Chapter 8: The Onion Knight in Front of Sen's Fortress

Patches groaned as he woke up. "Ugh… what'd I miss…?"

"Hey! You're awake!" Erik smiled.

"Oh, right. I'm with you idiots," Patches said, remembering everything.

Subaru pretended to look at a watch on his wrist, feigning an impressed voice. "Damn, it's been two hours. Imagine how effective it'll be once you learn all three words."

Patches groaned as he got up off the floor. "I'll kill you myself, Flugel…"

Erik raised an eyebrow. "Flugel?"

Subaru immediately waved him off. "He's delirious, ignore him."

Solaire hummed to himself. "Hmm... I swear I might have heard that name before…"

Subaru decided to change the subject right away. "Uh, Emilia! How much farther?"

Emilia opened up the map. "Um, let me check the map…"

"What did Echidna see in you…?" Patches slurred out in half-consciousness.

"Shut it, before I have Emilia put you back to sleep," Subaru threatened the bald man.

"We're almost to the fortress." Emilia said.

"Fortress?" Erik repeated.

Emilia nodded. "Mm-hm. Apparently, it's called "Sen's Fortress," and it's full of traps."

"Does the book say which shout you'll get here?"

Emilia shook her head. "No, they don't."

"The fortress has been here for a great many years," Solaire said, as he helped Patches up. "The Greybeards' knowledge of which Dragon Shrine can be found here is lost."

"Ugh, I hate historical erosion," Subaru groaned.

Solaire nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Such desecration is despicable."

Erik pointed ahead of himself. "Hey, look. I see a castle up ahead."

"So... I'm guessing that's the fortress?" Subaru asked.

"Mmm… is that a goddamn onion?" Patches rubbed his eyes.

As they approached the front of the fortress's gate, a man wearing fat, white armor and an onion-shaped helmet sat there, looking sad.

"Is he an enemy?" Emilia asked.

Subaru shrugged. "I dunno, let's ask him. Excuse me!"

"This is a bad idea…" Erik whispered.

"Hmm…? Oh, hello there." The Onion shaped knight replied.

Emilia decided to ask. "Who are you?"

"Oh, right." The onion shaped knight responded. "I am Siegmeyer of Catarina. An Undead adventurer. And you are?"

"Hey, I'm Subaru." The Japanese man waved. "This is Emilia, Erik, Patches, and Solaire."

"Nice to meet all of you."

"What are you doing here?" Erik asked.

Siegmeyer shrugged. "Well, I'm in quite the pickle. I can't get this gate in front of me open."

"You're trying to get in too?" The Sun Knight asked.

"We thought you were standing guard." Erik crossed his arms.

"No, no, I may still be a knight, but I am no guard. These days, I'm an adventurer," Siegmeyer laughed. "But I am indeed stuck here."

Subaru looked to the door. "So, what's the problem with the door?"

"The lever is within the fortress, so we can't exactly access it out here," the onion knight said.

"Seems kinda stupid. What if someone needed to get inside but no one was home?" Erik asked.

"I think it's a security thing," Patches explained.

"Wait, can't Patches do that disappearing thing and get to the other side?" Emilia asked, but received a head shake from the Undead.

"Actually, my disappearing act is just me getting out of your peripheral vision," Patches said.

Erik looked at Patches in surprise. "Seriously? I thought you could turn invisible or something."

"Oh, heavens no! I'm a thief, not a sorcerer!" he laughed. "If you want magic, go to Subaru."

"Subaru, do you have something that can get us on the other side?" Erik asked.

Subaru thought it over. "Hmm… there's probably a back door or a hidden passage somewhere…"

"Anyone see a lever or chain anywhere? That's usually what opens strange doors." Erik said, looking around.

Everyone looked around for something, but didn't manage to find anything, until —

SMASH!

Everyone turns to see Emilia kick in the door with an obvious dent in it.

"Or we could brute-force our way in," Subaru said. "Sure, why not?"

"Yeah, the fun option," Patches said.

The six of them (as Siegmeyer followed behind them) entered the courtyard of the fortress

"Oh, sweet! A bonfire!" Subaru said, as he, and the rest of the Undead, huddled around it.

"A bonfire?" Erik asked.

"It's what prevents the Undead from permanently dying," Siegmeyer explained. "If we die, we come back at the last bonfire we visited."

"In this case, it would be here," Solaire said.

After a few minutes of walking into the building, the group stopped.

Solaire took notice of the room ahead of them. "I see what they mean by "traps"."

