Arc II: Shadows of the Past
Chapter 9: The Shadows Cast By Flames
It had been almost a year since Subaru's unexpected arrival; a year in which Emilia's shattered life had been pieced together–at least a tiny bit. Indeed, much of what she had thought she'd never reclaim had found its way back to her. While Geuse and Mother Fortuna were forever lost to her, she'd found a new family of sorts–or at least that's what Subaru and Clarissa insisted they were. While Emilia rea~lly didn't think that's how it worked, she liked the sound of it–so she didn't argue. They might be dullards, but they were her dullards and she wouldn't trade them for anything.
Even the village nearby had warmed up to her, after she and Subaru had repelled the bandit attack. In exchange for allowing them to gather pyroxene crystals from the forest under supervision, they had agreed to provide her with food and clothing as needed and to help keep the statues of the forest safe. The village had improved notably with the increased income, and the villagers had grown increasingly friendly to her and Subaru as they prospered. The headman of the village had even discussed moving them into a plot of land on the outskirts of the village–a move that all the three of them were still too wary to take them up on. The pained look on Clarissa's face had been all it took to convince her and Subaru that that was not the right idea.
Still Emilia had friends, almost family, and a community that was no longer terrified of her existence–she just knew she had to be the luckiest girl in the world. The only real thing she had to worry about, she cast her gaze fondly towards her roommate as he continued to slumber away, was Subaru's worrying tendency to overwork himself to the bone. Somehow Puck had got it into his head that he had to grow strong to take care of her–she could take care of herself, thank you very much–and he continued to work himself into the ground day after day trying to get stronger, learning magic, and learning to use the spirit arts. While his physical prowess and magic were still slow going, he had the makings of an excellent practitioner of the spirit arts.
Thinking about spirits Emilia let out a fond sigh– at Puck's urging they had contracted with some lesser spirits–although in this case the "they" ended up quite a bit more literal than anticipated. Whatever had tied her and Subaru's gates together also confused lesser spirits to the point that they were unable to distinguish between the two. Emilia was still just the slightest bit indignant that her naming attempts had been denied–Chunchunmaru was a rea~lly good name and no one would convince her otherwise. But Subaru had claimed the naming rights for the six spirits they contracted–she still cursed that goofy smile of his that had taken away her righteous indignation–and thus they were named: Charmander(fire), Squirtle(water), Pidgey(wind), Geodude(earth), Umbreon(yin), and Vega(light). Subaru had grumbled for quite a bit while naming Vega about there not being any "monsters" of that type–Emilia still didn't quite understand what he meant; she also didn't understand why he uttered nonsense like, "Charmander use Ember!" rather than just saying the incantation "Goa" properly.
Still Subaru had gotten rea~lly good at working with the spirits. Particularly, Subaru was capable of really impressive stuff when he worked with Umbreon combining his Yin magic with the spirit's. Subaru had managed to add Shamack, Vita, and Murak to his own magical repertoire, but had yet to be able to cast anything of el or higher tier without a spirit's assistance. Working with and learning from Umbreon, Subaru had also managed to truly cast minya properly–it turns out that Puck wasn't the best teacher for Yin magic. According to Subaru a proper minya "is a distortion in time, not a spear of shadows"-whatever that means. Honestly, sometimes Emilia just smiled and nodded when Subaru tried to explain things that gave her a headache. A particularly memorable event had been when Subaru had tried to teach her "math"-Emilia was quite certain that there should not be glyphs when doing math (it's supposed to be about numbers!).
Speaking of said numbskull, he was currently sleeping in for the first time in ages having run himself ragged "working out" yesterday. Emilia was contemplating getting a few nuts for a quick breakfast before curling back into bed, Emilia really didn't get to sleep in enough with how energetic Subaru tended to be in the morning.
Languidly she quietly, yet ever so clumsily, tumbled out of bed, her gaze still bleary with morning grogginess. She languidly stretched her arms over her head as she drowsily ambled about the room. Her nose wrinkled slightly as the odor of burning wood tickled her nose, a once familiar scent. With Puck's help, she and Subaru had taken to using magic to control the temperature in her hut and they hadn't needed to use the fireplace in months. Glancing to a nearby window, the normal morning light shone through quite dimly–almost giving the impression that dawn hadn't completely broken. Still Emilia felt qui~te refreshed, and she was pretty sure she hadn't woken up that early. Her morning breakfast plans were dashed as she glanced out the window, her inspection greeted by dark billowing clouds of smoke that painted the sky in a dark and eerie orange glow.
Startled, Emilia's foggy eyes sharpened and she sprinted out the door. Frantically casting her gaze left and right, an eerie red glow was cast off the snow melting in the distance. The once frozen forest was now on fire. Dumbfounded–Emilia took in the scene blankly for a couple seconds–her eyes unblinking, before her face tightened in realization. If the fire wasn't stopped it might melt and kill all the frozen elves–or even spread into the nearby village! For that matter was Clarissa even awake and able to escape?
"Puck!" Emilia cried, her normal bell-like voice shrill with panic. But several seconds passed with no answer.
