I do not own Re:Zero or any of the characters.
Tower
Ian smiled as he walked into the Green Room. The Tower's fourth floor was a smaller interior room, the the outside of the chamber ringed by doors. One of them was covered in vines and leaves, as were the inside if the room, however, the plants, he realized, were a spirit. The inside of the room was free of miasma, and deep in the back, Patrasche was being tended to by the spirit.
"This room's incredible," Ian smiled.
"Yeah," Subaru nodded. "So many plants in a desert."
Ian chuckled. "The plants are a spirit, Subaru. A non-verbal one, but it's healing Patrasche, and both of us." Ian extended his horn, absorbing a little of the excess mana and felt what miasma was in his body be purified by the pure mana the spirit was releasing. He retracted his horn again, and reached up to the two green crystals hanging from his neck, Wolf and Aria both appearing from them instantly.
"Excellent choice of a place to wake us," Wolf said.
"I had such a nice nap!" Aria said, stretching, then looked around. "Oh! Hello!"
"Listen carefully, both of you," Ian said. "We're being guided by a currently friendly humanoid Mabeast named Shaula. I'm going to give you both mana, then you're both going to stay awake. Aria, you can go back to Elena, as you're contracted to, and Wolf will stay with me. Be ready for a fight, but don't start one."
Both spirits nodded and Ian sent them both mana before Wolf returned to his crystal, awake this time, and Aria returned to her ball of light form and followed him out of the room before speeding off to Elena. As she did, Ian walked toward Rem and Ram, only to raise an eyebrow as he was passing where Elena and Frederica were talking.
"But...I thought we were..." Frederica trailed off.
"We are," Elena said. "But it's not necessarily wrong to have multiple partners as long as everyone is willing to share. Just look at Ian, Rem, and Ram. Hell, two of them are even sisters. Do you think they're wrong?"
Frederica frowned, then shook her head slowly. "They both love him, and love each other, so it's alright for them."
"And you love me, don't you?" Elena asked.
Frederica hesitated. "I'm not sure. But I don't want to lose you."
"And I don't want to lose you, either," Elena said, then shifted around behind Frederica before directing her gaze at Shaula. "But let me ask you, do you think she's physically attractive, Mabeast aside?"
"Yes," Frederica said, after a moment of hesitation.
"Could you honestly say you wouldn't enjoy seeing her naked?" Elena asked.
"No," Frederica admitted, again after a pause.
"Are you really not curious how her tongue would feel between your legs, or what she'd taste like?" Elena pushed in a hoarse, arroused whispher, one of her hands just below Frederica's breasts and the other brushing along her waist and just below it.
Frederica shivered slightly, leaning back against Elena before answering in an equally thick, aroused tone, "A little."
"Then would it really be so wrong to at least give it a chance?" Elena asked. "If it doesn't work out, or you don't like it, then I promise I'll be only yours again. By why not give her a try first?"
Frederica swallowed hard, then nodded. "Okay. We can try."
Elena smiled and nodded, turning Frederica's head around enough to lean forward and giver her a hungry kiss. Ian shook his head. He didn't know how Elena managed it, or how many girls she had to pick up, or get rejected by, to get so good at manipulating Frederica, but if she actually managed to seduce Shaula, Ian would be a bit annoyed, considering how hard he had to work for Rem and Ram, compared to how hard Elena had to work for Frederica, and maybe Shaula soon.
He sighed, directing his gaze upward. It had been decided that everyone would undertake the trials. Shaula had explained the rules, led them to the stairs upward, which were straight between the third and fourth floors, and Julius had explained in very vague details, that the others, minus Ian, Elena, and their girlfriends, had no idea how to pass the first trial when they'd reached it. Ram remained adamant that she could pass it, or else would just blast their way out of the room, but Ian was pretty sure she wouldn't actually try. Especially since it broke one of the rules. However, all thought of breaking the tower fell away as they reached the first room, all of them looking around. The entire room was so perfectly white that Ian couldn't see the walls, ceiling, or even the floor, save for the entrance to the stairs. Not even a shadow betrayed the existance of an end to the seemingly endless white void they were suddenly in.
