I do not own Re:Zero or any of the characters.
Rescue
Ian leaned against the wall, sighing heavily as he watched the road to the village through the window. They'd gone on their trip to the village early. Subaru had been...troublesome this time. He'd asked Puck to teach him magic, learning he had Shadow Magic, but then he'd promptly exploded when he tried to use it. Not that Ian had done much better his first time. He still had the scars from his first time exploding. Of course his mana acting at all had been as much a surprise to him as it had been to the things he was fighting, or to Rem and Ram who got sprayed with his blood. He grimaced at the memory. Not a pleasant way to find out he could theoretically use magic, or what type.
After passing out from his magic acting up, Subaru had gotten back to work. Except, he'd run himself ragged trying to work without mana. He broke things, spilled thing, and then acted vaguely unhinged trying to clean it up. And all the while, he tried to keep up his usual ridiculous act, only for it to make him seem more crazy. And then there was the fact that he had accidentally done several things without having been told where to go to complete it, like finsing a replacement vase without being told where to look. Finally, it had come to a head with him breaking down and collapsing. Emilia had given him a lap pillow to make him rest, and Subaru sobbed himself to sleep.
"Ah, there you are," Roswaal said as he stopped behind Ian, Ian able to see he was wearing a suit and top hat in the window's reflection. "I'm going out for a bit. I leave their safety to you. Oh, and, if you are interested, this may prove to be an excellent time for you to sway Ram."
"I doubt very much that there's anything that I could do while you're away to change anything," Ian said.
"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure," Roswaal said. "Sometimes it's the small things, like a gift, for example, that can win a girl's heart."
Ian frowned, but Roswaal continued walking, leaving the house just as Subaru and the twins reached the door with a massive barrel of spices. Ian pushed off the wall, walking through the house quickly.
"Beatrice, please link your door to the foyer," Ian said as he walked, knowing Beatrice could hear anyone in the house. "I suspect Subaru's been cursed, and I'd like you to check Rem and Ram as well."
He made it to the foyer a moment later as the three of them walked in. Subaru chose Beatrice's door and the four of them walked in, Rem and Ram slightly confused about why they were being asked to come with Ian and Subaru.
"Come here, you three," Beatrice said.
All three stepped forward and she nodded.
"Only Subaru was cursed," Beatrice said.
"What?" Rem gasped.
"Cursed?" Ram asked.
"Alright," Subaru said. "Go ahead and get rid of it for me, will ya? I'm runnin' outa time here."
"Now, why should I do that?" Beatrice asked.
"I was expecting an unlovable response like that," Subaru said. "So, I came fully prepared to win you over. If I die, Puck is bound to be sad."
Beatrice paused for a moment before scowling at him. "You think too highly of yourself. Bubby wouldn't be all that disturbed if you died."
"Oh, on the contrary," Subaru said. "If I died, Emilia would feel at least a little bit shocked, and when Emilia feels shock like that, Puck takes damage, too. If you had the chance to have stopped it, what would he think of you?"
Beatrice growled in rage, stomping her foot angrily several times. "Alright, I'll go along with your smooth talk this time. But when all of this is over, I won't have anything to do with you again, I suppose!"
"Okay, but I'll always come back to ask for your help when I'm in trouble!" Subaru promised.
Beatrice sighed , holding up her right hand, which began to glow white. "I'll destroy the spell that was used in the curse, now, I suppose. It's burned into you in the exact spot on your body that the Shaman touched when he cursed you, so that'll act as our reference."
"Okay," Subaru nodded. "I'm ready."
She set her hand on Subaru's forehead, and closed her eyes. After a moment, black smoke began to curl out of the dog bite on his hand. Ian's eyes widened as Subaru stared at his hand.
"Black mist?" Subaru asked. "Creepy."
"Abhorrent is more like it, I suppose," Beatrice said, making a fist in the mist and clearing it, then shaking her hand. "There we go. All done, so relax. You'll be just fine now, I suppose."
Subaru stared at his hand and the bite where the mist had come from as he put two and two together.
"It was the dog," Ian said.
Subaru swallowed hard. "The kids are in danger. I have to get to the village!"
"Not alone," Ian said. "I'm coming with you."