"Puck!" "Puck!" "Puck!" Emilia practically sobbed as her cries for help went unheard, her voice beginning to rasp from those calls; as always Puck was away when she needed him most. The pupils of her eyes stretched wide and quavering, she gasped desperately as she set her brain ablaze trying to work out how to stop the fire. If Puck was here, surely he could handle the flames–but Puck wasn't here and she didn't know what she could do to slow down, much less stop the encroaching inferno. A wave of useless thoughts whirled about vainly in Emilia's head, nauseating her as she tried to figure just what she could do by herself.
But Emilia wasn't alone; a trembling hand gently landed on her shoulder. "Calm down, Emi."
While her cries for Puck had not summoned said spirit, they had not gone unheard. They had woken Subaru quite handily.
The nickname that Subaru had recently coined for her echoing in her head, Emilia's breathing steadied ever so slightly–even as her heart tried to burst out of her chest. Turning around to see Subaru's tense expression, however, did not reassure her as she had hoped. Indeed, Subaru himself was staring at the incoming conflagration in what could only be numb shock. Any chance they would have had to hash out a plan was interrupted as a maddened voice called out to the two of them.
"What a beautiful sight to see two so covered in HER love! DESU!" A madman's voice resounded across the forest, so gripping in its intensity that even the flames in the distance faded into the background.
Hesitant yet startled, Subaru and Emilia warily turned around–their cautious eyes assailed as the shouting man's eyes practically bulged out of their sockets with the force of his shout. Standing, or rather twitching in place, before them was a green-haired man, whose skin carried an unhealthy green hue, clawing madly at his face in inexplicable ecstasy.
"Ah, such a dazzling sight! The likeness to Satella is absolutely INCREDIBLE. And to be coated, nay awash, in SUCH LOVE, why you must have started the Ordeal all on your own. DESU!" With a shout so fierce that the edges of his mouth nearly reached his ears he rejoiced–crying tears of what an onlooker could only presume to be crazed jubilation.
Emilia tensed, no good could come out of anyone who sought her out in the name of the Witch of Envy, even if she hadn't seemed all that bad when she met her. The situation was even worse knowing that she DID have some connection to the witch. Subaru was stricken speechless, trapped between a raging forest fire and a madman.
Tilting his head left to right with such force that Subaru swore he heard the man's spine crack, he then introduced himself.
"My apologies. Despite the beautiful display of DILIGENCE before me I have failed to introduce myself. I am Petelgeuse Romani-Conti, the Sin Archbishop representing Sloth."
Petelgeuse took a deep bow before them. While Subaru merely remained stricken silent by the bizarre behavior of the man before him, Emilia had gone completely rigid and stared ahead blankly.
"Geuse," the name tumbled out weakly, her tone empty and despondent, falling somewhere between confusion and terror.
Noticing Emilia's state, Subaru's eyes hardened. "What do you want with us?" There was a quaver in his voice that betrayed the nervous churning deep in his gut. Something about Petelgeuse's very being unnerved some part of Subaru deep within.
Petelgeuse cupped his hand and wrapped it around his ear as he learned towards Subaru. He then gazed straight upon Subaru with bewildered eyes before deafening Subaru with a loud, "What!?"
Subaru's eyes blanked as he stared dumbfounded at the ever chaotic behavior of the man in front of him. Unease writhed about in Subaru's chest, something about Petelgeuse deeply unsettling him.
"How can two people so covered in the witch's LOVE not know of the ordeal, DESU!" Petelgeuse viciously dug his nails deep into his face leaving deep bleeding gashes, enraptured in apparent agony.
"Inconceivable!" The madman clawed once more slinging blood from his gouged face to stain the pristine snow beneath him.
"Ungrateful!" The madman looked as if he were trying to pluck out his own eyes with the viciousness with which he drove his fingers once more from his forehead to his chin.
"Slothful…" at the utterance of that word Petelgeuse seemed to come back to his own crazed senses.
"My apologies. With such abundant love on you, might you be Pride? You have received the gospel, yes?" Petelgeuse's face loosened in a manner that one might call expectant–perhaps even welcoming.
"Gospel?" Subaru asked, half out of sheer confusion–half out of a desire to give Emilia time to snap out of whatever had her trembling next to him.
"You have not received the gospel? How slothful of me to miss the very reason her providence has guided me to you!" Petelgeuse turned and grasped on to the nearest tree before smashing his forehead against the tree. Subaru winced once, twice, and thrice as the dull thuds echoed across the field–the sound pounding like a sharp drumbeat urging onwards the gentle roar of the ever encroaching flames. The biting odor of smoke in the air urged Subaru back to action.
"Squirtle. Charmander. I'm counting on you!" Subaru braced himself, preparing to rely on the two spirits to perform a feat far beyond him. Using a single spirit he could at best cast an el level magic, and by himself not even that. But working with the two spirits in tandem perhaps this might work, even better the air was absolutely brimming with mana today–he had more power at his disposal now than he'd ever had before.
"Ul Huma!" Subaru formed a wall of thick and tall icicles behind him. Hopefully these would stall the flames as they continued to encroach.
"It worked, I can't believe it," Subaru took in his feat wide eyed and breathless.
Indeed in physical ability Subaru was nothing spectacular, in magical ability he was mediocre, but in the use of the spirit arts Subaru had genuine talent. Huma was a spell which could be cast with both fire and water magic, and Subaru had combined the efforts of his spirits–a rare talent.
