Chapter 82: Roswaal Mathers
Roswaal A Mathers had been in the forbidden library, reading a few books in search of a way to continue onto the next centuries, wanting to reach the ultimate goal of reuniting with his teacher, the Witch of Greed Echidna.
He had been reading many books within many months after his last meeting with Luxu, watching his friend leave while leaving a quote that would be running on his mind since then.
("May your heart be your guiding key.")
'What does that mean exactly?'
Roswaal would believe that this sentence might be important for his goal to succeed.
He continued to read more and more books, wanting to gain as much information has, he could get in order to find a way to keep himself alive through however long it takes until he revives and reunites with his teacher.
'There has to be a way to keep my soul intact at the very least.'
While he was reading a couple more books, some of them being parts of Echidna's research on immortality.
As he was about to fully understand what his teacher was going to do to reach immortality, a sudden corridor of darkness appeared.
Beatrice was extremely defensive by this as a random portal appearing in the forbidden library.
She hid her tome of wisdom underneath the seat she was in and prepared to fight this possible threat while Roswaal got up with the assistance of the cane.
Once up, he looked confidently as he waited for a moment before seeing someone with the black coat walking through the corridor of darkness.
As this happened, the portal disappeared with Beatrice preparing her mana for an attack.
"Who are you?"
"..."
The person in a black coat remained silent before taking off his coat, revealing that it was indeed Luxu though Roswaal could tell that he wasn't the same person as the one that left a while back.
"Luxu?"
"...Roswaal. We need to speak."
Beatrice was still on her guard, seeing that it's Luxu yet she didn't want to speak with him after having learned that he departed without even saying goodbye to her.
She turned around while shouting at both Luxu and Roswaal,
"If you have things to discuss, then leave this place, I suppose!"
Roswaal and Luxu noticed what Beatrice had said, leaving the two blank for a moment before listening to what the guardian of the forbidden library wanted.
As they were leaving, Luxu turned back to see Beatrice, realizing why she was probably mad. Before he could say anything, she spoke first:
"Save it. I don't want to hear anything from you, I suppose. Now leave."
"..."
Luxu just remained with his blank facial expression before giving Beatrice a nod, acknowledging her harsh request.
Once he left the forbidden library, he turned to see the doors slam behind him.
This made him feel nothing has he turned towards Roswaal, seeing that he was still completely broken since the encounter with Hector.
"Things have changed here."
"...Yeah. What brings you back here?"
"...Looking to see if Echidna-sama has something that would benefit my role."
"Role?" Roswaal whispered to himself, trying to recall what this role of Luxu was since it had been a long while for him since the two had interacted. "What wisdom are you looking for exactly?"
"One that can help me move from vessel to vessel."
"...?"
The magician was left silent for a moment, trying to comprehend what his friend was wanting exactly.
'Vessel to vessel? What is he talking about?'
"Please elaborate." Roswaal spoke in a calm manner, trying to keep any of his confusion to himself. Luxu remained silent as he looked forward, noticing a few maids off in the distance.
He didn't wish to answer this yet he knew that this wasn't something he could explain without context.
He waited until it was just the two of them around before answering Roswaal's question with,
"My role requires me to live for many lives. It is important I stay around for a long time, so I need to find an efficient way to move my heart from this current vessel onto the next vessel."
"Heart? Do you refer the soul?" Roswaal spoke as he found this intriguing.
"Yeah...I guess you can put it that way."
"I see. So you are looking for a way towards immortality."
"That's one way to phrase what I'm looking for."
As Luxu finished speaking, Roswaal and him approached a door leading into one of the living rooms of the Mathers mansion.
Once inside, Luxu and Roswaal both sat down and continued their conversation.
Roswaal had remembered a lot from Luxu's time with them in the sanctuary before that faithful day, making him think that he understands the role his friend was given.
"Could it be that you have to keep watching over this black box even beyond your lifespan?"
"...you could say something like that..." Luxu spoke in a blank tone, keeping his emotions to himself.
Roswaal was able to pick up on this yet he didn't care, his focus was more on what he was learning from his friend.
He got up after having the time to think more into what he has to do if he wants to accomplish his goal while also helping Luxu accomplish his.
Once he was on his feet, he walked towards the window to look outside.
Luxu remained on his seat, seemingly thinking about his own things.