"Wait!" Ram said.
"If you don't trust me, then you're more than welcome to come along," Subaru said. "But we can't just leave Emilia defenseless here all by herself, which means only one of you can come!"
"You just made up that rule yourself," Rem said. "And if we are to follow Lord Roswaal's orders to the letter, then there's absolutely no reason for either one of us to go with you."
"You're right, there's not," Subaru said. "Can't argue that. But do you happen to remember the one and only order Roswaal gave me?"
"Very well, Barusu," Ram said. "I will allow you to act on your best judgement."
"I'm going with them," Rem said.
Ram watched her for a second, and the stern, decided look on her face, and sighed, nodding. "Very well. I will guard the manor. You three go to help the children."
They all nodded just as Emilia walked down the stairs.
"Subaru, are you leaving again?" Emilia asked. "I heard voices and thought I should come down and see what's going on." She saw the serious look on Ian and Rem's faces. "What happened?"
"It's more like something might be happening," Subaru said. "But you won't need to worry about all that."
"I'll bet you're going to do something dangerous again?" Emilia asked.
"Interestingly enough, we were just wrapping up a dispute on that subject," Subaru said.
"I can't talk you out of it can I?" Emilia asked.
Subaru laughed nervously. "I guess not, no. As a matter of fact, if you did try to stop me, it would be a real hinderance in a number of ways."
"Fine, fine," Emilia said. "It's okay, I get it. I won't try to stop you. It's probably no use telling you to be rash or reckless either, right?"
"Well, that depends, I guess," Subaru said. "I mean, it's not like I want to do rash or reckless things."
Emilia set her hand on his chest, bowing her head and closing her eyes with a smile. "Go with grace. May the blessing of the spirits be upon you."
"What's that mean?" Subaru asked.
"It's a good luck prayer," Emilia said. "It means come back safe, so you better."
Subaru nodded. "Thanks Emilia."
"Subaru, it's time to go," Ian said.
Subaru nodded and the three of them left the house quickly, sprinting toward the village. After a few minutes, they slowed to a stop as they found torches blazing through the village and the villagers carrying more and running around in a panic.
"Has something happened?" Rem asked as a young man with messy brown hair and a blue shirt was running by.
"Yeah, it's awful," the man said. "Several of the village children have suddenly gone missing, and now everybody is out looking all over for them."
"Was I too late?" Subaru asked.
"Not yet," Ian said. "We can still save the kids. We just need to find them first."
Subaru thought for a second before going rigid. "Wait, don't tell me, they're..."
"What?" Rem asked as he began to run, the other three nearby following. "What is it!?"
Subaru ran to one side of the village, stopping at a fence. Rem closed her eyes for a moment before pointing up at a crystal on a tree. Similar crystals encircled the village, but where most of them were glowing a bright, florescent green, this one was darkened. Rem pointed at it.
"The barrier's been broken," she reported.
"When something like that's been disturbed, what happens?" Subaru said.
"The barrier is like a fence around your house," Ian said. "Except instead of your neighbor's dog, it keeps out monsters called Maw Beasts, which were created by the Witch. If one crystal's down, there's a hole in the fence."
Subaru nodded. "It looks like the kids are out in the forest." He turned to the villager. "Get some help! Tell everyone!"
The man ran away and Ian set a hand on Subaru's shoulder.
"You need to be careful in there," Ian said. "There are hundreds of Maw Beasts there, probably more, and they all have some kind of magical powers. Assume that any that bite you will give the same curse as Beatrice broke before."
Subaru nodded, and Ian leaned close.
"If you reset, let me know and tell me what happened."
Subaru nodded again and the three of them ran into the forest, Ian drawing his sword and readying his curse. At the same time, Rem raised her hands, her flail materializing in her hands. Subaru looked over at her in surprise.
"Rem-Rem, is that a-" Subaru began.
"It's for protection," Rem said.
"It just seems so-"
"It's for protection," Rem repeated.
Subaru fell silent and they hurried through the woods. After a few minutes, Rem sniffed and reported that she could smell living creatures that didn't smell like beasts. She led them out of the trees to a field with rolling hills, all of the children lying on one of them.