"Absolutely brilliant! I present to you the gospel–proof of LOVE!" The man tenderly outstretched his hands gently holding–cradling–the book as if it were a newborn infant.
"You will of course receive your own later, but onwards to the ordeal. The Ordeal that the two of you have spectacularly, diligently, unwaveringly started while I slothfully wandered blindly searching for HER vessel." Petelgeuse's unhinged eyes gazed upon Emilia as if she were salvation itself.
"I've had enough, what the hell are you talking about!?" If Petelgeuse was offended by Subaru's rude outburst, it didn't extend to his expression as he smiled widely–both hands raised in the air in apparent worship.
"Why the preparations for that girl to become the vessel for Satella's return, of course. With such a likeness to the witch, she must have been born for that very role. And covered in the Witch's loving miasma as she is, why the possession must have already begun! And soon SHE will embrace this land in her loving, love-filled, forgiving, gratuitous LOVE!"
Tears streaked down Petelgeuse's rapturous face, as a piercing fierceness took hold in Subaru's eyes.
"And what happens to Emilia?"
"She gets the honor to be consumed by Satella's loving shadows," the jealousy on Petelgeuse's face at his frank admission deeply unsettled Subaru.
"So you set fire to the forest to corner us for this?!" Subaru seethed.
"Ah, ah, ah! The one who set fire to the forest was not me, but the one who led me to you. That he got distracted along the way and left me unhindered to conduct the Ordeal uninterrupted is truly slothful." Petelgeuse's voice was deep and heavy as spoke the final word.
Even now Subaru could feel a truly staggering amount of fire element mana in the air, if whatever was emitting it was being obstructed Subaru could only think of one person–or rather– one cat who could do it: Puck. Puck would not be able to help them, and he figured it was safe to assume that whatever had set the forest ablaze was hostile. A year ago, Subaru might have hesitated to escalate to violence, but a year in this harsh world and the bits and pieces of the horrors that Clarissa had shared with him had taught him something–he wasn't strong enough to save everyone; he would have to settle for protecting those important to him, and he would die before letting this madman lay a single hand on Emilia.
"El Minya!" Subaru called upon Umbreon's assistance and launched a barrage of shadowy spears.
"Murak!" Subaru grabbed Emilia over his shoulder and jumped 30 meters in the air with her where they gently swayed, like a leaf in the breeze. As they took flight, something invisible effortlessly swatted aside Subaru's El Minya.
"Geuse! What happened to you, don't you remember me and Mother Fortuna?" Emilia cried at the top of her lungs, her amethyst eyes glistening with freshly shed tears.
"That name. I've never heard that name in my life, and yet my brain trembles!" Petelgeuse cradled his head in his arms as his body viciously jerked back and forth.
"The two of you loved each other, there's no way that you've forgotten!" Hearing Emilia's appeal Petelgeuse shouted in anger and with his right hand grasped a bunch of hair and viciously tugged it free from his scalp, roots and all. Emilia's eyes winced shut at the brutality of the self mutilation.
"All these years I have loved one and only one person, I am not so slothful as to be led astray by the words of a mere vessel," Petelgeuse shouted, for the first time appearing to be in a genuine rage.
Unable to reach him, her eyes fluttered shut pushing away unshed tears–the memory of Mother Fortuna being skewered through the chest by something invisible ran through her mind. If she couldn't get through to Geuse, then she couldn't let the same fate befall Subaru. She'd had a year to come to terms with her memories, and the Geuse she loved had been lost long ago. Emilia had made a vow to herself: she would not lose anyone again.
Opening her eyes, and shaking off her hesitation she incanted, "Ul Huma!"
Dozens of Ice pillars each the size of carriage formed behind her and glistened in the eerie orange glow lighting the sky. They rained down with thunderous impacts launching powdery snow about in a white mist. Flipping off Subaru's shoulder she turned her gaze towards the destruction. Incompetence and naivity had cost her everything once–had left whatever was left of Geuse in this horrid state–she would not forgive herself even the slightest lapse.
Noticing the mist of snow being parted by some sort of invisible appendage, Emilia summoned a warhammer of ice in her hands and leapt in front of Subaru as she swung. Ever quick on the uptake, Subaru realized that her swing would be useless under the influence of Murak.
"Vita!" Subaru cried out, his hand outstretched. Gravity took hold with a vengeance as the glacial warhammer struck from above with all the force afforded by an object weighing several tons. Not only was the invisible projectile assailing the pair knocked off track, but as Emilia released the hammer it struck the ground hard enough that every tree within a few hundred meters was rattled back and forth by the ensuing earthquake.
Emilia, albeit to a lesser degree, was also affected by vita. Restored to her normal weight she began to freefall. There was not even a trace of panic in her eyes, however. A trail of ice began to be conjured beneath her feet as she skated about in the sky. Her long, silver hair fluttering behind her as she leveled her icy path, and with her fall arrested she leapt back up to hoist Subaru on her shoulder much like a sack of tatoes.
Subaru in tow, Emilia once more began conjuring an icy path beneath her and began a steep descent toward the ground. As they plummeted downwards Subaru forced his eyes wide open, despite the freezing gale stinging them. His vigilance was quickly validated as once more, some invisible appendage could be made amidst the plume of snow that had been launched.
