I do not own Re:Zero or any of the characters.
Whale of a Tale
Ian watched as Subaru mulled over the information about his curse that Ian had just told him. Finally, he nodded.
"It makes sense," Subaru said. "And this third guy, Al, he'd the one from that meeting, right? With Priscilla?"
"Yeah," Ian nodded. "Aldebaran. I don't know if he's an ally."
Subaru nodded. "Can you kill Petelgeuse?"
Ian thought back to his fights with the freak, who had told Subaru his name was Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti. "Yes. But only if I'm the only person there and there aren't too many cultists. If there's too many, they'll overwhelm me, but if there's someone else there, I'll be too worried about them to focus on the fight."
Subaru nodded. "Okay. Now, let's get the others to help us evacuate."
Ian nodded. "And we'll need Wilhelm with us for when we get ambushed."
Subaru nodded and they headed to the main room, asking Wilhelm to get Crusch and Felix for them as Rem brought Ian the water he'd asked her for. While they waited for Wilhelm to return with the others, Ian briefly explained what was going to happen and Rem nodded, worry spreading over her face immediately. He wrapped his arms around her and she curled into his side. Then, finally, the others arrived.
"Some people calling themselves the Witch's Cult plan to attack Roswaal's domain in three days," Subaru explained, once everyone that wanted to sit had done so. "I want to ask for you help in stopping them."
"Interesting," Crusch said. "It would appear that they have made their move, then."
"It would seem so," Felix agreed. "Of course, from the very first time we saw Miss Emilia, a half-elf, entering the scene, this household predicted that something like this was bound to happen."
"I understand the situation," Crusch said. "My next question is why you chose me to assist you."
"I intend to ask Felt if we can borrow Reinhard after this," Ian said. "Aside from that, out of the three that remain, you seem the most likely to help right now. Your aid so far may have been a contract with Emilia, but you don't seem the type to allow someone innocent to die simply because it'll make your path to the throne easier. Or have I misjudged you, and you're as selfish as Priscilla?"
Crusch was silent for a long moment. "If you wish to negotiate, you need to show me what I stand to gain by getting involved. There's nothing further to discuss otherwise. If with my assistance you can eliminate the threat posed by the Witch's Cult, what would my profit be? What would I stand to gain by intervening in this affair at all?"
"If you agree to help me out with this problem, I'll owe a huge debt to your camp," Subaru said.
"Subaru," Ian said warningly.
"Anything within my power," Subaru finished.
"Should I choose to accept that proposal, it would mean Emilia's withdrawal of her Royal Selection Candidacy," Crusch said. "You do understand that, don't you?"
Subaru's mouth fell open.
"What'd you expect?" Crusch asked. "To place the survival of your domain in the hands of another lord calls into question your ability to rule a nation. With that in mind, I ask again. If you incur a debt to me through this deal, it will mean the elimination of Emilia's camp from the race. Are you certain that's what you want?"
"Forget this," Ian said, standing. "Let's go, Rem, Subaru. We'll get Reinhard and Felt to help. They don't need to help defend the domain. They'll be helping Rem take revenge on the cult for the destruction of her home village."
"Okay," Rem nodded.
"Right," Subaru said, standing. "We'll only need Reinhard himself anyway."
"Wilhelm, Felix," Crusch said calmly.
Ian stopped as he heard the scrape of a sword on the edge of its scabbard. He turned, staring at the pair of them, both holding one of the Lugunica Knighthood's standard-issue rapiers. "Don't make this mistake."
"I'm interested in knowing how exactly the two of you know the exact time and location of an attack by the Witch's Cult, something that no one before yourself has ever been able to know ahead of time. The only explanation I can come up with is that you are members of the Witch's Cult yourselves. Most likely not Rem, but the two of you."
"Miss Crusch, please don't joke about such things," Rem said. "You know full well that neither of them is one of their members."
"Really?" Crusch asked. "Given everything that was said, if they can't explain how they know these intricate details, then I can draw no other conclusion. Have you never sensed or questioned any such inclination in them?"
"Not once, ever," Rem said firmly.
"Regardless, I can not offer any help to Emilia under these circumstances," Crusch said. "Furthermore, I-"
"Who gives a fuck what you think?" Ian snapped. "You can sit here and be self-absorbed all you want. We have a better plan than you anyway!" He turned to the door again. Let's go."
"Take one more step, and I'll instruct Wilhelm to kill you all," Crusch said.