"We found them," Ian said, looking around, then down at the kids, seeing bite marks. "We're too late. They're cursed."
"Rem, can't you do anything to reverse it?" Subaru asked.
"Not a spell of this magnitude," Rem said. "If only my sister were here. I'm sure she could do something." She dropped her eyes to the children again. "I'll try to do what I can. I'll use a healing spell to comfort them. Once they're calm, we can carry them back to the village."
"Yeah, sounds good, then I'll..." Subaru stopped. "Who am I kidding, I'm pretty much useless. I'll keep an eye out for-"
"Suba...ru," one of the children, a little girl, said weakly.
"Petra, you're awake!" Subaru gasped, kneeling. "Alright, good. You're a tough girl. I need you to save your strength though. Don't overdo it. I'll take you back home where you can say goodbye to the pain. Just rest up for the time-"
"One is...o-one is...still in...the," Petra's head rolled to the side as she fell asleep again.
"Hold on, what did you say!?" Subaru gasped. "Dammit, she's right! I don't see the little girl with the braid anywhere!"
"No, please don't go!" Rem said. "It's far to dangerous! And if the Maw Beast took her, it may already be-"
"Look, I know what you're saying, but-"
"I'll go with you, Subaru," Ian said. "I'll keep him safe. Rem, you get the kids back. If you're in trouble, make some noise and we'll come back for you."
Rem nodded, hugging him tightly. "Be careful."
"I will," Ian said. "I'll see you later."
"Please make sure Subaru survives," Rem said. "I have many questions for him."
"Don't worry about me," Subaru said. "I'm demonically inspired tonight."
"Demonically inspired?" Rem frowned.
"Demon version of divine inspiration," Subaru said. "For some reason, it's my favorite phrase recently."
"Let's go," Ian said. "We don't have time."
Subaru nodded and they began to run away from the hill, toward the far side of the woods, beginning to straight away from the village. After a few minutes, a breeze blew past, bringing with it the putrid scent of rotting flesh. They both grimaced and covered their noses before turning against the wind. A few minutes later, they entered a clearing with a fallen tree and spotted a pair of feet sticking out from behind the tree, small enough to be a child's. They both ran over to the little girl, Ian glancing at her and seeing she had blue hair in a braid and a blue dress with dirty sandals that had strings around her legs halfway up her shins. Just as they reached her, however, the bushes rustled and they turned, Ian raising his sword and readying his curse. The first Maw Beast stepped out of the trees. It was a demonic-looking dog with massive claws and fangs, reddish-brown fur, a pair of tusk-like fangs jutting up from the back of its lower jaws, a horn growing upward from the front of its snout, over its nose, black fur along the top of its body from its nose to its long, almost-reptilian tail, glowing red eyes, short bone spikes extending from its back along its spine, and glowing red lies running vertically along its sides over its ribcage.
"That is not the little puppy from before," Subaru said. "Did it transform into this monster?"
"That's the dog's true form," Ian said. "Though I doubt this one was that dog. As I said, there are hundreds of those here. The chances of us meeting that dog first are very slim."
"There's nowhere to run," Subaru said.
"You're right," Ian nodded. "This was a trap."
The Maw Beast stepped backward, disappearing into the shadows of the trees, and Subaru quickly pulled off his coat, wrapping it around his left forearm and hand. Suddenly, the dog charged out of the trees on their left, leaping at Subaru and biting down on his arm, though the coat protected him. Subaru shouted in effort, using the dog's momentum to swing it up over himself and smashing it down on a broken limb of the fallen tree, impaling it through the chest. It screamed in pain, growling for a moment before falling limp, its purple tongue lolling out of its mouth. However, just as Subaru stepped back from it, a few dozen more sets of eyes suddenly lit up in the trees around them. Ian stepped between Subaru and the trees instantly, narrowing his eyes. The dogs shot out of the trees and Ian shot forward. He ducked under the first, splitting it along the underside, then turned sideways, stepping between the next two as they tried to bite him. He spun, slashing both of them across the sides, then turned, a dog's jaws clamping around his throat, blood spraying out of its mouth.
