." He stumbles and falls onto the floor. The raven-haired boy is beyond freaked out as the voice speaks from within his head. "A-Are you inside of me? Is this a ghost possession story?!"
"... Don't insult me, please." The voice scoffs. "You are Natsuki Subaru, the Sa— Actually, I don't want to get into that right now."
The boy's nasty-eyes became wider when he heard this voice speak his name and almost call him by a forbidden title he never thought he would hear again. Surely not…
"I am a person who was able to trap you and your entire camp in another realm of sorts— Basically, you got transported… again…." The stranger finished his explanation with a huff, as if he tried to sound haughty but failed at the end because he was… running?
Subaru focused his eyes and looked around the room with caution. "Trap…"
"Yes," the voice says with a hint of hesitation. "No windows, no air ventilation, no doors."
NO WAY OUT
Subaru's frown grows at this and he looks up towards the ceiling again for any clues. Indeed, there were none of those things the jailer had spoken about, but there was something he had to find to get out of here. The blood in his veins froze solid when he realized what was told to him, however.
"Wait!" Subaru shouts grew inconceivably panicked now. "What the hell did you just say?!" He points at the ceiling with a desperate look of bafflement.
"Hm? Yeah, I know you came from Earth." The Warden explains nonchalantly while some screaming could be heard in the faint distance behind him. Subaru squints at the walls of the room to look for something, but he gets caught.
"No. She won't come for you here. My realm is another world in of itself but still inside of Lugunica per se." The bored tone of the voice contrasted the look Subaru gave the ceiling.
— Subaru's breathing hitches at this remark and he looks almost on the verge of a breakdown. His chest grew heavy and the legs carrying him trembled like that of a leaf on a tree branch during a windy day.
"... Impossible."
"You mean it's impossible to stop her from punishing you?" Warden's voice interrupts Subaru's sudden panic attack."I can assure you that she won't be touching you, even if you break the taboo."
Subaru looked up in disbelief. "H-How did you—"
"You're more interesting to a lot of higher people than she could ever be. Think of my capturing of you as an… intervention of sorts."
As the explanation was given to him, Subaru's shaking fists began to calm down without him noticing, yet He was still looking up at the ceiling with fear etched into his face. He was unable to believe that he was free from her, not for a moment.
His captor noticed this. "Return By Death will not work on you in my realm either. So please don't try to use that as a means of escape."
"That's…" Subaru couldn't continue talking as he fell down on his hands and knees and began gasping for air immediately. The Warden didn't make any move to help the struggling boy, not that Subaru noticed.. He struggled against the carpet as every finger of the witch warped and touched his heart like magnets.
He could feel the intoxicating feeling of his heart being caressed and softly nudged… Before the clench came.
…
It never came.
Subaru rose from his posture to find a deafening essence of peace surrounding him and his room. There was no pain in his chest, nor a grasp of whispering death upon his heart. It was all phantom. A ghost-like reflex that's been instilled within his psyche ever since the first taboo punishment.
He was left in silence. Left to contemplate this fact. Now he realized he was dealing with a new entity with as much , if not more power than the Witch of Envy herself. Subaru recalled that not even Echidona could keep the witch at bay..
What made this one so special? What stopped Satella from coming into this room right now and swallowing him within her sickening toxic shadows?
The raven-haired knight was like a hair thread in the wind, trembling with each different thought.
That's when the Warden spoke up.. "Sorry, I had to leave you for a moment. I couldn't talk with all this ruckus around me."
"You… were running pretty heavily, huh." Subaru didn't see anything else to do but to sit down on the couch and try to grit his teeth through this situation. His eyes focused and his fists clenched as he began to cautiously converse with this man.
"That doesn't matter to you," the voice gruffly responded. Subaru can tell there was embarrassment in that tone. "I know you're pretty concerned about what happened to your camp and friends. Matter of fact I'm surprised you held yourself back from asking about them." Warden muses, giving Subaru a chance to answer.
"... You seem to know more about this situation than me and you healed my hands when I was in pain… So I don't know your objective yet." Subaru obliged with an answer that was surprisingly more insightful to even him.
"We both know that's a bullshit answer," Subaru glares as the voice laughs. "You were planning on either sucking up to me or make me forget about you so you can try an escape attempt."
"Am I wrong?" The voice asks smugly.