Ian turned, drawing his own sword, Felix tensing, while Wilhelm gave no indication of preparing for a battle, though Ian could tell he was entirely prepared. "Anyone who lays a hand on Rem dies. I don't care if you help Emilia or not, but I will not allow Rem to be harmed."
"We just need to kill every last one of them," Subaru said, everyone looking over at him, seeing a wide, crazed look in his eyes, which were shining with blood lust. "If we just kill every last member of the Witch's Cult, that'll solve all of our problems. It'll solve everything."
"And for that, we need Reinhard, not Crusch," Ian said. "Now, for the last time, let's go."
Rem stepped past Ian, toward the door, and Subaru headed after her. Ian stopped at the door, glaring back at Crusch.
"I truly hope you never become the ruler of Lugunica," Ian said. "You would turn a blind eye to the weak who need help unless it benefits you. If you were the ruler, you'd allow entire domains of Lugunica unless they could offer up acceptable compensation to protect them. Even Priscilla would be a better ruler."
And with that, he left. He caught up to the others out front, and Rem turned to face him.
"Reinhard said something the other day about being away from the capital for a courtesy call," Rem said.
"Dammit," Ian growled. "We'll have to handle it ourselves then. Since we can't fight the cult as they are, we'll need to evacuate the village."
"We will need substantially more Dragon Carriages than the one we'll be riding in," Rem said.
"We'll hire merchants," Ian said. "We should, theoretically have enough money for three carriages."
"Okay," Rem nodded.
"We can't handle it alone," Subaru said. "We'll have to find someone else to help." He looked up. "We'll have to find an inn for the night. Tomorrow, you start getting carriages to evacuate. Rem, you head to the Knights' Station. I'm going to talk to one of the other candidates."
"Priscilla," Ian guessed, Subaru nodding.
Ian nodded as well. He wasn't sure about Priscilla, but Al would most likely be very useful. They all headed to an inn and got a room for the night. However, none of them were able to sleep. Ian's mind was filled with memories of facing Petelgeuse, and of watching Rem die. Rem's mind was filled with worry about her sister and the others, and Subaru was remembering Rem being tortured to death by Petelgeuse while trying to rescue him after Ian was killed the second time. By morning, all three were exhausted, but they quickly left to complete their jobs. Just before sunset, Rem and Subaru arrived, Subaru giving the owner of the Dragon Carriage stabile a note from Anastasia, getting them an extra carriage.
"This is all we could get," Subaru said, then fell silent, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he bit his lip so hard it bled.
"Stop that," Ian said. "Calm down, Subaru. We knew this would be the result. Getting mad is only going to make things harder."
"We need to hurry," Rem said. "We'll be cutting it close as it is."
"And if we're too early, we'll be ambushed again," Subaru said.
"We'll be careful," Ian said, climbing onto their carriage and pulling Rem up after him, Subaru climbing into the back.
"We're counting on the two of you to protect us," one of the three merchants Ian had hired said.
"We'll do what we can," Ian said. "If we're attacked on the way, don't stop no matter what. If we get there and the village is under attack, we'll draw their attention."
The merchants all nodded and they all set out, pushing their Earth Dragons hard. As they were traveling, however, they spotted someone in a green robe and hat with silver hair standing on the side of the road where several carriages were parked. The person waved to them and they all slowed to a stop, Ian looking around at the five carriages.
"We need your help!" Ian said urgently. "We need to evacuate a village in the Mathers Domain!"
"Wha..." one of the other people standing nearby shook his head, he and the others walking over. "All the way from here to the Mathers Domain?"
"We don't have time to discuss it!" Ian snapped. "Get in your carriages and follow us! She'll die if we don't hurry!"
They all looked around at one another, Rem glancing at Ian in confusion, before the one that had flagged them down stared at the ground.
"That's...a really long way," he said. "We were planning to camp here for the night, then leave in the morning. You're all welcome to stay with us."
"What you're saying makes perfect sense," one of the other merchants with him grinned. "But you were just hoping to find someone to buy that oil you bought out of season, weren't you?"
"Oh for f..." Ian grit his teeth and rested his face in his hands.
"They're all going to be okay," Rem said, setting a hand on his shoulder. "We'll save them."
"Otto," Subaru said. "I will buy all the oil you have in your carriage, but I'm going to need a favor from you in return. Come with us and leave tonight." He looked around at the rest of the merchants with Otto. "All of the merchants here, anyone who's willing to sell transport for money, sell it to me. We're transporting people!"
