Chapter 6: Breaking the Chain
Subaru was confused by what is going on, seeing as the heartless appeared near the village exactly like it had happened a little while back for him with Felt offering to fend them off on her own. As Sora and Rem were both going to head towards the forest, Sora turned towards Subaru.
"You can stay here if you want, Subaru."
"No No it is alright Master Sora...I'm just having some Deja vu."
Sora took note of what Subaru said, also having deja vu like him. The three went deeper into the forest exactly like before and the exact same thing happened with the ghost ball looking heartless. The only difference in this case is that Sora charged at them and easily took care of them with one hit on each and everyone of them.
'Damn it, if I recall from whatever that was, I tried to kill these things and it didn't do shit damage...damn no wonder you are amazing Master Sora but I'll surpass you.'
As Sora easily defeated the heartless, just like before Rem sniffed out the children's scent and they arrived a few seconds earlier with the same result happening of Sora noticing that there is one girl missing.
"One of the girls isn't here, she must be deeper inside the forest!"
"Then let us go rescue this girl, Master Sora." Subaru said instinctively, still wanting to repeat the events in hopes of being able to change the fight with Elsa. Once Elsa made her debut again, Subaru looked up and gave her a serious stare to which Rem noticed.
"Elsa, please. Don't you hurt these children. They are innocent." Sora pleaded to Elsa similar to before, something to which Subaru notice and yet similar like before, Elsa replied with,
"Oh I know Sora,but they have intestines that I have to see. Little children always have the cutest intestines."
This bothered Subaru even more the second time yet having remembered the previous time he had ended up dying. He knows that both Rem and himself are not strong enough to face Elsa on their own yet if they allow Sora to face Elsa again while both Rem and himself go save the missing girl, it should be possible for all of them to make it out of this alive.
"Master Sora, allow Rem-Rem and I to go save the little girl. You are probably the strongest one to take on Elsa on your own."
Sora and Rem both looked at Subaru with the keyblade wielder agreeing with his apprentice, knowing that he probably can take on Elsa while Rem disliked this completely. There was a moment of silence before Sora pulled the Ultima weapon. He then started to say in a more confident tone of voice,
"Rem, Subaru, go save the girl. I can take care of Elsa on my own."
"Wait but Sora-"
"Don't worry Rem, I trust that you two can save the girl and get these kids to safety while I take care of Elsa." Sora spoke with such a confident voice and made a smile that allowed Rem to trust Sora's word. "Be careful" Rem said to Sora before going with Subaru towards the location of the other girl, having caught the scent.
Sora looked at Elsa with a serious facial expression and right before their dual had begun, Elsa looked at the keyblade and questioned why he was wielding a different weapon. Sora changed keyblades to Kingdom Key and then back to Ultima weapon while explaining that he can change it's design with the chains he had gained on his previous journeys.
"Wow, you are such an amazing boy, Sora. I hope you don't fail to impress me."
Elsa charged at Sora with everything she got, wanting to get the same thrill of battle as she did when they faced each other days ago. Sora quickly deflected the attack, feeling a powerful impact before pushing Elsa off, surprised by the amount of strength she had after having taken a near death attack many days ago.
Sora jumped back and started summoning a couple of lighting towards Elsa's direction, forcing her to start running away. As Elsa was avoiding each of Sora's thunderaga attacks, she started to praise the young boy, not believing someone as young as Sora to be able to make her feel excited in such a long time.
Eventually Sora stopped using magic and quickly started to create a bright light around the area, catching the attention of the villagers, Roswaal, and both Ram and Reinhard. Reinhard had remembered the light from the fight he had with Sora days ago, making him think that Sora and the group were all in danger.
"Reinhard, are you alright?"
"Sora would only use his true power if they really need it, making me think that it is possible they are in grave danger."
"I swear, if something happens to Rem both Barusu and Sora will pay."
Reinhard took note of this and disliked hearing this yet he understood. The two quickly enter the forest with Reinhard concerned for his friends. Once Subaru and Rem got close to the girl, they both inspected the place before approaching the little girl unconscious. Subaru searched the little girl to make sure she wasn't bitten and to his relief she wasn't. He got up and was about to say something but he ended up getting punched by Rem.
"Ow! Rem-Rem, what was that-"
"Why do you have the witch's scent?!"
"What?"
"Don't play dumb with me! I smelled the witch's scent on you when you first arrived and now that all this is happening, it is much stronger than before."