He spun, slashing both of them across the sides, then ducked, the next dog narrowly passing over him, only for Ian's sword to split its underside, as he had the first. His sword arced down into the next, splitting its head diagonally. He spun out of the way of the body, driving his sword into the next one's face and instantly spun, ripping it back out before hearing a chain jangle. He dropped into a low squat just as Rem's flail burst out of the trees, sweeping over him and slaughtering the Maw Beasts around him. He stood and sighed, smiling at Rem.
"You made it," Ian smiled.
"The children have been safely returned to the village," Rem said. "We should get this one back as well."
Two dogs leapt at her from behind and she spun, even before Subaru shouted a warning, and smashed one out of the air with her flail before her free hand's fist slammed into the other's head, killing it.
"Whoa!" Subaru shouted, sounding panicked. "You're strong!"
"I'm not sure if that's a nice thing to say to a girl, Subaru," Rem said, then spun. "But thank you."
Her flail slammed into a Maw Beast's side and all but obliterated its body. A dog shot toward her from behind, but Ian stepped forward, slashing it across the side and the head, killing it and deflecting it away from her.
"Well that's the best word I can think of to describe you!" Subaru said, running over with the little girl. "You're seriously incredible!"
"Subaru, flirt later, run now," Ian said, watching the pack of Maw Beasts still swarming around the far side of the clearing.
"But how?" Subaru asked. "The village is that way!"
"We'll clear you a path," Rem said. "I'll start."
She sent out her flail blasting through one Maw Beast into the ground and sending up a massive cloud of dust. Subaru and Ian shot forward instantly, Ian slashing three Maw Beasts that were too close to Subaru for comfort and Subaru fled. Ian dropped into a squat, allowing Rem to swing her flail over him before catching up to him, both fleeing into the trees together. Subaru shouted to ask where to go, and Rem leapt into the air, telling him to go straight ahead. As she was in the air, a pair of dogs suddenly burst out of the trees, tackling Ian to the ground.
Rem leapt into the air, telling him to go straight ahead. As she was in the air, a pair of dogs suddenly burst out of the trees, crashing into each other as Ian ducked. Then, he slashed upward, removing both of their heads. Rem landed beside him and they continued to run. More dogs jumped out at them. Between the two of them, with Ian using his curse a couple of times, they were able to hold them at bay. However, suddenly, the ground began to rumble. They spun, seeing a massive flood of mud, sand, and broken trees racing toward them. Rem instantly spun, shoving Ian and sending him airborne into Subaru, both being knocked out of the way just before the flood slammed into her.
"Rem!" Ian shouted as she slammed into a boulder and flipped high into the air, blood spraying out of her mouth and a fresh gash in the back of her head.
Ian shot forward as she fell, barely managing to catch her but being knocked to the ground in the process. He looked around as Maw Beasts, now including the supposed puppy, surrounded the two of them, growling hungrily. However, suddenly, Rem stood, staggering a few feet to the side where her flail had landed, and picked it up before leaning back. Suddenly, pink light began to shine from her forehead before growing into her horn, her visible eye opening and shining with a matching light at the same time. Ian stood, grimacing. He stunk like the Witch. Rem began to laugh psychotically, as she always did when she used her horn's power. She also had a habit of attacking anything that smelled like the Witch.
Rem shot forward, swinging her flail rapidly, chanting, "Maw Beast!" over and over, with the odd, "Witch!" sprinkled in. The Maw Beasts charged, but she slaughtered them rapidly. However, she stopped as she spotted the puppy, grinning widely, only for half a dozen Maw Beasts to leap at her from the left. Ian and Subaru both shot forward, Ian moving to slash the Maw Beasts, and Subaru shoving Rem out of the way. Except, Ian stunk. Rem reacted on instinct, grabbing her chain so there was a loop in it and swung, slamming it into Ian's upper back hard enough to break his ribs and shoulder blade. Ian shrieked in agony, dropping his sword. Rem's eyes went wide with shock at her own actions, tears already flooding down her face and her horn fading. Then, the Maw Beasts had landed on him and Subaru, their jaws clamping down on them.
"Ian!" Rem shrieked, grabbing Ethan's sword and slashing the dogs biting Ian, trying to kill the ones attacking Subaru, but they managed to escape.
"Thanks for...the...save...Rem," Ian smiled before the pain dragged him away from reality.
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