"..." Subaru's fists clench as his glare intensifies.
"You're welcome again for that healing I did there." He lets out another bemused chuckle, which only further irritates Subaru.
"If I was captured by you this whole time, then why the hell were my hands turned into someone's stomping ground, huh?!" Subaru shouts at the man.
"Haha, you look ridiculous while talking to yourself like that!" The Warden's gleeful voice further irritates him, which makes Subaru stand and point at the TV suddenly.
"I'll start breaking stuff if you don't tell me what I need to know!" Subaru wanted to hide it but the blush was too strong, just like his embarrassment.
"Ok, ok," his captor relents. "Your camp members and friends are all safe and sound. I promise you that—"
"I don't trust your words." Subaru interrupts instantly.
"... But—"
"Show me proof if you want me to cooperate with whatever this is first! I want to know if Emilia-tan and all the others are safe and sound!" Subaru shouts at the TV screen, his finger still pointed at it.
"Fine."
Subaru felt a small eerie shiver from his back and instantly he jumped backwards, almost colliding with the screen in his haste.
"...?!"
In front of him, a ball of light was conjured, shining its luminescence into the room to the point of temporary blindness.
"Crap," he cursed, unable to see anything since he was shielding his eyes with his sleeve. "How much would it cost you people not to be cryptic?!"
Before his yells would receive an answer, the light dissipated from the room. However, His lids remained closed and covered by his arm. He didn't trust this stunt to be anything good. He wondered if it was a good idea to keep his eyesight away from whatever was teleported inside of the room with him, but Subaru remained stubborn that it wasn't going to be helpful for him to see it.
Especially since he could hear someone else breathing from that spot where the light had appeared. This is how he understood that it was a teleporting mechanism akin to an RPG way stone. Which means this entity really did bring him here by its will and power…
"This is getting oppressive. Tck…" Biting his lip due to frustration, Subaru moved away his arm and slowly revealed his eyes to the world.
In turn, he immediately met the blood-red irises of a girl he never thought he would see in this situation.
"..."
"Oh?" the lady in crimson dress tilts her head and inspects him with a degree of surprise that led Subaru down a path of questions he wouldn't be able to blurt out all at once.
Instead of giving Subaru any attention, or more surprisingly, giving any sort of reaction towards the fact she was teleported into the room with him, the girl simply looked up towards the ceiling after inspecting him with her gaze. "Have you finally succumbed to my will, mangy dog?" Subaru watches as she questions him with her signature prideful tone..
"Or has the world forced the great Warden to understand that mine favor and pleasure are the only ones to focus upon? Fufu~"
"Those have the same exact meaning, Priscilla-sama."
Subaru's eyes widened even greater as the crimson baroness he would always call a witch let out a bombastic, victorious laugh towards the powerful entity controlling this realm they were now stuck in.
"H-Hey hey! Hold on a minute!" Subaru tries to get the lady's attention by stomping angrily toward her. "Don't you understand who you're talking to?! This guy can heal severe injuries like they are nothing!" As he tries to stress the situation they were in, Subaru's eyes light up in realization, cutting his current rant off.
"H-Hold on… How the hell do you even know this guy?!" Subaru asks in bewilderment.
The girl before him a slightly smug smirk that was characteristic of the woman Subaru knew her to be.
"Have no worry, commoner. This one's not out to harm any of us, not if it wishes to displease me." The girl's casual answer awakens even more questions within him. Seeing this, the woman's smile turns somewhat gentle, causing Subaru to feel uncomfortable at being the target of that smile.
"... Why do you seem…" he gulps, "Why do you look relieved to see me?"
"Tis only because I desired your awakening that you stand before me here," she says happily, taking a seat on the sofa behind her with a crossing of her legs beneath her dress. Her crimson eyes looked down on Subaru, contrasting her smug smirk that looked delighted to see him.
"What the hell do you even—" Subaru shook his head and looked away from this frustrating woman, choosing to glare at the ceiling of the room. "HEY!" He calls out towards the entity far above them.
Receiving a small "Hm?" in return, Subaru continues.
"What does she have to do with anything related to my problem or questions about this situation?! How is this proof of Emilia-tan's safety?" By now, Subaru was too pissed off to see the narrowed look Priscilla was shooting him from her place on the couch.