"People?" Otto gasped, then paused. "The evacuation."
"That's right," Ian said. "Now will you come with us or not?"
"If we're evacuating, that means there's danger," one of the merchants said. "We'd have to charge-"
Ian tossed a sack of coins to the ground, allowing it to spill partially. "A equal share out of three of those after the evacuation is over!"
The merchants all looked around before nodding. A few minutes later, they were all on the way toward the Mathers Domain, Ian, Rem, and Subaru's carriage at the front. After a while, Subaru pulled a map out of his bag, then pulled out a cell phone, turning it on. It was a flip phone, an older model, as Ian remembered, to use the phone's light to look at it, telling Rem what it was, then telling the merchants around them to forget they saw it. As they looked at the map, Rem told them that they should see Flugel's Tree, a massive tree so tall it reached the clouds. No sooner had she said it, did the tree swim into view through the darkness. Around it, the rest of the trees looked like a grassland.
"Hey, where'd that other guy go?" Subaru asked suddenly, looking to their right.
Ian looked over and his eyes widened. The carriage that had just been there, driven by a man in a bandanna, was gone, and in its place was the edge of a fogbank.
"Shit!" Ian swore. "White Whale Fog!"
Rem gasped, she and Otto both steering away from it, and the rest of the merchants, of which Ian noticed a few more missing, shouted in fear and yanked hard on their reins, all of the merchants spurring their dragons faster as the fog began to close in behind them. Subaru turned his phone's light on again and shone it at a massive shadow in the fog beside them, revealing a massive white wall of flesh. Then, the flesh split open, a yellow eye nearly as tall as Subaru staring back at them. The whale suddenly reared up, shrieking deafeningly before an explosion of air shot off of it, a massive cloud of dust surging outward in all directions for miles.
Ian shouted in surprise as he and Subaru were both launched into the air by the initial blast. Ian grabbed Subaru instantly, activating his magic. Instantly, the hurricane winds blowing past them parted around him, allowing gravity to drag him back down into the back of Otto's carriage beside Rem, Ian's weight bringing Subaru down with him. Just as they landed, pores in the whale's side opened, fog exploding out of them, blasting a carriage and smashing it, the other carriages all swerving around the fog.
"What happened!?" Subaru shouted over the wind. "What the heck is going on!?"
"It's the White Whale!" Ian shouted. "Stay down! We've lost the dragon's Protection of Wind Break!"
"It's the only being with a body that massive that can fly through fog like that!" Otto shouted.
Just then, the whale roared again, the sound starting like any whale call before turning into a high, piercing shriek that stabbed into Ian's ears like knives. Subaru looked around, but saw nothing.
"Is it there!?" Subaru asked. "Do you see the White Whale!?"
"I can't see anything!" Rem shouted. "It's too dark!"
"What happened to the other covered wagons!?" Subaru shouted.
"It seems they scattered and fled, but I don't have any idea where they fled to!" Rem shouted.
"Dammit!" Subaru snarled. "After we finally found some transportation!"
Just then, the whale shrieked from behind them, an enormous shadow growing larger rapidly. Ian looked to the side, seeing a jar of oil and grabbed it, then leaned up beside Otto.
"Do you have anything to make a flame!?"
Otto stuffed his hand into his coat and pulled out a flint and striking stone, handing it to him. Ian ripped a piece of wood off of the carriage and tore a strip off of Rem's skirt, wrapping it around the wood before dipping it in the oil.
"Subaru, throw this!" Ian shouted, just as the whale began to inhale, nearly sucking Ian and Subaru in, the rest of the oil all sailing into its mouth.
Ian swore and struck the flint three times before managing to light his torch, hurling it after the oil. A split second later, Rem leapt into the air, horn extended, and slammed her flail into the whale's head, blood spraying out and its inhale ending before she landed beside Otto. A moment later, the torch found the oil and flames exploded out of the whale's mouth, earning a deafening shriek of pain.
"Run past it to the left!" Rem shouted to Otto.
Otto began to steer left as the whale gained rapidly, but it was faster and slammed into the side of the carriage. The rope Subaru was clinging to snapped, but In grabbed the chain just below the head of Rem's flail and leapt after him, catching him, then activating his magic again, allowing Rem to yank them both back to the carriage. As soon as they had landed, Ian stuck the flint over the last jar of oil Rem was holding, the one he'd planned to throw. As soon as a flame caught on the top, Rem hurled it into the whale's eye, the jar smashing and spreading flames over the side of its head. It shrieked in pain again, veering away from them.