Subaru looked at Rem with confusion, uncertain on what she was talking about. He tried to ask what she was talking about only to receive a slap from her. He had never seen Rem this angry which actually scared him a lot. Before she could do anything, Subaru noticed from the corner of his eye that something is about to go and attack the blue haired maid. He quickly got up and pushed her to the side before he pulled out his keyblade to hit the demon looking dog away from both Rem and his location.
Rem looked at Subaru and was a bit confused on why he would save her, knowing that a witch cultist wouldn't care for anybody but the witch. She then noticed a heartless attempt to harm Subaru. She didn't want to help Subaru but she remembered the promise she made to Sora, making her destroy the heartless with her flail. Subaru was surprised by this and looked at Rem with some shock in his eyes.
"Do you truly know nothing of the witch's scent?"
"N-No...I don't..."
"Don't lie to me!"
"I'm not, Rem-Rem. I honestly don't know what this witch's scent is."
"Hmm...okay, I'll trust you for now." Rem said in a more serious tone of voice, scaring Subaru a little yet his fear was unable to show when the heartless and a lot of mabeast appeared. Rem approached the massive threat that was the combined forces of the Mabeast and the heartless and without hesitation she went on the offensive, managing to destroy majority of the threat on her own. Subaru wanting to help jumped into the fray by taking care of the weaker heartless and some of the Mabeast near him.
Sora looked at Elsa in his Ultimate form, getting Elsa's attention since she can tell the Ultimate form looks more powerful than the Final form. She got both her knives out and started to get herself ready to move faster than she ever went. Sora looked down on her and pointed his weapon he was holding in his right arm towards Elsa.
"I suggest that you stand down. I will not be holding back against you this time, Elsa. And I don't think you'll be able to survive this time."
"I hope that you can take me out! It'll make this fight such a thrill!"
Elsa moved faster than the speed of sound once again, attempting to catch the young boy off yet with the power Sora possessed, she wasn't able to even land a hit on him. Sora easily deflected off the attack and quickly summoned a bunch of swords from thin air, throwing them directly at Elsa. She noticed this and quickly started to dodge each attack, some managed to hit as she had a few scars on her back and left shoulder.
"You really are much stronger than I last perceived...my you really know how to make a girl happy, Sora."
Sora continued to summon more swords to throw at Elsa, not exactly paying attention to what she had to say. While she continued to dodge a lot of the attacks, Sora moved faster than her towards her position, surprising her in the process. She attempted to jump away from him yet he was just too fast, landing a lot of strong blows towards her. As one of the attacks sends her flying away from Sora, she looks up and can feel her head starting to bleed again.
"Last chance Elsa, stand down or you will be defeated."
"Hehehe...hahahahaha! Yes! This is what I want!"
"What…?"
Sora was a bit off by the way Elsa said and before he did anything, he managed to sense something tried to surprise attack him from his back side. He jumped up and managed to dodge the attack from a more stronger looking Mabeast that had a head of a lion, the torso of a horse, and a snake-like tale. Sora looked directly at the large Mabeast and quickly reverted back to his normal clothing while floating down to the ground. As he landed to the ground, Elsa looked at Sora with a bit confusion,
"Why did you took away your strongest form? I was having so much fun!"
"Trust me Elsa, I'm still strong even without my forms."
Sora charged at the large Mabeast and with just one attack he was able to take it down with just one attack. Elsa was stunned by this, never believing the large Mabeast to have easily be taken down with one blow in Sora's normal state.
"Interesting, you are stronger than the Guiltylowe with just one attack, Sora. That is most impressive."
Sora and Elsa both turned towards the voice to see Ram and Reinhard both standing there, having observed Sora's feat. Elsa looked at Reinhard and was happy to see him again, having wanted to face the sword saint himself for a long time now.
"My My, will the sword saint be battling me as well? This as to be my lucky night!"
Reinhard looked at Elsa, having noticed what she said. He smiled before saying that the dual is between her and Sora at the moment. As the sword saint said this, Sora himself felt a bad feeling, causing him to turn towards Reinhard and tell him,
"Reinhard, I want to make sure Subaru and Rem are alright. Think you can cover this fight for me."
"That should be no problem, Sora. Just make sure those two make it out safely."
"I'll take the children to safety. Sora, make sure my sister and Barusu are safe."