Roswaal remained silent has well, thinking back on that faithful day.
He remembered how his friend collapsed after suddenly running out of strength before the pain that had been gone through a potion his friend gave him having return with a vengeance.
When he was on the ground, feeling helpless; he viewed the situation has his own fault for not having gotten stronger.
Even Luxu at his best didn't do much to Hector, leaving the two of them in harm's way.
Remembering this and the day he and his teacher departed hurt his soul since he wished things would've gone differently.
He took a deep breath before turning towards Luxu, noticing that he was still in his own thoughts.
He waited for a moment before saying,
"Why don't I help you with your goal to transfer 'vessels'? It might assist me on my quest."
"..." The keyblade wielder paused for a moment, taking note on the question he was asked.
Roswaal observed closely to what his friend's expression was, seeing that he was thinking deeply into what he asked.
After a minute of silence, Luxu responded to the question Roswaal had asked,
"Sure, why not? I did came back here for the sole purpose of finding a way to move onto a new vessel."
Roswaal nodded at what Luxu had told him before offering his friend some food, showing some courtesy towards his friend has the host of the mansion.
Luxu appreciated this yet denied as he wanted to start on the research right away.
The magician understood this and started to make his way back to the forbidden library with Luxu following along.
The two had trouble getting in at first since Beatrice doesn't want Luxu in her forbidden library.
"She really is mad at me, isn't she?" Luxu said, finding this slightly amusing.
Roswaal remained silent as he was annoyed by this due to how precious time was and how he can't waste a single second.
He went to open every single door and left it open until finally the last door was the path into the forbidden library.
Just as he opened the door, a chair suddenly flew across him and destroyed the window behind him.
"Beatrice!" Roswaal scolded as he found this completely childish. She looked at Roswaal with anger as she responded with,
"I don't care! He isn't allowed in here, in fact!"
"Beatrice, he's here to help me with my vital mission given by teacher."
"...I don't care!"
She attempted to shut the door only for Luxu to somehow manage to keep the door open with his pure strength.
This only manage to piss Beatrice off to the point that she managed to use strong wind on Luxu, causing him to get send flying out of the door area and to be pushed off the window.
Roswaal was left with a shocked facial expression, not thinking that Beatrice would do such a thing.
He turned towards her to scold her only for her to close the door while shouting,
"He's not allowed in here, Roswaal! And that's final, I suppose!"
She shuts the door on Roswaal, leaving him completely blank while Luxu teleports himself back in the hallway he was before being thrown off a window.
"I remembered her being mean but not this mean."
"She's...adjusting. Let's just give her some time before trying to enter the forbidden library once again." Roswaal said as a hope that Luxu doesn't end up hating her.
The keyblade wielder just sighed at this before the two turned back towards the living room, seeing this as an opportunity to discuss a few matters.
As the two had a chance at reconnecting their friendship, in a matter of days they were able to get Beatrice to stop being angry and to allow Luxu into the forbidden library.
"Under one condition, he isn't allowed to speak, I suppose."
"Beatrice, I need him to speak so we can find the optimal way to complete teacher's mission she gave me."
"There's no negotiation for this, Roswaal. He either stays silent or stays out, I suppose."
"..." Luxu remained silent though he patted Roswaal in the arm, alerting him that he's fine with these terms.
"Are you sure about this?"
Luxu nodded, rather being this outcome than wasting anymore time in pointless problems.
Roswaal just sigh as he turned back towards Beatrice's direction.
"Okay, seems like we are in agreement with your terms."
"Good. Now leave me alone, I suppose."
Beatrice sat down and just started reading a book from one of the many in the library.
Roswaal just kept an expressionless face along with Luxu before the two decided to start researching into Echidna's immortality plan.
Although Roswaal would try to read into the books he hadn't gotten to yet, he chose to rather assist Luxu in catching him up on the wealth of knowledge he had gained on his own in order for the two to be on the same page.
This took roughly two weeks on its own before the two could start working on the books retaining some of the experiments Echidna was working on.
As they were reading through many pages of the few books remaining, Roswaal came across something interesting.
"Copying the soul...Overwriting the vessel..."
This made him think back on what Luxu was telling him in regard to wanting to move his current soul, or heart in his terms, to another vessel.
"Luxu, you might want to read this."