SWING!

SWING!

Within the first room, it was a long hallway, with giant axes swinging from left to right.

Erik cringed at the sight. "Yeesh."

"We'll have to time it right," Siegmeyer said.

"So… who's going first?"

Subaru smiled. "I got this. LEEROOOYY —"

Subaru ran, rushing through the hallway, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"— JEEENKIINS!"

SLASH!

Unfortunately, Subaru failed to make it all the way through, and had an ax slice right through his head, before turning into ashes.

"SUBARU!" Emilia screamed in horror, seeing her friend actually die.

"Glad there's a bonfire outside," Patches said, clearly unfazed at Subaru's death.

"He'll... be okay... right?" Erik asked with his voice shaking quite a bit.

"I mean, he'll feel the pain and lose all of his souls, but other than that? Yeah." Patches explained in a nonchalant manner.

"You hate to see all the lost progress," Siegmeyer shakes his head. "Especially when someone claims your souls before you can come back."

Speaking of which…

"I'M BACK!" Subaru shouted, startling the party in front of him. "Man, that hurt."

"So... what happens to all the souls Subaru collected?" the silver-haired Half-Elf asked.

"They'll stay right at the spot he died until he comes back to collect them," Solaire answered.

Erik held up his hand. "Hang on, I got an idea."

Patches raised his eyebrow. "Oh? And what would that be?"

Erik turned to the Half-Elf. "Emilia, try using your ice magic to freeze the walls, that should stop the axes from moving."

Emilia could see what Erik was thinking. "Oh! Um, alright… EL HUMA!"

The ice hit the moving mechanical pieces of the traps, causing them to freeze.

"Think smarter. Not harder," Erik smugly said.

Subaru walked first, grabbing his souls, with his fellow Undead letting him go on ahead. After all, it was considered rude for someone else, especially a party member, to take them.

The group proceeded to the next room, which was an open room with strange tiles on the ground.

"Oh, no," Subaru groaned. "Is this a puzzle?"

"Worse. Flame tiles. One wrong step and you could be cooked alive." Erik said, tossing a rock on one of the tiles to prove his point. Once the rock hit one of the tiles, it erupted a pillar of fire for a few seconds.

Siegmeyer had to ask, "Are these a Gustekan speciality, or are they just that common?"

"Most effective in prisons. If prisoners escape, they die." Erik said, matter-of-factly.

"Is there a pattern we need to know, or perhaps code we need to get through?" Solaire asked.

"Either run real fast, or hope you have a light footstep."

Patches' eyes widened in uncomfortable curiosity. "Wait, is all the floor a flaming death trap?"

Erik took a look, and nodded. "Looks like it."

"Can they light up multiple times?" Subaru asked.

"Yep."

"I think I have an idea," the Japanese man said. "Emilia, try to freeze the entire floor, that should buy us some time to get across the room."

Emilia did so. Putting her hand on the ground, and letting her ice spread across the floor.

"Huh... when ya think about it, ice is really good for dealing with traps." Patches remarked.

"Talk later! Everyone, RUN!" Subaru yelled, causing the six of them to run across the frozen floor, making it to the other side on time.

"Any more traps in this death hole?" Siegmeyer asked, with Subaru staring at him.

"I dunno, why don't we walk up these suspiciously large stairs and find out?"

Everyone does so, walking up the stairs to their destination.

"Huh, no Indiana Jones ball of doom. Weird."

Emilia decided to spare some conversation with their new companion. "So, Seigmeyer. Why were you trying to get into this place?"

"Well, it's a dungeon," the onion knight said. "I'm an adventurer. It comes with the territory."

"Okay. Looks like the final room." Subaru noted.

Said final room consisted of several armed half-man, half-snake monstrosities.

"What the heck are those?!" Erik whispered loudly.

"A bunch of Seath's abominations!" Subaru answered.

"Seath?!" Emilia questioned.

"TALK LATER, SURVIVE NOW!"

BOOM!

Everyone jumped into the fray, with Siegmeyer soaking damage like the tank he was, the magic users in the back blasting spells, and people (wildcards) like Subaru and Patches being up close and personal with the enemy.

Emilia and Erik both unleash an, "EL HUMA!"

"LIGHTNING SPEAR!" Solaire shouted.

"GREAT HEAVY SOUL ARROW!" Subaru yelled, as a blue light launched from his staff.

And Patches… "Stab kick!"

He's trying.