"Oh, I forgot to explain." The man sounds sheepish. "Forgive me, but the reason for your camp's capture is related to two things. One would be the television, that large black square on the desk, Priscilla."
Subaru gives the girl behind him a look and sees that she's staring at the TV with a tilt of her head and curiosity shining in her eyes. Priscilla catches him staring however, and immediately gives him a raised brow..
Subaru moves his head towards the TV immediately, unable to hide his embarrassment for being caught gawking.
"Mineself's beauty is truly capturing. I do suppose you can bask in it from time to time. Such is my generous divinity, commoner. Fufu~" The obnoxious mocking from the couch behind him wasn't helping him conceal his red cheeks.
"... J-Just continue your explanation already!"
"Jeez… You're bad at flirting." The Warden clicks his tongue and continues, "The second purpose for you to be here in this room is because of the tied futures you and Priscilla Barielle have together."
"Hm?" Priscilla's eyes widen with a glimmer upon this. Her face was hidden behind her fan, but the sheer interest the woman held was clear in her eyes, . unlike the room's other occupant.
"Do you think this is funny?! No way I'd have anything to do with someone who's so uptight and arrogant like her!" Subaru knew he would receive a scathing glare from the girl in question, but he didn't care as he glared at the ceiling. "Just quit this joke and bring me to Emilia and the rest of my friends!"
"... A dog is always a dog, I suppose." Priscilla sighs unconcerned for Subaru's words. "Your precious master and her band of nitwits are as safeguarded as can be."
Subaru turns to her with an annoyed look. "How'd you know? You don't even know how you got here with me."
Adding to his annoyance, Priscilla rolled her eyes and went to inspect the pointy toe of her shoe for dirt. "Mineself simply wished for the old viewings to finish, so I am here. Tis as simple as that. Your yapping and howling for that master of yours will cease and soon the reality of the situation will settle calmly within yourself."
"What reality would that be, huh?" Subaru grits his teeth. "If you're not disturbed by what's happening around us, then why the hell are you giving me a lecture when the fault clearly lies with you?!"
"Brings a tear to the eye," she responds as she finally turns to look at him. "How clueless, border on worthless that brain of yours must make you feel."
Subaru could only glare daggers towards the royal candidate. "Why yo—"
"Your only worry is for people who care less about your health and more about their ambitions." Priscilla smirked.
Unlike Subaru, she wasn't worried for anyone outside of the room, though Subaru realized she may not have anyone who worries about her either. Except for Al.
Hearing her response, Subaru forces himself to reel his anger in. After taking a breathe, he glares at the crimson princess.
"I can recognize what you're doing," he scoffs, pointing at her with conviction. "Stop besmirching my friends to get a reaction outta me and help me figure out a way out of here."
Even though he said this in a casual manner, the anger and frustration were still present in his glare towards the red lady. Their eyes locked for a second, disdain reflected in each of their eyes.
Priscilla's glare changed into look of pity that stung the young knight. "Truly," she gives him a dismissive wave of her hand, "the half-wit's caught a most broken pet." She says while looking away from him, disinterested.
"... I see how this is going." Subaru sighs and turns to give her his back and look at the ceiling. "SHE'S ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS!"
"Brother… You are both in need of social interaction classes. I cannot believe how entertaining this is."
Subaru was about to shout at the infuriating voice once more, but surprisingly, Priscilla spoke up first.,
"Explain why you've changed your goals to bring mineself beside this servant." Subaru clicks his teeth at the tone she used to describe him but let it go. He was getting used to her arrogance. Inwardly, the boy hoped that the entity would at least answer Priscilla as he was also curious..
"Yeah, and no talking about our futures being tied together or whatnot," he had to scoff again at the absurdity of that statement. "Give us a real explanation."
"... Hmmm. You two seem to believe you guys are right no matter what." The Warden lazily mused.
"But of course! Tis the will of a goddess that is the world's foundation, after all~" Priscilla proclaims as she fans herself. "Besides, if the heavens bring their fortunes together in sacrifice, this commoner will have a future beneath my heel, it would be for my amusement and the challenge of shaping him how I see fit." Priscilla aims a confident grin towards him as if he was property, her property. "There is no other future mineself would have with this man."
"How much more arrogant can this woman be…" Subaru mumbles as he rubs his temple. "I really can't see anything working between me and Priscilla. Sorry."