He handed the book down to his friend. Luxu grabbed it and read through a few pages before arriving to that specific area Roswaal had found first.
'Moving the soul into another vessel and overwriting it...there we go. Some progress.' Luxu thought to himself, seeing that his time in this world has proven itself to be beneficial.
This prompted the two to make as many notes as possible with the last remaining books before having the necessary information to do a successful soul transfer.
One the last day Luxu was on the mansion, the two had their last discussion.
"Do you believe this plan of yours would work?" Roswaal questioned, seeing that Luxu is taking a much different path than him.
"Not sure really but my master was confident that I completed my role...so all I can do is hang on to those words and just complete the task given to me."
"I understand what you mean..." Roswaal spoke as he looked up at the ceiling, reminding himself of the vital mission he has that'll serve Echidna. "...though I will ask this, how determined are you?"
"What do you mean?" Luxu tilted his head, curious to understand what his friend was meaning with this question.
"How far will you go to succeed in this plan of yours?"
"..." Luxu paused for a moment before turning around, creating a corridor to darkness.
Roswaal assumed that this was the response to his question, seeing that his friend was determined to do whatever it takes to achieve his goal.
What solidified this was when Luxu gave a response in a more cold tone,
"I'll do anything to achieve my master's end goal."
Before Luxu left, Roswaal commented in a new voice,
"Areeeen't you going to say goodbye to Beatrice-saaama?
"..."
There was a strong silent atmosphere, as if Luxu was feeling threatened by the manner Roswaal spoke.
He turned towards him with a serious facial expression.
"That's not funny, Ros."
"She'll be sad if you leave her without saying anything again."
"..."
The two stared each other down for a moment before Luxu closed the corridor of darkness, deciding to at least be respectful and say goodbye.
As he made his way towards the forbidden library, Roswaal followed behind in order to make sure that his friend actually followed through with saying goodbye to the guardian of the forbidden library.
Once the keyblade wielder was able to finally find the right door.
He opened the door to see Beatrice siting on the same place as always.
"Bea—"
Before Luxu could say anything, he notice wind starting to be created around the girl.
"What was the deal?"
She didn't look up though her regular blank voice was enough to make Luxu feel threatened.
"I came here to say goodbye."
"..."
She continued to increase the airwaves around her while closing the book she was currently reading.
She looked up and at first she had a blank expression before a slight hint of anger was showing.
"I know, I know, you are mad at me. I get it but...I have a role to play."
"What role?" Beatrice sharply questioned. Luxu remained silent as he tried to think of how to answer the angry little girl. "..."
"...!"
"...I can't give you the answer that'll justify my actions. I get that I should've talked before I left the last time but something important is at play. Just like your mother, my master entrusted me to complete a role that I just can't reveal to anybody even if I wanted to."
"..."
"But I hope you understand someday..." Luxu spoke as he turned around and created a corridor of darkness. "...maybe one day we can meet up again and have fun like before. I really did enjoy my time with you all."
Luxu turned towards Roswaal's direction, just looking at him underneath his hood before looking forward, leaving this world in somewhat good terms.
Roswaal just remained silent while Beatrice shut the door, not wanting to think about what had happened.
'Farwell, my friend.'
Roswaal thought this before returning to his duties as the owner of the Mathers mansion.
After a couple of years, someone entered the forbidden library.
Beatrice looked up to see someone that resembled Roswaal but wasn't quite him per say.
"Greetings, Beatrice-sama. I thought I should say somethiiiiing to you in place of my predecessor."
"...Did Roswaal die, I wonder?"
"My predecessor has passed away. However, rest at ease. As current head of the household, I, Roswaal B. Mathers, duly inherit his duty towards you and his debt of obligation toward your mother."
Present time:
"Have you accomplished the role given to you?" Roswaal questioned as he was once again interacting with his 400 year old friend.
Xigbar remained silent as he pointed one of his arrowguns directly at the magician.
"Have you completed your goal?"
"Aaaavoiding my question dooooesn't look good on you, Luxu."
"Says the one speaking like that weirdo."
Despite the two knowing that they are friends, the two were ready to kill the other.
The silent and threatening atmosphere stayed like this for a moment before Roswaal closed his eyes.
"You know, you have a debt towards me."
"Explain." Roswaal questioned.