"Straight hole!" Subaru called out one of his original magics, inspired by one of Doraemon's gadgets. A shadowy distortion opened up in front of whatever was incoming and consumed it. An instant later a second such portal opened up in front of where Petelgeuse had been and spewed forth the arm it had previously engulfed.
A subtle, silent murak helped arrest their descent as Emilia leveled out the path of ice beneath her to the ground. Crunching the snow beneath them as they came to an abrupt halt, the pair kept a wary eye on their enemy as Subaru gracelessly flopped out of Emilia's fireman's carry to stand on his own two feet.
As the mist of powdery snow cleared, Petelgeuse was unscathed; in fact, a solid circle around him was completely untouched. Uncaringly Petelgeuse leisurely stretched. Warily watching the out-of-place movement Subaru noticed that Petelgeuse wasn't actually completely unscathed, an impression of a fist gracing his right cheek.
"To be so uncaring as to hit myself with the gift bestowed upon me by her–to so wastefully use the proof of her love–is truly slothful. Still all of that useless effort, desperate actions, and violent undertakings–and to still leave your opponent untouched, that goes beyond the limits of sloth." Petelgeuse's voice was deep, neither hinting at anger nor indifference–yet there was a startling lucidity that had been absent in his mad ramblings until now.
"And yet, your incompetence will be the death of everyone in this forest!" Petelgeuse's eyes widened–as he trembled violently–his voice crescendoing from a sotto voce to a maddened, anguished screech–a cry of intense grief.
"Completely useless, dabbling with love that you should never touch!" Petelgeuse chomped viciously on his finger as blood ran down his chin.
"Dooming each other as you fight a battle you can't hope to win!" Once more he gnawed at his fingers, with such violence that Subaru was convinced that he would bite one off.
"To dare so much–yet to do nothing, is truly slothful. My brain is trembling." Petelgeuse wailed to the heavens, both palms laid flat across the side of his face as he writhed obscenely.
Subaru silently quivered at the sight before him. How could they fight when they couldn't even see what was being used against them? As thoughts of fleeing desperately came to mind, time came to a halt as shadows boiled upwards from the ground. A shadowy hand gently placed itself on his shoulder.
A bell-like voice rang sadly, "I believe in you."
A gentle push on his shoulders nudged him forward as he began melting back into the flow of time. As he glimpsed behind him he saw a vestige of a silver-haired purple-eyed woman gazing down on him fondly. And much like when he contracted a spirit, he felt as if another presence was standing with him even as she faded.
Subaru closed his eyes and took a deep breath as the world around him resumed. For the first time since the madman approached them Subaru saw–he saw shadowy arms dangling around Petelgeuse menacingly. But he could see them, therefore he could fight. That woman whose presence was still with him–she had looked startlingly like Emilia who was said to resemble the Witch of Envy. And now Subaru could see through the power of the Witch Cultist before him. If the spirit of the Witch really was here, Subaru guessed that she was on their side.
"Emi can yo-" Subaru never finished his sentence.
"I can." Emilia answered suddenly, an unexpected severity in her response.
Indeed, Emilia's normally wide, bright eyes were narrowed and focused. She was after all seeing what had killed Mother Fortuna and taken Geuse from her for the first time. The shadowy hands that drifted about slothfully were eerily disconcerting and alien. Emilia had the odd yet distinct impression that they were things that were contrary to the very world itself. If a divine blessing was given by the world, then what was before had to be the very antithesis of a blessing.
She would no longer think of the thing before her as Geuse, whatever stood before her was birthed by those eldritch appendages sprouting from him. It was a product of her sins–of her indecisiveness. Had she given the key to Pandora, perhaps all of this might not have happened. Had she properly fled the forest and not distracted Mother Fortuna, perhaps all of this might not have happened. Had she stayed in the Princess Room as she promised, perhaps all of this might not have happened. Even her decision to declare the man before her to not be Geuse was born of her selfishness and weak-heart. She was afraid to watch someone she had loved reduced to this. She was afraid of anyone taking away the companions she had found.
Emilia was afraid of being alone again. She gluttonously consumed every happy moment with Subaru. She greedily drank in all the moments that Subaru never strayed from her side, always remaining her Subaru. She wrathfully struck down whatever tried to take away the family she'd found. She was unbearably proud of how amazing everyone around her was. She lusted for their kind intentions and adoration. She envied everyone who could live without the world trying to take away their little bit of happiness. But Emilia wasn't slothful. Geuse wasn't slothful. She wouldn't let either of them be tarnished by the embodiment of sloth. Emilia was sure that she might be the most sin-laden girl in the world–but if nothing else she would be diligent. She formed a sword in her hand and gripped it so firmly the magically strengthened ice groaned as if the strain would shatter it.
Suddenly a sword of ice formed in Subaru's palm. Startled, he grasped on to it. Whatever was going on, Emilia was taking it very seriously. Subaru knew better than to second guess her judgment. If she was giving him a sword, then she intended for the two of them to close in and try to end this quickly.
Thus they charged inwards. With Umbreon's assistance Subaru continuously used murak and vita to strengthen his sword swings and reduce the burden of wielding a longsword such that he was effortlessly using it with his right hand alone. With effort Subaru was able to bat aside most of the deluge of unseen hands rushing towards him. Those that he couldn't bat aside he sent back using Straight Hole.