"Ah! Then how about a little challenge of sorts?" Warden immediately responds, undeterred by both answers.
"Oi! Just give us answers or let us out if you want us to cooperate!" Yelled Subaru. His frustration had boiled earlier from both people talking to him, or perhaps not talking to him would be more appropriate since no one was answering a damn thing he asked about.
"Name your challenge and its purpose, mangy dog. I require an answer filled with intrigue." It seemed Priscilla was set on ignoring Subaru as she commanded Warden from her seat, further driving the knight to rub his temple harshly to mitigate his growing headache.
"If no one was going to listen to me, then why the hell was I brought here?" Subaru sighs deeply and looks away from the TV screen, feeling a lot less excited about seeing an item coming from his home.
Or will, something close to home, because no way his parents would've afforded this type of luxury television, that's obscene.
"Well, first and foremost, to get things back to order. Priscilla had already attested that everyone you care about is just fine and dandy." Warden says in a laboured tone, sounding as if he was out of breath from intense physical activity.
"That's not enough you know!" Subaru shouts, refusing to acknowledge the woman with a gaze. He can hear her give her own "Hmph!" from behind.
"A goddess such as mineself has no reason to lie to you or any commoner." Priscilla furiously responds, offended at the questioning of her words to him.
"I mean… That is correct." Warden, pointed out, throwing Subaru for a loop as he explained. "Priscilla is not someone to lie about such personally trivial matters to her."
Subaru's eyes widened for a second as he realized what Warden was implying..
"She's so arrogant that she wouldn't need to lie about people not important to her… which means…"
"...She wouldn't lie about anyone in the world." Warden finishes for him.
Priscilla kept her mouth shut and stared between the boy and the ceiling with a heating gaze.
The boy quickly turned from the lady to ask for some more insight. "But wouldn't she have to be close to Emilia-tan and the others from my camp? How would she know? And why did you bring her, of all people, in this room and not my—"
"Just answer the poor pet or else I'll shove mine heel into its throat!" Priscilla commanded, annoyed at the multitude of questions Subaru was asking.
Warden sighs, his breathing stabilized after a few moments..
"R-Right. Listen. Your lady friend in red over there was with your camp members in another room like this one. I'm keeping them protected from someone dangerous and you had to be asleep for most of that time since you were… You know who's always after you."
Subaru stared at Priscilla immediately, hoping she would give him a hint about why Warden's tone was suddenly so serious with her. He only received a scathing look from her and was welcomed with a cold shoulder once she turned away from him. Clearly, she was upset. Her look of understanding didn't go unnoticed from Subaru, however, and he was left by himself to wonder what Priscilla and the Warden talked about.
"It's clear you two refuse to tell me anymore about those 'viewings' Priscilla was talking about earlier… And now I hear that Emilia-tan and the rest are in danger?" Subaru looks both angry and skeptical..
"Those viewings were nothing more than old cartoons from your world." Warden corrects, watching as Subaru's face morphs into one of shock.
"Huh?! And why would you send them there in the first place?!" Subaru shouts, "Why is it that I had to miss Emilia's and Beako's reactions to cartoons?!"
"...This is what you focused on?"
"Oh, stop whining. It was incredibly boring to watch. Nothing marvelous." Priscilla rolls her eyes at the dramatics.
"... Yeah. It was 'boring' to watch Priscilla. Mhm. Mhm." Warden's inconspicuous tone was not thrilling for the red baroness, who shifts on the couch to avoid replying to Warden..
"... Why the hell wasn't I there?! Huh?!" Subaru continued arguing, unaware of the conversation took place.
"I just told you that you had to be unconscious or else your true capture would've caught wind that you were here."
As the entity that jailed them explained cheerfully, Subaru and Priscilla could only give varying reactions.
Subaru was nodding his head along, agreeing with Warden's reasoning. "... Ah. That doesn't explain why I wasn't there or why my hands got so messed up… But if they are ok and doing just that…"
"It is what they were watching, I promise. Your hands were my fault, though. The teleportation made you come into contact with some odd creatures that love breaking hands."
Subaru's eyes widen at Warden's words. "B-Be more careful next time!" Subaru finds himself shouting at the ceiling in horror. "It's a wonder how you managed to teleport Priscilla or me to this room safely!"