"I'm the reason you were able to go through many vessels, just like me."
"Hmph. Doooon't get so full of yourself."
"It's the truth...but that's not the point of this conversation."
"Then whaaat is?" Roswaal asked as he started to create his six-fold magic.
Xigbar smiled at this, finding it all too familiar though he continued to speak,
"We could team up. Like the old days."
"..." Roswaal remained silent while keeping a smile on his face, finding this proposal quite intriguing.
Xigbar caught notice of the silence, prompting him to elaborate.
"After some investigation, you seem to be looking for a way to reunite with the Witch of Greed—"
"Echidna!"
"Hm?" Xigbar paused as he noticed what Roswaal said.
"If you wish to mention her, be respectful."
"..."
Xigbar looked more annoyed by this, prompting him to summon one of the arrowguns and shoot it near Roswaal's head.
"I suggest you keep your obsession to her out of this conversation. We both know that I can easily beat you without much issue."
"Is that so?"
Roswaal didn't hesitate to start his fight against Xigbar, viewing him as a threat to his ultimate goal of reviving Echidna.
He began to thrown his six-fold magic at Xigbar while also adding in some wind magic to create a barrier around him in the case his opponent tries to use some underhanded attack on him.
Xigbar was alerted of this which prompted him to react accordingly by teleporting all around the area, avoiding the attacks while also firing a barrage of lasers from different locations at the magician.
Roswaal's barrier was about as strong as Zarestia's, making Xigbar aware that he'll need to increase the amount of strength in his attacks.
He continued to teleport around, avoiding each of Roswaal's different colored fireballs until he find a chance to charge up his laser attack.
As he gained the chance to do this, he remained out of sight for ten seconds before Roswaal had spotted him.
"Is thaaaat the best you got? I expected more from you, Luuuuxu."
"As if."
Before Roswaal could throw another set of multi-colored fireballs, Xigbar smiled as he fired a very powerful large laser.
Roswaal paused himself as he wasn't sure if this attack would break his barrier.
He waited for a moment to see the laser hit his wind barrier, noticing that this attack is one he shouldn't underestimate.
'Impressive show of power, Luxu. Even without a keyblade, you are still a very formidable foe.'
Roswaal smiled as he was able to dodge the attack without much effort.
"You have greaaaatly improved."
"It's just all part of the plan."
Roswaal turned around for a moment only to receive a kick to the face.
"Always paying attention to what you see rather than focusing on your surroundings, especially your blind spots."
"..."
Roswaal felt this pain though he didn't care too much about it, having faced more hell before than this.
He continued to have a smug smile before he grabs Xigbar's leg.
"I have learned my lesson of underestimating my enemies."
He pulls Xigbar's leg in order to close the distance before landing a strong punch to the gut.
Xigbar looked completely caught off guard by this attack, prompting him to use his ultimate attack on his opponent.
"Start dancing!"
As he said this, his two arrowguns started to glow while he began to shoot a barrage of white lasers all around the area, causing a lot of destruction.
Roswaal was able to use water and earth magic as to protect himself.
Xigbar continues this for a couple more seconds before changing up his attack pattern by teleporting out of the fight from the looks of it.
Roswaal kept his guard up as he observed his surroundings thoroughly until he sensed Xigbar's lasers teleport from both the sky and the ground in rapid pace.
The magician quickly moved around using flight magic to avoid the white lasers coming from multiple areas.
Roswaal continued to dodge each and every attack for ten more seconds before Xigbar randomly appeared and fired a barrage of white lasers all around the area before disappearing.
One of these white lasers happen to hit the magician in the leg, causing some pain but nothing too dangerous for him.
He continued to dodge until the white lasers suddenly stopped again.
He once again observed his surroundings until suddenly Xigbar appeared though he wasn't attacking him.
He was glowing with his arrowguns floating around him for a moment before pointing both arrowguns towards the ground.
Once he was pointing towards the ground, within a fifty-mile radius a couple of portals appeared with both the sky and the ground were firing multiple white lasers, forcing Roswaal to make a combination of wind, water, and earth magic to create a powerful barrier to keep him protected.
This did work as most of the white lasers were barely able to even do damage to the first out of three phases of the barrier.
This was until a bright light shined all around the fifty-mile area, destroying majority of the buildings nearby as well as managing to destroy two of the three layers of barrier that Roswaal put around himself with the third being heavily damaged.