The ease with which his yin magic responded was strange though…it was almost as if he were playing a game with aim assist on. Something or someone, definitely not Umbreon, was helping shape and aim his magic. With such skill that he shivered to think that someone so talented could exist. In what little he'd squeezed out of Puck about the Witch of Envy, he'd gathered that she was an incredibly powerful yin magic user. Did this truly mean the witch was with them and on their side? Or was she in league with the Witch Cult and trying to take Emilia's body?
Subaru shook the thought off and looked over to Emilia. She had yet to even lift her sword as pillars of ice wordlessly warded off the assailing hands effortlessly. Her eyes were hard in a way Subaru had never quite seen. As innocent and angelic as she was, Emilia did have her moments where she was seriously scary; however, this was the first time Subaru had seen Emilia willingly and knowingly use her power in such a fashion.
As the ferocity of the incoming hands increased Subaru wracked his mind for ideas. He could call on Geodude and use Dona, perhaps. But that would block his sight and stop his approach. The longer they stayed away the worse this would get. Pidgey's wind spells would lack the stopping power to divert the hands…and he really wasn't very good at working with Vega yet; yang spells were so much harder than yin spells for him, even with the spirits assistance. A sudden, gentle urging welled up in his chest. There was something he could do–it wasn't something he could do on his own yet, but he wasn't alone.
"Kamui" and with that incantation for a brief moment Subaru went intangible. Subaru was grateful for the large amounts of excess mana Emilia was pumping in the air that let him use the spell–the only way they'd truly found to make use of Emilia's amazing mana capacity. Emilia possessed mana far in excess of what she could controllably output into a spell. But Emilia and Subaru were both excellent at the Spirit Arts, if she gradually expelled it into the air around them then they could use it to perform spells far beyond what they could cast through their gate.
That brief moment was enough, in the fraction of a second where the concept of Subaru's physical form had been separated from the world he had closed the distance between him and the crazed man. Sword raised, Subaru easily removed Petelgeuse's head from his torso. Frozen in a look of shock the head tumbled into the snow as the madman's body collapsed limply.
Subaru collapsed to the ground gasping for air. There was a cost for casting a spell beyond his capabilities, even with all the mana he borrowed he'd been unable to bring the spell forth properly. Whatever had been assisting him had saved the spell, but had done so using his mana alone; well over half of his mana had been used in a single instant. The exertion of what may as well have been a half-marathon was brought upon Subaru in but a second.
In what seemed a second, Emilia's familiar presence took a seat behind him, and pulled him upright to rest leaning against her. He sat in near silence near her catching his breath. As his trembling limbs steadied he noticed something troubling–Emilia was shaking. Shifting away from her to make room to turn around, he caught a glimpse of her absolutely tear covered face. Her eyes were squeezed tight as her entire body shook with silent sobs.
"Emilia, are you okay?" Subaru kept his voice low and calm.
Emilia's trembling arm reached out to Subaru's sleeve and she grasped on desperately as she shook her head. Subaru pulled Emilia's head to his chest as he cradled her in a hug. Normally, desiring to deal with her problems on her own (much like Subaru), this time she clung to him desperately. Subaru gently stroked her hair waiting for her to calm down.
"D-do you remember when I told you about Mother Fortuna and Geuse?" Emilia eventually croaked out, her voice muffled as she buried her head into Subaru.
"Mhmm," Subaru gently acknowledged his chin against her head.
"He…he," Emilia stuttered, unable to get the words out, but Subaru was able to connect the dots.
Instantly Subaru felt sick, the man he had just decapitated was the same man that Emilia had looked up to as almost family in the past. Incoherent noises danced in Subaru's mouth as he tried to find the right words to apologize. If he'd known then surely there would have been another way to end this.
"Don't apologize!" A bit of force entered Emilia's weak voice, as her Mother Emilia persona came forth.
She finally raised her head and stern, tear-glazed eyes met his. "There wasn't anything else that could have been done. That…that man he was no longer my Geuse."
"It just…it just hurts. Even if he killed Mother Fortuna–even if he tried to kill us, it still hurts." Emilia's voice was whisper faint.
The sound of a burning branch falling to the ground shook Subaru from the moment.
"I know. I won't say I understand, but we've still got stuff to do." Subaru urged gently as he, however wobbly, stood up once again on tired legs.
Emilia's eyes went where Subaru was gazing, and once more took notice of the encroaching forest fire. Clapping both of her cheeks with her hands Emilia stood up. There would be time to mourn later–right now she needed to keep the elves in the forest from being among the mourned. Emilia took Subaru's outstretched hands and stood up once more.
Not more than a moment after Emilia let go of Subaru's hand, a shadowy arm raced out of the nearby trees and proceeded to rapidly pull Subaru away.
Screaming out his name in concern, Emilia sprinted frantically after Subaru. The chase would not last long before she arrived to find a cloaked figure with shadowy hands protruding from behind him, holding Subaru with the threat to remove his head at a moments notice.
Emilia paused out of caution seeing Subaru held hostage. Uncharacteristic rage welled up in Emilia's chest, whenever someone came after it was always her loved ones that got hurt, not her. If she had just been able to hold herself together, then this might not have happened.
"Welcome! Welcome!" The cloaked figure bowed courteously as he greeted Emilia in a voice she should have never heard again.