At this point, Priscilla was having such a hard time holding in her laughter she had to cup both cheeks with one palm to cover her quivering lips.
"...Tufff…. fufuf…" the snickers and laughter were trying to break free, something noticed by the boy in the room with her, but she refused to let them escape.
"Hm?! Did something really get you while you were teleporting?! Stop being so prideful and spit it out so he can heal you, damn it!" Subaru stared at her with worry, which only caused Priscilla to lose her inner battle and laugh out loud.
"Let's not focus on her right now—"
"Don't cover up your bullshit like that!" Subaru points at the roof of the room which led to more guffaws from the lady, who was now squeezing a leg around the other in an attempt to stifle her laughter.
"I-I'm fine…" She lets out in between exhausted breaths of air. "Mineself's got the best idea for a dress I shall wear this evening, and I had to express my pleasure." Priscilla so egrigously lied to his face that, of course, Subaru would be the only one not to notice the wild explanation was a fabrication.
"... You have a weird way of expressing your joys, lady, you know that?" The boy shakes his head and turns away from her.
Priscilla had to give one last chuckle as the laughter was still bubbling in her.
She understood that whatever Warden had said was complete lies made to speed things along with the boy. She just couldn't believe how quickly each lie was being bought.
It was amusing and entertaining to see the raven-haired dog of Emilia get duped like this. Though it did bring her some dissatisfaction to be used as evidence to Warden's lies… it was worth it if it meant the boy next to her would stop is incessant complaining.
"So uh…" Subaru akwardly rubs the back of his head. "Why am I awake now and in this room, then? I mean, why did you bring Priscilla with me into a room away from all the others?"
"Oh, I already told you both the purpose. The camps on the other side have been teleported from their everyday lives so that they could be safe and sound."
Subaru looked back at Priscilla with alarm. "Other camps? Wait, what camps does that include?!"
"All of them? I brought who I could into this place…"
"Does this include… Anastasia's camp?" Subaru's serious tone confused Warden..
"Yes?" Warden responded trying to decipher why Subaru was suddenly so serious..
"JULIUS WAS WITH EMILIA THIS WHOLE TIME?!" Subaru screams, causing Priscilla to wince in annoyance. "You have to get me back there right now! Quickly!"
"Do you actually believe that walking slave to false ideals would do something as shameless as making a move on an ugly half-wit?"
Subaru turned to glare at Priscilla. Everything from her eyes to her stance on the couch were screaming 'unimpressed.' She belittled him in every instance possible throughout this interaction and it worked wonders on keeping him edged for a blowup.
"Don't call her ugly—" Priscilla gives a mocking chuckle that he ignores and continues. "— I don't believe that Julius would do such a thing. I'm just not happy to be left out."
He looked away from her, noticing how she fell silent immediately after he spouted what he did.
"Hm… You can be honest with yourself now… Interesting." Priscilla hummed, glacing back at the boy.
"Then I believe you should hear my challenge out so you both can get back to them in a matter of hours." The entity spoke up, earning looks of curiosity from both of them. "You and Priscilla were brought in here, away from everyone, because I had to make a deal with someone from the outside."
"Who was it and why did they make it about us?" Subaru questions with Priscilla nodding behind him, both eager to learn the answer.
The man's voice soured, "It's no one pleasant let me tell you… But you can find the reason why this deal includes you and Priscilla Barielle particularly… on the bed."
Both of them immediately turned around to the bed that appeared behind Priscilla's couch.
"..."
"...?!"
"..."
"Who is that?" Subaru broke the shocked silence with a question both he and Priscilla had as they both gazed at the raven-haired girl that was asleep on the bed.
She looked very adorable, Priscilla thought.
"Does she seem…" He trailed off, unwilling to believe the own words that were about to escape from his mouth.
"She does." Priscilla whispers back to his great surprise. He looked back to her and found that the princess was giving him and the girl looks of recognition.
"This girl is more familiar to me than you know." Her voice didn't quiver or hesitate, yet her eyes showed a complex web of emotion.
"You ok?" Subaru questioned softly, noticing her tense state. Unfortunately, it was all he could do currently.
Priscilla moved her head to look away from both the sleeping girl and Subaru.
"Mineself shall explain it all in the end, then all of this bother will cease for my amusement."