However, there was one other decoration. A black, quadrilateral slab about the size of a twin matress from the front but only a few inches thick. Subaru decided to call it a monolith, and Julius identified it as the "enigma" that had been the main problem of the test before. Beatrice said that the test would begin when the slab was touched, so Ian walked forward, stopping before the monolith just as Subaru stepped up behind him. Ian glanced back at the others, and Elena leaned on Frederica's shoulder, nodding that she was ready if he needed to use his Authority. Ian returned the nod and turned back to the front, then reached out, pressing him palm to the slab's surface. It was smooth and hard, but it didn't feel like metal, stone, glass, plastic or any other substance he'd ever felt. And a moment later, it began to glow. Except, that was the wrong word. It was radiating something like light, but the light was the same shade of jet black as the monolith itself. Darkness, maybe, if he had to call it something besides light. And then, dozens more Monoliths shot out of the first, scattering around the room in a flash, all ending at odd positions, but none of them hitting anyone, or attacking. Ian's hand released the hilt of his sword again, falling to his side, and he looked around just as words were whispered voicelessly in his mind.
"Touch the brightest of the hero destroyed by Shaula."
Subaru jumped, but Ian frowned. He hated riddles. He looked around, thinking hard. The brightest of the hero destroyed by Shaula. The wording was odd, which usually meant it was also the key to answering correctly.
"This would be the Trial you meant, right, Shaula?" Subaru asked.
Shaula nodded. "Looks like it, right? I wanna see Master flaunt his forte!"
"Don't start saying stuff like a band would at a drinking party!" Subaru snapped.
"Subaru," Ian said. "Focus. It's a riddle, and I assume that we answer by touching the correct monolith."
Subaru nodded, looking around. "They're spaced weird."
"And the wording," Ian said. "The brightest of the hero destroyed by Shaula. It's almost like it doesn't mean there are multiple heroes, or the grammar would reflect that."
Subaru nodded. However, before they could do much else, Julius had Subaru touch a Monolith ar random. This time, it shone so blindingly white that everyone had to shield their eyes. And when they looked around again, only the original Monolith remained. Julius placed his hand to it, and the Trial reset, exactly the same, including the riddle's words.
"So we can safely fail and try again," Ian nodded. "Good."
"Even we tried touching monoliths at random, we couldn't find an answer," Julius said.
"Ah, so you already tried brute forcing it," Subaru nodded.
"Brute force isn't the answer here," Ian said. "We need to solve the riddle first."
Subaru nodded, Ian beginning to wander around the room, muttering to himself as he tried to figure out the meaning of the riddle. Elena, realizing she wouldn't be having any deja vu episodes, joined Ian. Subaru, on the other hand, was discussing Shaula's past with Shaula and the others, taking the riddle literally. Ian ignored them. He doubted the riddle made by someone who he, Subaru, and Elena all agreed was from their world would be as simple as a history quiz about a Mabeast he'd had defending the tower. Although, he did catch Shaula saying Reid Astrea was human garbage, a piece of shit, and a bully. Translating it to slightly more mature terms, he was a cruel, selfish man with far too much power.
The Monoliths were all different sizes. Seven or eight were close to the original's size, but others were much smaller. Ian frowned at that. There had to be a significance to the size, as well. Ian stopped, turning in a slow circle before stopping entirely.
"Subaru," Ian said. "Come here. There's something I want to check."
Subaru jogged over, and Ian took his arm before activating his magic, using a blast of Wind Mana from his feet to lift himself and Subaru into the air. They passed higher than Ian expected, still not finding a ceiling before they could see the whole of the room. Instantly, he and Subaru saw it.
"No way," Subaru said.
"I knew it," Ian said. "These trials aren't for anyone from this world. They're for us. That's Orion."
"That bastard examiner," Subaru growled.
"It was Flugel," Ian said. "Flugel set these trials up, and the reason behind them is because he knew, eventually, someone from our world would come here and need access. But someone from our world couldn't succeed if it was this world's history."