Eventually, the group managed to drive back the Man-Serpent beings, but their ferocity proved them more difficult to kill. And to make matters worse, more of them kept coming.

Subaru noticed that their efforts weren't getting them as far as they liked, and turned to his companions. "Okay, anyone got any ideas?"

Emilia had an idea. "Let me try to get to the shrine! Maybe the shout could help us!"

Solaire nodded at the suggestion. "You all heard the lady! CLEAR A WAY FOR HER TO THE SHRINE!"

The group began to fight off the Man-Serpents with even more vigor than before, clearing out a path in the middle for the silver-haired Half-Elf to get through.

Emilia runs to the shrine, and learns the Word of Power: Fo. Meaning "frost" in the Dragon language.

"EMILIA! HURRY UP! USE IT!" Subaru shouted from below.

Emilia nodded, and shouted the word. "FO!"

... But to Emilia's shock… nothing happens.

"Huh?!" Emilia gasped in shock. "But, I don't understand!"

"UNDERSTAND FASTER!" Patches screamed, as he kicked another Man-Serpent.

"FO!... FO!" Emilia shouted again and again, but the shout would not manifest. "Why isn't it working?!"

"THERE'S TOO MANY OF THEM!" Siegmeyer yelled, swinging his sword.

In desperation, Emilia tries to remember anything that might be happening to cause this, which awakens a memory of what Arngeir said at High Hrothgar.

"Much like Undead, the Dragonborn possesses a similar ability to absorb souls of the Dragons she slays."

Emilia's eyes shrank to pinpricks at the realization. "Oh no…" As she said that, a shadow cast itself over her, revealing another one of the serpent monsters about to strike her down.

Suddenly, the serpent burst into flames, with Subaru kicking down the burning monster.

"EVERYONE, RETREAT!" Erik shouted, making a run for it.

Emilia felt Subaru grab her arm, as she was pulled out of the room filled with enemies, along with everyone else.

After sealing the doorway with their magic, the group made it back to the outside.

Patches kicked the wall in frustration. "What the hell happened back there?!"

"We didn't kill the Dragon." Everyone turned their attention to Emilia.

Erik just looked confused. "What?"

"Arngeir said that we needed to kill each Dragon before I got their power," the amethyst-eyed woman told the rest of the party. "Without it, I can't use the Word of Power!"

Subaru nodded in understanding. "So, like Undead need souls to get stronger, you need Dragon souls to get your shouts."

The silver-haired Half-Elf nodded at what Subaru said. "Exactly."

"Great... so we need to kill over a dozen Dragons to get Emilia's powers," Erik groaned.

Siegmeyer, meanwhile, raised his hand. "Um, I feel like I'm missing something."

"Oh right, I forgot you're new," Subaru said, before filling him in. "Emilia's something called a "Dragonborn'', where she can steal Dragon souls and use their powers."

The onion knight merely gave a thumbs-up. "Makes perfect sense."

"Well, now what?" Erik asked.

"We need to find the local Dragon," Solaire answered.

The group head away from the castle, looking for the Dragon. Meanwhile, Emilia was looking quite downcast.

"Hey…" Subaru approached Emilia, eyes full of concern. "You good?"

"It felt good... being the solution to our problems in the castle. I could freeze the traps to help everyone get by safely, but at the most crucial part, I nearly got us all killed... well, me and Erik, anyways…" Emilia said, as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"Emilia, you're not the only person who has made mistakes before," Subaru said.

Emilia turned to face Subaru. "... Does it always feel like this? To be this... disappointed in yourself...?"

The Japanese man nodded, his eyes lost in some memory. "Yeah, it does. But you can't let it bog you down. You have to keep moving forward, otherwise it'll consume you."

"... Right."

"Hey, compared to some of the mistakes I've made, your goof was nothing."

The young Dragonborn looked at the Undead with wide eyes. "Really?"

"Trust me, Emilia, I've made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child has in the last four hundred years," the black-haired Undead said, giving her a weak smile.

"How do you do it?" the amethyst-eyed woman asked. "How do you keep going?"

"I keep going because I know that if I ever stop, those I care about will suffer."

The silver-haired Half-Elf didn't know what to say, as her tears kept falling. But then, she asked, "And what if they suffer because you keep going? What will you do then?"

"Then I'll save them from their suffering, and then destroy myself," Subaru answered.

Emilia was horrified at what he said. "You'd... kill yourself?"

"Yeah, a friendly word of advice, don't act as I do. I may seem cool, but I'm a walking mess of problems. Try not to imitate me," the usually cheerful Undead said, completely serious.