Subaru squinted a little when he heard her haughty tone.
"Aren't you at least concerned with what's happening to this girl or where her parents are?! We don't even know why she is in such a state."
"Hmph!" Priscilla huffs in annoyance and turns to deliver her sarcastic gaze to the man… "What are you doing?"
"Hm? I'm carrying her to sit on the couch beside us." Subaru glares at her as he answers.. "We can't just let her rest in the coldest part of the room!"
Priscilla had to watch as the young man brought the little girl into his arms bridal style and settled her on the spot between them.
"There we go~!" Subaru soothes, toying with the hair strings that fell on the adorable girl's face.
Subaru turned to Priscilla and cautiously watched as her eyes wander on the girl's face for a second longer than him. With this close distance between the two, he noticed a striking similarity.
"She has your nose…" Subaru mumbles in surprise.
"Mhm… Indeed she does." Priscilla finds herself whispering back, immediately baffling him with how calm and sincere she looked at the little girl.
"Yeah. She's a little flower, isn't she?" The sarcastic comment shattered the comfortable atmosphere the girl's presence brought. Subaru and Priscilla both turned to the Warden's voice.
Priscilla took no time to reply. "Speak the origins of this little one here and the purpose for why she was placed in your schemes." Her heated tone betrayed the seriouness of her question, causing Subaru to flinch at the sudden fire in her eyes.
"Y-You can be more calm when asking such vital information without any collateral!" Subaru stuttered out, trying to prevent Priscilla from doing anything rash.
But his worrying was doing nothing but inflame Priscilla more.
"Your hypocrisy is nothing short of pathetic!" She spits toward him, her fiery glare turning to him. "Have you forgotten how loud the yapping for your master was but a few moments ago?!"
"No need to be nasty! I'm in the same boat as you and this girl too!" Subaru's responded, his voice increasing in volume as he glares back.
Priscilla gives him a piercing look, causing him to slightly fidget.
"... You would do well to understand we are worlds apart, half-elf's pet."
"..."
For some reason, that had struck Subaru more than it should've. He felt genuinely worried about the little girl and he only wanted to help.
While the boy was struck into silence, Priscilla turned from him with a huff.
"Such a waste… Aldebaran shouldn't have allowed such theories about you to flourish in his mind."
"Al? Was he with you and Emilia-tan?" Subaru perked up at the mention of the other person in this world with a similar origin to himself.
But he only received a cold shoulder and a scathing comment.
"Back to barking about that girl again," she clicks her teeth and opens her fan to keep herself busy.
"You know that we can cooperate much better about this? The guy trapping us here is in no hurry to answer and we still don't know why this girl looks so familiar…"
As he said this, Subaru noticed another hair strand fall on the girl's face. He smiles and moves a finger to touch the strand, only for another hand with softer skin to move the hair away from the little one's face.
"... Mineself will be more generous towards you." Priscilla boasts. "You shall leave this one's care to mineself."
Subaru retracted his hand and noticed how neatly Priscilla's fingers tucked the fallen strands of hair behind the girl's ear. It was the most caring Subaru had seen the red lady, her actions akin to a mother caring for her daughter.
He watched as her hands moved all over the girl's dress to iron out any lingering dust or wrinkles.
"Mhmm… I have no problem with that if you promise to be more careful with how you ask stuff of this creepy guy holding us hostage."
Priscilla raised a brow at him while fixing up another part of the girl's dress. "... Mineself will take this into account."
She moved herself so that she was closer to the girl and able to pull back some of the beautiful midnight hair behind the shoulders.
While she cared for girl, Priscilla demanded of him an impossible task.
"If you truly wish this goddess to help you through here. I demand only one thing."
Subaru nods his head, though mentally prepared himself for what she demanded of him. "That's… modest and fair of you? Sure."
"You shall not ask about the will-being of your friends and leash holder until we come out of this room." Priscilla finishes tying up the little one's hair into a ponytail and turns to the boy..
"No way. Emilia, Beako, and the rest will always be on my mind no matter what happens. Everything I do will be for them." Subaru gives a firm answer, with full knowledge that it was the wrong one.
Priscilla gave him a look of understanding as she went back to look at her handy work and fix anything she saw as imperfect upon the little girl's attire.