Subaru nodded in agreement, and Ian flew them to the ground.
"Did you learn anything?" Beatrice asked.
"I solved it, Subaru announced. "Along with the line of thinking of this errant examiner, for now."
Shaula cheered. "That's Master for you! You're makin' me feel all tingly! Oh how I yearned for this!"
With Meili on her back, Shaula gave him a thumbs up and replied, then she shook her head vigorously.
Looking at that from the corner of his eye, Julius looked over to the group of Monoliths, and said, "I don't mean to doubt you right now. But please tell me how you managed to get the answer."
Subaru sighed, shaking his head. "It's nothing spectacular. Y'all needn't feel bad for not solving this. Because in the first place, the people who have a chance at solving this are few."
"Specifically, people from our home, where we have different names and legends regarding the stars," Ian clarified.
"The hero destroyed by Shaula, his name is Orion," Subaru said.
"Orion?" Everyone repeated, looking to Shaula in confusion.
"It's not her that destroyed him, and also, Orion's not a person," Ian explained. "Not a real one, at least. Shaula is, most likely not by coincidence, also the name of a specific star in a constellation. Specifically, it's a constellation shaped like a scorpion, much like this Shaula's true form, and the star that shares her name is the constellation's stinger. Orion, according to our legends about the stars, is a hunter and a hero who was killed by a scorpion, particularly that constellation, and the Gods of the mythology Orion and the scorpion come from transformed the scorpion into a constellation as punishment and so it couldn't hurt anything else, then transformed Orion into a constellation so that he could hunt the scorpion that killed him for all eternity. Or, at least, something along those lines."
"So...Orion...and the Shaula mentioned in this trial, they're stars?" Julius asked.
"So then, if this Orion is also a group of stars, 'the brightest of the hero destroyed by Shaula' would mean the brightest star in the constellation, right?" Anastasia reasoned.
"Should be, yeah," Ian nodded.
"The phrasing 'The brightest' is a bit of a roguish expression. In actual fact, stars shine in various different ways, sometimes they're always bright, other times they shine brighter only every so often," Subaru spoke up. "Considering that, there are two stars that fit the bill for the brightest in Orion. Rigel, in the lower right which shines consistantly, and Betelgeuse in the upper left, which varies and sometimes shines brighter than Rigel." He paused, then grimaced. "Guess I'll start with Rigel."
"It's Betelgeuse," Ian corrected him.
"Why?" Subaru asked.
"You think it's a coincidence that the supposedly omnicient Sage who knew that only someone from our home would know about this, also included a riddle involving Shaula's name, which he gave her, and a constellation with a possible answer that's the name of one of the Sin Archbishops we've dealt with?" Ian gave Subaru a knowing look. "The name's not a coincidence."
Subaru sighed, nodding, and pressed his hand to Betelgeuse. However, when the light faded, the room had reset. Ian blinked, looking around, then frowned.
"Well I'll be damned," Ian said. "Guess Flugel agreed with you more."
"Of course Master was right," Shaula said. "Master knows better than anyone."
Subaru sighed, restarting the trial, this time choosing Rigel. This time, when the resulting light faded, they were in a room made of stone and filled with infinite shelves filled with books and scrolls.
"The examiner's personality is just too wicked!" Subaru shouted, cutting off Emilia as she was congratulating him.
"Eeeeh!?" Emilia asked. "That's your first reaction!?"
Looking back to the surprised Emilia and everyone else watching him, Subaru gave a "my bad" as he continued to talk. "Although it's as everyone suspected, and I've indeed solved the riddle...but that it was solved like this is a huge issue. Or rather, it's unfair to all of you."
Emilia frowned. "Is that so? Subaru used esoteric knowledge to solve the riddle...is how it seems to me."
"Rather than saying I solved the riddle with my own knowledge, it's more like only someone specifically like me can solve this, is the issue here," Subaru clarified, then turned to Shaula. "Your master, seems to have been a guy with a decidedly wicked personality."