"ROOOAAAR!"

Before Emilia could answer, the Dragon they were looking for, a white wyvern with a horned nose, flew overhead, taking notice of the group, before dive-bombing them.

"Well, isn't that convenient?" Patches said, smiling.

"Less talking, more fighting!" Erik shouted, as he got out of the way.

"EVERYONE, SCATTER!" Subaru shouted, grabbing Emilia.

FWOOOOM!

"ROOOAAAR!"

The Dragon swooped down and attacked, creating a storm of flames towards the adventurers, but thankfully, everyone managed to dodge, before they began their counter-attack.

Everyone that had one launched their long range spells, such as Solaire, trying to hit the Dragon and bring it down. Meanwhile, those who had hand-held weapons such as swords and spears, like Siegmeyer, aimed for the Dragon's eyes, trying to blind it.

WHAM!

"Ohh! Score one for Trusty Patches!"

One of the spears made it into the Dragon's left eye, half-blinding it. The Dragon, disoriented from both the pain and new lack of depth perception, soon crashed to the ground in a rage.

BOOM!

"BLACK FLAME!" Subaru dashed forward, his hand engulfed in black fire, before shoving it down the monster's gullet, and making it explode.

"ROOOAAAR!"

The Dragon roared in pain, before biting down on Subaru's arm, and tossing him to the side. The Dragon looked ready to finish Subaru off, until –

"LIGHTNING SPEAR!" Solaire shouted, hitting the Dragon.

KRAKLE!

"ROOOA–"

SLASH!

That distraction allowed Emilia to slip under the Dragon, and using all her strength, sliced the Dragon's neck open with her ice swords. One last strained roar, and the Dragon fell over… dead.

Siegmeyer huffed, catching his breath. "That… was… amazing."

After the Dragon's flesh disintegrated, Emilia absorbed the Dragon's soul, and the group took a moment to relax, with some of them even falling onto their knees.

"So… we'll come back here later?" Erik asked.

"Well, we already got what we came for. Unless you wanna finish off the snake people," Subaru said. "And you know, whatever other traps Sen left behind in her fortress."

Erik paled at the suggestion. "Eh, let's save it for another day."

Emilia had to agree, she was feeling tired. "We need a place to rest…"

"Like, an inn?" Solaire asked, his helmet removed to help his breathing.

Erik hummed to himself, before remembering where they were. "We're closer to Riftem than anywhere else. I say we got there."

Siegmeyer nodded. "I second that."

"Just make sure you lock the doors and hide your stuff."

"Oh?" The onion knight gave him a funny look. "Whatever for?"

The dirty blond simply said two words: "Thieves Guild."

"Alright, let's just be careful," Subaru said, standing up.

"And so, our quest continues," Solaire said, as he followed behind the others.

And just like that, the party had gained one more member.

Author's Note: We're just gonna skip right into the comments for this week...

A guy: You finished this in one sitting? Remember to read in moderation? Or is that eating? Still, glad you enjoyed it. Remember to also stay healthy! See ya! (Although, reading or watching something in a marathon has its own euphoric advantages.)

5queso: I'm not really good at writing action (Same with me), so I'm glad to see that you liked it. And yeah, Patches is in for a bad time for the rest of the story, if not by the bad guys, then by his own teammates. But Subaru, on the other hand, may not be suffering at the hands of his friends, buuut… I'll leave it at that, spoilers, and all that. (It wouldn't be Re: Zero without some suffering.) Anyways, See you next time!

Kifhjoofff: Yes, Volcnaica will show up soon. And be Subaru's friend.

Eineron_456: Yeah, Patches had the first nut kick coming due to the stunt he pulled with Subaru, but I don't think he'll try something like that for a while, even if the rest of the party keeps treating him like trash. (The others will keep him in line.)

OST_Enjoyer: I'm sure the Dragon Shrine thing will pass by quickly. After all, we have plenty of other side quests that we need to take care of! (Don't worry. It won't take long.)

If you want more content, visit my Discord, the link is /3PFYSt8Dqz. You can chat with others, post memes, fanfic recommendations and prompts, role play, fan art, and we even have a writer's corner now! I'll also drop by with announcements and chat with you all every now and then! Also, if you want to add me as a friend, my username is Ernalore#8663! Just please make sure to follow the rules!

That's all for today, thanks for reading, and we'll see you next time!

- Ernalore & Infinite the Celestian