"'Tis an expected outcome from a man on a leash. I'd have Aldebaran's head if he was in the same position and took a different route than yours."
Subaru finds himself sighing in relief. Surprisingly, the red lady didn't abuse him for his loyalty towards his friends. She even kind of compliments it.
"However," she her cold tone causes Subaru to to narrow his eyes, "you are not Al. You are not loyal to mineself. Even so, the world's will is my favor and this divine mercy shall be placed upon you under that one condition."
"Why is it important to you anyway?" Subaru asks, genuinely curious as to why the arrogant noble woman he's despised for suddenly pushed to control this aspect of him. "How come worrying about my friends is a hindrance to you?"
The lady snorts. "Have as many delusions as you want, but this goddess assures you that nothing related to that half-elf is a hindrance to me." She gives him a smirk while placing a hand to pat the girl who was now moved on her lap. "Mineself only wishes to impress upon you a most important lesson for an upcoming knight."
Baffled at the statment, Subaru's confused stare meets the princess's disinterested one. "And this lesson would be?"
The Baroness hugs the girl comfortably and aims a cocky grin towards the boy that caused him to sigh, he knew what to expect to come after.
"... Worry about our escape from here because of selfish reasons. Not because you wish to continue licking someone's boot."
"Ah… Wha—"
'"Tis as simple as that." Priscilla turns away from the confused boy and continues to hold the girl with one arm on her lap. "Forget about the half-elf and the rest of your useless friends and start working with me for your own head instead."
Subaru looks at the ground with his lips thinned to silence. His mouth suddenly felt very dry.
"A man should always be working for himself after all~"
"I don't know why you are trying to teach me this, nor do I really care about your intentions since we are clearly far apart, as you said." Subaru turns away himself with hands clenched on his knees.
"But." Priscilla's eyes move to him. "I promise to do my best in this regard, because I want to help this girl more than I want to be petty and prove you wrong."
"Hm… adequate I suppose." Priscilla gives the girl a pat on the head and looks at the 'television' in front of them.
"You got his answer. Now talk." Her voice is loud and clear, making Subaru stare at her in confusion.
"Finally. I thought he would never stop dragging this along."
"Huh?!" Subaru jumps, realizing he got tricked into caring for himself by both the Warden and Priscilla.
"Sorry, my guy, but you will need to get ready for these types of lessons from her. She has a lot to give you. Just learn how to take it." The man explains and hides the sounds of explosions behind him by coughing.
"..." Subaru only turned at the woman sitting as she laid back on the couch with naught a care in the world, pointedly ignoring his glare..
"Now that Priscilla's finished doing what she wanted to do. I can move this along."
"Who's the girl?" Subaru grits his teeth and ignores what's been done to him for now.
"That right there is someone related directly to Priscilla."
"We did guess. I mean the resemblance is uncanny." Subaru and Priscilla nod their heads.
"Is she a sister of yours?" He asks Priscilla.
The lady seems to think for a moment. "This little one… could be, yes. Though dark black hair is very rare in this world."
"It is?" Subaru looks upwards to the few of his hair strands that he can see. "Huh. I didn't know that black hair was a special thing."
Priscilla sighs. "Such a commoner way of thinking. If the sky rained in another part of the world you would be inclined to make it a sign about how special you are. Have some pride."
"... It was a legitimate thought." Subaru didn't know why but he felt the need to hide his face out of embarrassment.
"Whatever suits you." Priscilla shrugs and continues to stare at the ceiling.
"Right. Anyways. This girl was injured in the outside world, and I placed her here to heal her. I thought I would give her some company so I brought you two into the same room."
"How did she get injured?" Priscilla finds herself staring at the boy beside her with surprise. His question was heated and quick, the focus in his eyes was unmatched by even her own. It was a spectacle to see.
"Don't get overprotective on me." The man laughs to the annoyance of both Priscilla and Subaru.
"Answer his question." She orders.
"Isn't that what makes these things so fun? She needs time to heal in here, so why don't I answer all your questions about her in a more fun and comprehensive way?"
Priscilla's eyes widen at Warden's words. "You would dare not…"
"Hm? What's going on?" Subaru turns to the lady, desperate to understand why she was suddenly angry at Warden. "What do you think he's doing?"