"Let Subaru go right now!" Emilia's normally bell-like voice was icy and dripping with venom.
"Regrettably I cannot do that, if the two of you are so dead set in avoiding your duty in completing the Ordeal then I will need to provide some incentive," the voice was calm as if possessing genuine regret over causing a minor disagreement.
"DESU!" Or so the man had seemed until he shouted violently, his hooded head twitching sharply underneath the covering.
"Just…who are you?" Emilia asked cautiously whilst racking her brain over just what she should do.
"How slothful not to commit your acquaintances' names to memory. I am Petelgeuse Romani-Conti, Archbishop of Sloth." The presumptive Petelgeuse seemed genuinely confused at how someone who had been killed minutes ago, now inhabiting a different body could be misidentified.
"I was so very confused, flummoxed, bewildered, and angry when the two of you saw my Unseen Hands. But then it occurred to me, it must be happening as Satella's soul encroaches ever more on you. Indeed the Ordeal is at hand and I must chastise your sloth and encourage you to finish your task."
His piece said one of the unseen hands languidly drifted towards Subaru's left pinky and pulled it back so forcefully that with a sudden crunch it was bent in a ninety-degree angle in the opposite direction of which a hand would normally close. Eyes-wide Subaru screamed in agony at the forceful dislocation and snapping of his metacarpals.
"STOP!" Emilia raged, still too afraid to intervene and risk Subaru being killed.
"Ah, ah," Petelgeuse wagged his index finger, "another outburst and you will break another of his fingers."
"All you need to do is accept her love, and all of this will end."
"I…I don't know how to do that…" Emilia's voice quivered in panic.
"I see my loyal finger will have to bring in the other one," Petelgeuse clapped his hands after the ominous declaration.
"Clarissa," Emilia cried out as the cat-eared woman was yanked into the clearing.
Clarissa's arms were bound behind her with rope and the witch cultist who had abducted her yanked her about by her hair.
"Let me go," Clarissa shouted as she tried to resist. But before long she was placed next to Subaru, within reach of Petelgeuse's fiendish hands.
"The boy is coated in such thick love, that perhaps he is needed for the Ordeal. But that is not the case for this girl. Should Satella be reborn, perhaps she might receive her mercy and love." Petelgeuse's voice was deep and heavy, but such lucidity was quickly lost once again to madness.
"Ah, I can see you're wanting to ask. How did we know? Bestowed with HER loving guidance I caught wind of Melakuera seeking a silver haired half-elf witch in the forest. The people in the village were so tight-lipped at first. A tiny demonstration of HER will, however, and they were quite forthcoming." The presumptive Petelgeuse clawed through his hood and began to rip teh now blood-stained cloth loose as he shredded the flesh underneath.
"They told us of the boy you lived with and the catgirl that you were close with. The Gospel said you might be resistant to HER love at first, but mentioned that your heart could be swayed through others. So I sent my fingers to gather her as we had our first talk."
"The villagers," Subaru groaned out, ignoring the pain in his hand, "what did you do to them?"
"Sadly I was too slothful to arrive sooner, the Ordeal must be completed before Melakuera can meddle. As I was not able to carry out a proper offering. Such an undertaking has been postponed" Petelgeuse turned to bash his head against the nearest tree, and on the first impact the shredded remains of his hood were ripped off as the crazed man violently twisted his head against the tree before sliding it off with such force that the bark itself was ripped off the tree.
Such was a moment that Subaru would not–could not–overlook, ignoring the pain from his mangled finger Subaru took a deep breath. Wordlessly he called on Pidgey and sharply exhaled as a silent Fula formed a blade of wind. The blade raced towards Petelgeuse unerringly.
"Ul Dona," Only to be blocked as Petelgeuse used magic for the first time to summon a shield of earth.
The hands wrapped around Subaru tightened their grasp, as the madman turned around to face him. The face that greeted him, however, was not Petelgeuse. It was a nondescript, freshly mauled, middle-aged face–the face of a man he had never seen before.
"Dangerous, how dangerous and violent. I am trying to share just a bit of the love I've been bestowed, and yet you keep trying so hard. It was slothful of me to assume that you would be unable to try more magic after your stunt. Yet, there is such an easy solution." Petelgeuse's voice carried the most bizarre mixture of parental consternation and embarrassment.
The man who claimed to be Petelgeuse walked up to Emilia who had collapsed into a trembling mess on the ground as two unseen hands took place on each side of Subaru' jaw. Reaching down to Emilia's head and pointing it at Subaru and then he spoke.
"You should look at what you're doing."
Emilia tensed ready to lash out but, "Careful, one wrong move and you'll kill them both."
The hands on each side of Subaru's jaw started pushing in. Harder and harder they pushed as the bones beneath began to creak. The force coming down closed Subaru's mouth so completely that his anguished screams were nought but murmurs. With a crunch and an unintelligible noise from Subaru the first bones began to snap.
"Stop! Please stop!" Emilia cried, desperately yanking her head back and forth trying to look away.
"Do not look away! You did this! Your inaction caused this! If you loved him you would finally embrace HER LOVE and end his suffering." Petelgeuse's voice thundered as forcefully as it could in Emilia's ears, as he forced her to watch. The moment her eyes clenched shut he used his fingers to pry her eyelids back open.