Sora nodded at this and quickly started to make his way towards Subaru and Rem's location while Ram managed to grab all of the children to get them to safety. Reinhard looked at Sora for a moment before looking at Ram, seeing that the two are doing their part to save everyone. He then turned towards Elsa.
"I would suggest to stand down, assassin."
"Why? I'm going to fight the Sword Saint himself and get to see his insides."
"That's very confident of you, Bowel hunter."
Elsa waited for a moment before asking why hasn't the sword saint pulled out his sword, to which he responded that it would only unsheath if it is really needed. This made Elsa a bit annoyed since she feels like she is being underestimated to which Reinhard also stated that he is disappointed by this. He looked around and noticed that there was no weapon, making him be forced to use his fists for battle.
"I sadly don't have a weapon, so I might have to restore to my fist...I dislike this very much but I guess it is what it is."
"Don't worry Sword Saint, I'll make you pull out your sword." Elsa charged quickly towards Reinhard, confident that her power will force him to pull the great Dragon Sword Reid. Reinhard was able to see Elsa despite her speed and quickly used his left foot to stomp the ground, causing a wave of strong air to throw Elsa off her guard. He then managed to land a kick on her left rib to send her flying away from him.
"I still suggest for you to either stand down or leave while you can. You are nowhere near as powerful."
"Now now, don't be a rude knight. You still haven't seen what I got."
Elsa pulled out her second knife and quickly went on an offense against Reinhard yet all he did was dodge every attack without any problem. Once he gained an opening again, he kicked her far off again. As this happened again, she got up and was about to do something yet she paused for a second. Reinhard noticed this and quickly turn around to see a man in a black coat.
"Who are you?"
"Oh, don't mind me. I'm just enjoying the night sky and this fight...no, fight would be more entertaining. Let's call this a facade."
Reinhard looked at the mysterious figure for a moment and before saying anything, he felt his sword unsheath which made the Sword Saint completely be wary of this new person. The mysterious figure noticed this and quickly began to comment on that,
"Seems like your sword doesn't like me."
"Who are you? What do you want?"
"I wanted a good show but I guess I'll have to do something about it if I want to be entertained." The mysterious figure snapped his fingers as he finished his sentence, which caused thirteen people in black coats to appear, each holding different kinds of weapons. Both Elsa and Reinhard stood back to back, seeing that they are both surrounded. As they stood back to back with their weapons out, which excited the mysterious figure.
"The legendary Sword Saint and the infamous bowel hunter working together...now isn't that a treat."
The mysterious figure snapped his fingers again, causing all thirteen people in black coats to charge at both Elsa and Reinhard to begin the battle. Let us honestly see if either one of you can survive these replicas of the organization.
Subaru continued to assist Rem in fending off many Mabeast and Heartless while protecting the little girl that was unconscious. As this was going on for a while, the two encountered the little dog that had bitten Rem earlier in the day. Subaru pointed his keyblade at the little dog while cockily talking bad about the dog, thinking that it'll be an easy win. The dog's eyes glow red before growing into a deadly Mabeast.
"Well...I spoke too soon..."
"You are too cocky, Natsuki Subaru."
"I know, my bad." Subaru said while feeling some regret in his words for being cocky. Rem quickly charged at the giant and deadly Mabeast, confident in herself that she can handle the Mabeast on her own. Subaru was prepared to join in the fight yet he recalled from the previous time he fought alongside Rem against Elsa, he ended up being a liability. All Subaru can do is protect the little girl while Rem handled the hard stuff.
As it seemed like Rem was holding her own for a moment, the giant Mabeast managed to hit Rem hard that it sent her flying towards a tree, breaking it in half and leaving the blue haired maid badly wounded.
"Rem!" Subaru shouted in concern for his friend, which caused him to point his keyblade and in rage summoned Fire once more. This fireball was much stronger than the one he summoned against Elsa. The fire hit the Mabeast and showed that it did do damage, causing the Mabeast to scream in pain for a moment before charging at the young boy. Not afraid of death, Subaru held his ground and quickly jumped to avoid one of its attacks, having been relying on the power of the keyblade he wields.
"This time, I won't be dying. I have to rely on my strength!"
As he says this, he attacks the head of the Mabeast, causing some damage but not enough to actually slow it down. The Mabeast attempted to bite Subaru yet Rem luckily managed to get up in time to save the boy, having jumped towards him and pulled him away from the Mabeast. As they are far away from the Mabeast, Subaru quickly used Cure on her. This allowed Rem's injuries to disappear easily, with Subaru's energy being low from casting higher magic for him.