"He's wasting mineself's time and it shall earn him a crispy ending, that's what." Priscilla hisses. Her grip tightening the point Subaru wanted to snatch the little girl away from her lap out of worry she might crush her.
But he noticed that Priscilla merely had a hand patting the girl's head and another holding her fan to her lips, so he immediately calmed down.
It was still confusing how different her hands and her face were though.
"I assume you already figured out my challenge. And you would be right."
Subaru looks at Priscilla and the little girl again. He noticed that her glare only grew more intense as the TV screen in front of them lit up with a white background.
His face twists into shock as Warden's serious tone echoes across the room.
"To get out of here and back to your normal lives, you'll have to watch this little one's story and the connection she has to the both of you."
"Wait... Watch her story?" Subaru' whispered as his breath was whisked away at the sight inside of the TV.
Priscilla looked from the child on her side to the TV before her with a look of pure fury. She understood how this game would be played and her blood boiled for not being able to get immediate answers about the child.
Her anger would diminish once she hears Subaru's heartbroken whisper to the screen.
"This can't be… Mom?"
Priscilla turned to the boy with widened eyes.
"This will not be good for Natsuki-san to deal with alone." Otto worried tone echoed across the theater. His crestfallen expression was mirrored by many at the sudden turn of events that they had witnessed.
"Even after that explanation from the entity that holds us here without any merit or dignity, the disrespect to Emilia-sama's authority shouldn't be forgiven." Crusch spoke up, earning many nods from the others in the theater.
The half-elf herself merely stared at the flashing theater window, her face devoid of any expression.
"Subaru… He's been taken away from us and put with Priscilla-sama… Alone?"
Her soft voice was tired as her eyes glazed over. She hated what had just happened.
"Do you want to get him and Priscilla back into the theater, Emilia?"
"Yes." Emilia answers without hesitation, desperate for Subaru to return to her.
"Then you'll have to get to him by watching something different. Forget about the continuation of Subaru's story for now."
Emilia's eyes wander toward Rem and Crusch. She looked at them with silent guilt. "I know that I could not be more cruel to ask this from the both of you… but."
"Emilia-sama." Crusch interrupts. "Watching my greatest defeat at the hands of Gluttony can wait for as long as I can conceal that shame." The duchess mischievously smiled. "You'd be doing my camp a favor."
"... I wish to see this as well, Emilia-sama. My feelings are the exact same as yours right now." Rem states as she levels a small frown torwards Emilia, also upset at the suddent turn of events.
The half-elf nodded her head to the two girls and turned to the rest of the people behind them.
"I'm sorry about this everyone. The frenzy I caused after Subaru was taken from me was unladylike and it will haunt me for a long time… but I ask for you to indulge in this for a little while longer until we get him back."
"No need to act like the leader of this crew, we want answers too. Not that I ain't as miffed as you that he took the baroness to find your knight instead of someone reliable." Anastasia says this with a small huff of frustration.
"Oi, princess is more than reliable to find someone when she has her head straight. Especially since she was the one chosen to get our bro back." Al comes to defense of his master's name, even if many did not agree with him.
"I admire your will to defend your master." That was all Julius had to say before he sighed and returned to Anastasia's side.
"Let's get to it, big sis." Felt turns to Emilia, determination sparkling in her ruby eyes.
Emilia gives a final nod and turns to her side. She gave Beatrice a look of expectation that was returned by one of determination.
"Betty trusts you, I suppose. Subaru wouldn't let anyone else have the lead, in fact."
Thanking the spirit with another nod, Emilia ignored everyone around her and turned to the placate window towering above them all.
"Give me my knight back." She orders, her voice confident and sure.
"Then watch and get him." The warden's bemused voice responds.
Emilia's eyes were blinded by white light as the screen finished flashing its final string of images.
"Wha…"
And once again the screen began to play.
Author's note:
Holy shit this took way too long to make. I don't know why, but forcing myself to write through burnout has taken away all ability to make compelling interactions possible. I'm speed writing on my phone for most of this so I don't really know how the chapter will turn out in the end. I hope it's enjoyable enough for what's to come.
Editor's note:
Thank you to twisted for carrying this fic surely he will receive so much praise and get mod for his efforts surely (i apologize if this is too much to be considered a joke asm tired)
Author's note 2:
It's alright. I'll keep it in just so people can know how much of a manwhore you are. Love u.