Even as the bones in the jaw shattered, the hands did not stop. They continued pushing inwards such that Subaru's teeth were shoved out of his gums and began to punch holes through Subaru's cheeks as the sides of his face were further compressed. The agonized gurgles that somehow escaped Subaru's mangled jaw danced about torturously in Emilia's head, incessantly. The lower half of Subaru's face pulverized completely, the hands let up and Petelgeuse let go of the glass-eyed Emilia who collapsed bonelessly and wailed. Sobbing incoherently Emilia rocked back and forth.
"Now you feign madness! How unsightly. How slothful." Petelgeuse spat in disgust as he marched towards Clarissa who continued to watch on in mute horror.
A violent snap and an unseen hand dislocated Clarissa's right knee and twisted it until the very joint was reversed. As the girl who was like an older sister to her howled, Emilia flinched violently.
"See, if you were truly mad you would pay no heed as I tortured your friends. You're not mad; you are a slothful coward. Too afraid to face that the people you love are being mauled by YOUR HANDS! Too slothful to repay their love properly, you play at madness." Petelgeuse continued to rant–his own gaze distant, unfocused, and empty.
Emilia trembled and shook her head. Her thoughts were a racing whirlpool of emptiness. No matter how desperately she gasped, the sensation that she was suffocating would not leave.
"If you truly LOVED them, you would push yourself endlessly for them, sacrifice everything you are, rather than laze about as a poorly played mad woman."
"Shut up," Clarissa rasped out, "I can't see a scrap of love left in you."
Enraged, Petelgeuse stomped up to Clarissa. And put his gaze directly across from her, as their stairs met eye to eye. Her gaze was judging and vengeful.
"You dare question my love for HER?" Petelgeuse roughly brought Clarissa's face even closer to his as manhandled her by her hair, the rest of her body still restrained by Petelgeuse's unseen hands.
"The one thing you can't hide from me is who you truly are. You're obsessed, and someone deep down you're grieving…but looking at your soul there is no one in your right now that you love."
Clarissa's voice was practically a hiss as she glared down Petelgeuse, her eyes more akin to a cat staring down a mouse despite her position. The more she provoked him the loser the unseen hands got. The man's volatile mood was a weakness and she would not waste it. Ever so carefully, she covered her claw-like nails with a sharp blade of water-magic enhanced ice.
"Those two, however, they've got plenty of kindness and love in them. I won't watch that get ruined by some lunatic who preaches about love when he doesn't have a drop of it in his soul."
Forgetting all about his authority Petelgeuse reached out in rage, and that was her chance. Finally breaking an arm free she slashed out viciously, cleanly ripping open the side of Petelgeuse's neck completely severing all the way through the carotid artery. Not wasting a moment her clawed hand thrust once more racing through the throat and piercing Petelgeuse's esophagus and windpipe.
Petelgeuse collapsed in short order, unable to even reach a hand up to his hemorrhaging neck. The sudden loss of blood flow to the brain in a standing position, being enough to render him unconscious in seconds. The unseen hands binding Clarissa dropped her suddenly as she landed on her three functioning limbs with feline grace. She bit down an agonized scream, as her mangled limb crashed into the ground. She fought through it and took assessment of the situation.
Emilia continued to tremble and gaze onwards blankly, physically fine but traumatized. As much as she wanted to shake her out of the glassy-eyed emptiness gripping Emilia, Subaru's
Physical trauma took priority. As she prepared to embark on a painful one legged crawl, a voice that she should not be hearing cried out.
"Ah. My brain trembles." The witch cultist that had drug Clarissa into the clearing was cradling his head while shouting madly in Petelguese's voice.
Before she could begin to work through what was happening the invisible force that had bound her previously, grasped onto her once more and held her rigid. The man now shouting in that detestable voice angrily prowled towards her.
"These sinful eyes that judge my love. I will remove them for you so that you may be receptive to HER love." The darkness and depth of Petelgeuse's threat, carried much more menace then his mad raving ever could.
And viciously he thrust his right hand forward and forced all four fingers and his thumb into the orbital socket. Grasping around the eyeball he pulled suddenly, viciously removing the eye and severing the optic nerve holding on to it as it reached its maximum length and was left to dangle in the bloodied socket. The eye that had seen right through him in his palms, Petelgeuse viciously crushed it, spraying the two of them in a gore of blood and vitreous and aqueous humor.
Clarissa wailed at the inexplicable agony of having an eye viciously ripped from its socket. Once more Emilia shook, but failed to vocalize any response. Subaru desperately ran towards Clarissa before he too was once more bound by Petelgeuse's invisible hands. The only sound other than Clarissa's anguished sobs was Petelgeuse's maddened laughter. Subaru was absolutely certain there was no sound he'd ever hated more.
Laughing in sadistic merriment, Petelgeuse thrust an unseen hand straight through Clarissa's chest and ripped out her still beating heart. It was at this moment that a stabbing cold raised through the forest as the permafrost itself froze once more. Ice flowers bloomed profusely as Emilia's mana raged. They began to bloom on Petelgeuse as well. Attempting to shock Emilia out of it, his unseen hands started violently slamming Subaru into several trees. But in short order, Emilia's icy rampage had frozen him completely. Emilia's uncontrolled magic raced outwards and only two beings were spared its wrath: Subaru and Clarissa were left untouched.