"Subaru, thank you for healing me. Now stand back and rest."
"I'll help you...whenever I can, Rem-Rem."
Rem nodded at Subaru before charging at the Mabeast again, feeling much stronger from being healed by Subaru. The young boy kept looking at the fight and felt like he could be doing more. He got his keyblade and slowly approached the Mabeast, seeing that Rem was giving some good hits yet somehow the Mabeast managed to hit Rem hard enough where she created a small crater.
Shit, this isn't good at all! Subaru thought to himself, having flashbacks of what had happened when Elsa hit Rem hard enough to create a small crater. He began to run towards Rem's location as fast as he could, not wanting anything to happen to Rem. As he gets there, he instinctively grabs Rem from her sides before tossing her away from the crater. She noticed this and quickly shouted Subaru's name, seeing that he was in danger of dying. Sora just arrived at the scene and noticed this as well, attempting to move fast to protect his student. Sadly for Sora, he was too late. Subaru got sliced in half by the Mabeast, causing Sora to scream Subaru's name in shock and pain.
'I'm dead...again, aren't I? Why does this hurt more than the last one? Why am I so weak?! Damn it, I wish to be as strong as Sora...maybe then I'll be able to protect everyone.'
"Subaru, are you okay? Hey, Subaru?"
Sora moved Subaru's shoulder the exact way as before, resulting in similar events happening, Sora getting a headache which worried both Felt and Rem. 'The hell is going on...am I returning back from dying? This doesn't make sense...' Subaru started to freak out a little since the same thing happened with the heartless appearing in the village and Felt volunteering to deal with them. Subaru decided to let events play out with Sora destroying the ghost ball looking heartless and the events with the children until Elsa made her appearance.
"Elsa, please. Don't you hurt these children. They are innocent."
"Oh I know Sora,but they have intestines that I have to see. Little children always have the cutest intestines."
Sora was similarly disturbed like the previous times while Subaru was completely afraid due to the fact that if they go to save the girl, he will die and if he stays with Elsa nearby he will still die. 'What do I do? What do I do?!'
Rem looked at Subaru, noticing the stench of the witch intensify in Subaru yet she noticed the fear he had in his face. "Deep down he is scared."
So he is scared…
Rem similar to the first loop acknowledged the fear she saw in Subaru and would do something yet Elsa was the main priority. Sora looked at the children, knowing that they have to get them to safety yet there was still the girl in danger on her own. Subaru thought of the possibilities of surviving and quickly concluded that Sora taking Elsa was still the best course of action.
"M-Master Sora, why don't you take care of Elsa. Rem and I can save the girl together."
Similar to before, Sora agreed with Rem worried only to be reassured by him. The events play out the same with Sora pulling out Ultima Keyblade for his battle against Elsa while both Rem and Subaru make their way towards the child.
As they arrived, it was about to be the same moment where Rem punched Subaru yet she looked at Subaru in an intent to punch him only to see him on the ground, crying. "Na— I mean Subaru, what is wrong?"
"I'm pathetic, aren't I?"
"What do you—"
"Ever since I came here...even before I was a weakling, always having others help me even though I don't deserve it. Emilia saved my life from those three jerks and allowed me to join her even though she didn't have to. Sora saved me from dying by that crazy bitch back in that loot house or bar, whatever it was. Everyone as been helping me and yet I'm an utter disappointment. Why did this weapon chose a loser such as myself?! I really care about every single one of you and wish to protect you all but how can I when I'm pathetic and weak compared to Sora…"
Rem was taken aback by what she was hearing, not believing what she was hearing until she began to remember what Sora had told her when they were making their way towards the village. "He is pretty reckless, always wanting to put Emilia first and as an odd way of speaking at times but that's due to how excited he is to feel like he is a big part of something. Natsuki Subaru is someone who probably feels like he is worthless and wants to be special. I can sense a little hint of jealousy towards me but I can assure you that despite his flaws, he is still a good person and will do the right thing. Deep down he is scared"
So this is what you have been boiling inside of you, Natsuki Subaru.
Rem went to give Subaru a hug, having understood the pain he is going through of feeling inferior. Subaru was completely confused by this, unsure why would Rem be comforting him. Before he could say anything to her, she began to speak,
"I know how you feel but even so you shouldn't give up. You should feel honor to wield a very special weapon. You were also trained by the Sword Saint himself and by Sora, something that not many people can say. You have good qualities, Natsuki Subaru, giving up isn't one of them from the few days we have met."