"Nice!" Ian shouted over the wind.
"So did you get it!?" Otto shouted. "Did you bring it down!?"
"We're not going to be able to kill it!" Ian shouted, just as the whale roared, charging after them again, apparently intent on eating them.
"Why is it zeroing in on us!?" Otto shouted. "There are other carriages out there to pick from!"
"I don't know, but complaining won't change anything about it!" Subaru shouted.
"It's probably after me and Subaru!" Ian shouted. "And Rem, too, for hurting it!"
"Come on think!" Subaru growled. "Think, dammit! There's got to be a way out of this! Isn't there something we can do!?"
"There's one thing!" Ian shouted over the sound of the whale tearing along the ground after them, gripping his sword. "We can reset!"
"Not yet!" Subaru shouted.
"Subaru," Rem said. "Here, I want you to take this." She passed him a bag of coins.
"Wait, did you come up with something?" Subaru asked.
"I'll jump off this carriage and intercept it," Rem said. "And in the mean time, you three can escape the fog."
"You're not going anywhere," Ian growled, taking her hand.
"Mr. Otto," Rem said, taking her hand back. "Please take care of Subaru and Ian. Subaru has the payment we promised you."
"What!?" Otto shouted. "My payment!? That's the least of our problems right now! We have to stay alive first!"
"I told you, you're not going anywhere!" Ian snapped as Rem stood, Ian also standing.
"I'm not very smart, so this is the only plan I could come up with," Rem said.
Just then, the wheel hit a rock, throwing Rem forward into Ian, who instinctively caught her in a hug, his back hitting the side of the carriage. Behind them, the whale shrieked, closing in again.
"Okay," Ian said. "You can go. But I'm going with you."
Rem hesitated before nodding. Ian smiled and leaned in, kissing her, Rem kissing him back instantly. After a few seconds, they pulled away as the whale shrieked again.
"You can't go!" Subaru shouted. "I won't let you go!"
Rem smiled at him, then chopped him in the side of the neck, knocking him out. As she set him down and picked up her flail, Ian drew his sword.
"Shall we?" Ian asked.
Rem smiled and nodded. "I love you."
"I love you, too," Ian smiled. He turned to leave, then paused. "Hold on. That merchant that had the bandanna, do you remember him?"
"Merchant with a bandanna?" Rem frowned. "I don't remember one wearing a bandanna."
"I thought not," Ian nodded. "Hold on a second."
He knelt, grabbing a piece of paper and a pencil from Otto's supplies, writing out a note for Subaru to ask Beatrice about the White Whale's abilities if everyone forgot them, then stuck the note in Subaru's pocket. Then, he nodded to Rem. Rem nodded and the two of them leapt off of the carriage, charging at the White Whale, Ian activating his magic as he ran. The whale shrieked as they neared it and Rem jumped, spinning and slamming her flail into its nose again, deepening the wound she'd made earlier. As she did, Ian shot past it on the side, slashing along its side, only to notice that his sword barely managed to cut into it. He grit his teeth, leaping away from it. The whale's flesh was as hard as rock. He focused his magic into his blade and shot back toward it. As he slashed it this time, his blade carved deep into it, blood spraying out behind him. He switched the magic back to his body, using it to race forward along the whale, barely able to move faster than it. Finally, he launched himself into the air to the eye, driving his blade into its eye, which was blackened and partially melted from the fire before. When he drove his sword hilt-deep into the eye, it instantly carved backward to the edge of the eye socket before tearing free. He used his magic to race along the whale's back to where Rem was slamming her flail into any part of it she could reach.
"Rem, blind it!" Ian shouted.
Rem nodded and flipped over it, swinging her flail down to the eye, where it punched a gaping hole into it. Ian flipped down to the one he'd wounded before and drove both legs into it, grimacing, then drove his sword into it, ripping it around and around in the eye around him until his legs tore free of the eye. Again he used his magic to race along its hide. As he reached the head again, Rem moved to swing her flail down at its horn, apparently meaning to break it off, only for a pour to suddenly unleash a massive jet of fog, Rem vanishing inside it.
"Rem!" Ian shouted, then roared in rage, streaking forward, avoiding three jets of fog before flipping down and driving his sword into it's flesh around the base of the horn.
He flipped down around it, carving a deep gash around it, but just as soon as he reached where he'd been again, three pours around him, blasted him with fog. For a moment, there was a massive blast of unbearable agony. Then, there was nothing.
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