Shakily Emilia hurried and grabbed Subaru and carefully placed him next to Clarissa. Desperately she began to attempt to heal the two of them with healing magic. Clarissa had no heart left in her chest, and no healing magic would ever reanimate her; still Emilia kept trying. Subaru's internal organs had been mangled beyond repair when his body had been slammed into several trees with unimaginable force, internal hemorrhaging and organ failure would soon claim him; still Emilia kept trying.
Only single minded desperation functioned in Emilia's mind. The fact that Clarissa had long since gone cold went unnoticed. The steady weakening of Subaru's heartbeat went unheeded by Emilia's sharp ears. For an hour straight Emilia healed vainly.
It was only when Emilia found herself wiping some snow off of Subaru's forehead that she realized Subaru was startlingly cold–his heartbeat so faint she could barely make it out. Clenching her eyes shut Emilia shook her head.
"No," she whimpered.
"No," she pleaded.
The thought of a world without Subaru was painful. The thought of being alone again was painful. If this was her fate from now on then perhaps…
"Ice flowers blooming. Silver-haired half-elf. Witch. I, Melaquera, commence arbitration. Thou of cursed lineage, how plead thou?" A deep voice echoes.
A giant horse of flames stared down at Emilia as she numbly gazed upwards. Slowly she wrapped Subaru's arms around her as she wrapped him in a hug. She couldn't leave Subaru behind, and running with him was impossible. Lost and with no one left Emilia only saw one option left.
"Please, just kill me," Emilia's quiet voice begged.
She didn't have the strength to lose everything again. If her fate was to forever be alone and hurt everyone close to her, then death was preferable.
"Petition heard. Commencing arbitration."
Shortly after a rush of flames bore down on Emilia and Subaru. After much suffering Subaru was finally released from the mortal coil, and was able to return by death.
Author's Note: This really was meant to be out much sooner. I kept changing my mind about future plot direction along with job hunting and grad school and all that. I swear I rewrote some parts of this about 5 or 6 times and I'm still not happy with it. Petelgeuse is…hard to write. Honestly this whole chapter is painful to write. It's sad to realize the rough outline of this arc has sat for over a year and I'm just now getting it to paper.
In the initial conception of this Emilia struggled much harder to come to terms with fighting Geuse, but some recent real life experience with some family betrayals kind of changed my perception about this. This Emilia has had a year to process that Geuse had some hand in Fortuna's death and walked away from her laughing as she encased herself in ice. Not that she's really processed it, she has categorized it as that's not my Geuse. It's weird but you really can bring yourself to be quite cold with someone you used to love, even if it hurts you inside to be that way. Much like Emilia and Subaru, I am a big softy and bleeding heart; I feel like much myself Emilia would focus on protecting what she has to protect in the now, rather than dwelling in a past that will never come back.
The consequences of all these minor changes piling up now start to come forth. Melaquera was delayed by false harings by Puck for quite a while, but rumors of the kind Silver-haired half-elf witch in the forest brought him and the witch cult running. We now have a trifecta of dilemmas: Geuse, Melaquera, and the forest fire started during Puck and Melaquera's fight. Keep in mind that Emilia and Subaru don't really know much about RbD (if it exists, how it works) so from Emilia's perspective this was very much losing everything she got back.
I also debated whether some of the stuff in the beginning of the chapter should be interludes and side stories, but I decided to get the show on the road. We can always come back to it later much in the way Subaru's training in the whip and such was covered. The acquisition of the lesser spirits themselves also just doesn't seem like it'd be that interesting; it'd mostly be a short story about Emilia and Subaru arguing over naming rights. Which Subaru would win and proceed to name all the spirits but one after pokemon.
We also introduced some original magic from Subaru. As you may have noticed he is taking inspiration from Anime he has watched, because what else would a 12 year old boy with magic do? The two techniques debuting took their names from Doraemon and Naruto.
I also agonized over what to do with Petelguese's speech quirk. I decided to include a couple untranslated Desu and cut it down a bit. There's no good way to take it to English and actually present it as a consistent verbal tick that I can think of. There was a fan-theory I heard about Petelgeuse's dialogue that I decided to roll with, because I think it makes for a more interesting character and story arc. It'll be interesting to see if anyone catches on to it! I also decided to make the way Petelgeuse speaks of Satella as religious in nature (using HER and SHE) as reverential capitalization.
As for Satella's line. In the novels she repeatedly calls out aishiteru to Subaru (which means a VERY STRONG version of I love you), here this has become I believe in you (which if I were to use my paltry japanese I would probably be writing as shinjiteru) but this represents an important departure, and I hope food for thought and what's going on.
I intend to get the next chapter out fairly quickly. I can't commit too firmly, but for now let's set a target of by or before October 10th. I'm going to try and set a 2-3 week cadence now that I've more or less settled on a plan for this arc. I debated doing a 2 chapter launch of the arc, but writing this chapter was exhausting.
One question I do have of my audience is I realize there are a lot of non-native English speakers in the re: zero fanfic community, are chapters of this length burdensome? I read the WN in Japanese as it comes out, but some of Tappei's longer chapters are just exhausting to get through (so much vocab/kanji I'm not very familiar with).