Subaru recalled the first few days of being in Roswaal's mansion, attempting to hangout more with Emilia yet always getting stopped by both Sora and Ram. Sora would always insist to wait until he finished all his training for the day while Ram would just grab him by the ear and force him to go back to training. He also recalled attempting to always talk to Rem, wanting to be her friend yet always turned down by her. He attempted to help clean the garden yet she left or when he offered to help cook only to be turned down harshly. He had wanted to befriend her yet she had turned him down so many times.
Before anything else can be done, Subaru remembered that a Mabeast was going to attack Rem, which caused him to instinctively to do the exact same thing he did yet this time he was prepared for the heartless behind him. He turned towards his left side and pointed his keyblade directly at the heartless before saying, "You are not going to beat me like that! Fira!"
Subaru's keyblade created a big fireball that managed to destroy the heartless, surprising not only Rem but Subaru. As the two were left there surprised, Rem quickly got out her flail, preparing to fight the heartless and Mabeast that she sensed nearby. Subaru got up and began to say to Rem,
"Thank you for that Rem, I know you actually don't trust me because of the witch's scent that I have in me."
"Wait, how do you know about that?"
"Let's just say that I have been aware of it for a while but I honestly don't know why I have it...which is why I want to ask if you can help me figure out why?"
Rem paused herself for a moment before giving a nod to him, accepting this. Subaru smiled at this and the two quickly stood side by side as friends, ready to face off the threat that is right in front of them. 'I won't lose this time, all we have to do is buy ourselves some time for Master Sora to arrive and save both of our lives. I won't die this time...I refuse to die!'
Sora continued to face Elsa exactly like in the previous time yet the difference was when Reinhard arrived. He started to feel like events are the same yet he doesn't know why. He closes his eyes to see why his heart feels off yet he knew that he couldn't do that at this time. He was about to suggest that he would go after Subaru and Rem to make sure they are okay until he heard an odd familiar voice tell him,
"Don't. You won't arrive in time. Continue your fight with that woman."
Wait who was that?
"Trust me."
Sora stood silent for a moment before looking at Ram and asking her if she could make sure both Rem and Subaru are safe while asking Reinhard if he could get the children to safety. Reinhard nodded while Ram responded to what Sora said, "Of course, it is wise to trust me when it comes down to my sister's safety, Sora. You passed."
"Passed? Passed what?"
"Don't worry about it, now focus on your battle."
Sora nodded at Ram and returned his attention to Elsa, pulling his Kingdom Key back out to which Elsa questioned him for not summoning the strongest of his keyblades. Sora looked at Kingdom Key for a moment.
"This weapon is what I started with on my first journey and ever since I have been able to rely on it, even when things got rough I still used this keyblade and managed to pull off every fight. Because this keyblade holds the power of my friends...My friends are my power."
Sora got himself into his fighting form, showing Elsa that he is ready to fight. The bowel hunter looked displeased with what she heard, not liking the idea of friendship as power. Reinhard looked at Sora and smiled before picking up the children to take them to safety, confident that Sora can take on Elsa and win while Ram quickly went towards the direction Rem and Subaru went with Sora telling her where exactly they went off to.
You are a good person, Sora. I believe that your power will be enough to handle the bowel hunter.
A few things to clarify:
1. No, Sora is not RBD with Subaru, he is just connected to his heart so when Subaru is returning from RBD, he can feel that something is wrong with him and can sense some of the memories but he doesn't know what has happened.
2. Sora wasn't fast enough to save Subaru since using Final Form and Ultima form drains a lot of Sora's power which left him a bit slow.
The next chapter I'm going to work hard to put a good end to this combination of Arcs 1 and 2 of Re:Zero, so it'll either be posted tomorrow night or the following night. Also I have put thought into it and I will also be doing the OVA since something will happen in the OVA that'll shift the story for Arc 3. Lastly, after the next chapter I will be posting chapters one to two weeks so I don't burn out posting this daily.
I enjoy reading your reviews, please keep sending in reviews and I'll do my best to make this story be original and fun for you all.
Author note update: The website is having trouble pulling up Chapter 7, the ova chapter, and chapter 8; I will try to have that fixed but the app of this website you should be able to read it. (11/4/20).