Shaula shook her head vigorously. "Nononono, why would you say that? It's unlike Master to be self-deprecating! Although the wicked personality bit can't be denied, it's still reasonable for the riddle to be solved! If it were Reid it would indeed be unsolvable...something about revealing another self and being unable to pass without victory in battle?"
Subaru shook his head. "That's horrifying, either way the tests would go nowhere."
All in all, the heroes of the past who had subdued the Witch of Envy all had terrible personalities. With this person, using knowledged from another world would probably work better.
Anastasia clapped her hands. "Alright, and now..." she glanced around. Stroking her scarf, she examined the shelves crammed with books. "Thanks to Natsuki's labors, the 'exam' was solved. That's excellent, but what's the point of the library? What kinds of books does it have? I find this quite curious."
Julius considered. "According to Shaula, this place is a trove of knowledge without bound and without break, is what she had said."
Bearing an expression as if she had forgotten her own earlier words, Shaula had her skin pressed against Meili's as she played with her. The expectations hadn't been high to begin with, but it seemed that Shaula's explanation of this Taygeta library was not forthcoming.
Beatrice sighed. "From that reaction, it seems that this is the first time Taygeta's been opened, in fact. Let's walk around and take a look, I suppose."
Subaru nodded. "Indeed." He paused, then grinned. "Hey you...could it be that you can't hold back anymore?"
That...might be the case, in fact," Beatrice admitted.
Clutching her dress from beside Subaru, Beatrice seemed to be speaking a tad faster than usual. Eyes gleaming softly, gazing about the library with fascination. Upon realizing the reason, Subaru forgot their circumstances and began laughing.
"Seems like, the Forbidden Archive wasn't some unpleasant memory to you," Subaru said.
Beatrice frowned. "It's not a particularly pleasant memory, I suppose. However, in any case, it's a place where Betty spent four hundred years, in fact. In addition..."
"In addition?" Subaru asked.
Beatrice hesitated, then spoke softly. "It's where Betty chose Subaru, I suppose. It's not a place that can be so easily forgotten, in fact!"
The unexpected words had Subaru's eyes go round, and Beatrice's turned her face away. But even from behind her reddened ears were plain to see, a clear sign of embarrassment.
"Saying words that would embarrass you of your volition, just what are you trying to achieve?" Subaru asked.
"Betty remembers everything about the Forbidden Archive, that is proof of memories of Subaru...is all, in fact," Beatrice said, still blushing.
Subaru seemed unable to contain himself. "You are...too cute!" He stroked her head, and Beatrice shrieked in surprise, only for her expression to fade into a satisfied one.
The scene had Anastasia and the others glance at them with amazement.
Subaru nodded, taking his hand back. "Alright, enough of the idle chatter, let's check out the library now."
Anastasia smiled. "What a sight for sore eyes. It really seems like a gentle exchange between parent and child, doesn't it?"
Subaru grimaced. "It'd at least be considered brother and sister, wouldn't it?"
Sticking his tongue out at Anastasia's opinion, Subaru straightened and glanced about at his surroundings. They stood in the center of a stone carved circular room. The structure itself was an extension of the tower, and the expansive design created a feeling of being left without boundaries. Aside from the large spiral staircase, the fifth and sixth floors had no particularly striking features to fill the vast empty spaces. And the fourth floor was in fact divided into several rooms, what Shaula had described as a versatile nest.
Yet the third floor filled the same empty space with rows upon rows of shelves, each tall shelf crammed with countless books. The circular room was designed to form small floors. Subaru's group was located on the lowest, surrounded by layers raising outward. The books were so numerous as to be uncountable. Beatrice's Forbidden Archive was also fairly crowded, but in terms of solely counting books, this place was by far victorious.
Subaru grimaced. "In order to find the book you want, it'd be nice if you could search with a computer."
Beatrice glared around at the books. "Within in the Forbidden Archive, Betty knew exactly where every book was, in fact."
"Amazing, you're a genius!" Subaru praised Beatrice's little show of smugness, then approached the bookshelf beside him.
Ian, Elena, Rem, Ram, and Frederica all walked away from the rest of the group, dexising there were too many books to search in such a tightly-grouped area.
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