Roswaal waited for a moment since everything had gone silent before lowering his last phase barrier.
The moment he did this, he could feel Xigbar behind him with one of the arrowguns being pointed towards the back of his head.
"I suggest you accept my offer, Ros. I won't ask again."
"Sooo is this hooow you treat your friends?"
"...We are friends, Ros. I'm just looking out for what's best for you."
"Is thaaaaat right?" Roswaal disbelieved that his once friend would act this threatening all for his sake.
He wasn't has naïve as the keyblade wielders of this time to believe such things.
"Well then, I suppoooose you have me in check right now." Roswaal spoke calmly which did got Xigbar's attention. The magician turned towards his former friend with only his left eye looking at him. "Allow me to change that."
As Roswaal's yellow eye started to glow, Xigbar was not only threatened by this but saw as another way of denying his offer.
He fired a laser at his former friend's face only for the laser to suddenly disappear before it could even connect to the target.
"Hm?"
"Check."
As Roswaal said this, he moved rapidly towards the Organization member, surprising him with a punch to the face.
Xigbar was caught off guard by this attack along with the next few physical attacks.
Roswaal managed to land another punch to Xigbar's face before landing a strong gut punch.
"Seeeems like you forgot I can fight without magic."
"...You really...are full of surprises, Ros..." Xigbar spoke both impressed and annoyed. Roswaal remained silent though he had kept his confident smile.
Before the Organization member could try to counterattack, the magician kicked him on the neck with everything he had.
This kick managed to send Xigbar a few feet away from him, giving Roswaal an opening to send a powerful fireball towards him.
He pointed his left hand towards Xigbar's direction while shouting,
"Al Goa!"
The powerful version of fire magic was casted. Roswaal observed as the fireball he created rapidly making its way towards Xigbar's location.
'This is as far as you go, Luxu.'
"...do you really believe that'll end me, Ros?"
"...?"
Roswaal heard this and immediately had his guard up, seeing that his friend has been once again toying with him.
Xigbar managed to teleport out of the way of the attack and appear hovering in the air near Roswaal.
"You have really grown strong, hell you are probably stronger than when I had last left...or well the real me."
"Real you?"
"Right. Right. Right. You don't know. I'm just data. I don't know why but I'm not the real one but I do have his memories."
"..."
Roswaal took this new information with a grain of salt, not sure how to approach this.
'Data? Fake Luxu? What a complicated bunch.'
"Even if you aren't the real Luxu, you still think like him, don't you?" Roswaal spoke without his accent this time, catching Xigbar's attention.
"In a sense yes but that doesn't mean I'll spare you. My goal is to serve the old coot leading this rag tag team of nobodies. Fake or not, we are still stronger than you all. So Ros, I'm giving you this one last chance to join me in taking the others down."
Xigbar extended his hand, wanting to show that he was being genuine when giving out this last chance offer.
Roswaal remained silent as he pondered on the idea of siding with Luxu.
"Even if I coooould, I still have an oath to keeeeep."
"An oath?"
"One that is liiiiiike a curse. Shooould I turn into their enemy then my soul will be damned while this body turns to ash."
"...Now that really sucks for you then." Xigbar said as he started to laugh. "Man, no wonder you are following that kid. He wouldn't convince someone like you to follow in his 'friendship' ideals."
"Eveeeeen so, that 'friendship' of his has beaten me before." Roswaal said with some respect towards Sora, knowing full well that the boy has potential to be the strongest all around.
Xigbar looked up at the sky as he continued to speak in regards to his last offer to his former friend:
"Even with that handicap, knowing you, I know you've found some way around that little oath of yours."
"And whaaaat do I win by joining forces with you?"
"Well, you won't die." Xigbar responded in a cold tone while pointing one of his arrowguns once again at the magician. "As well as arriving at the desired future."
"..."
Roswaal remained silent when hearing this, having an actual conflict with himself since he does trust Luxu and has even thought to himself that had he been the one to offer his assistance in the sanctuary, he would've considered it.
"You offer is quiiiite tempting if you ask me...but—!"
Roswaal smile returned to his face as a random wind attack approached Xigbar on his right side.
The Organization member sensed this and quickly jumped back in order to avoid it.
As he dodges the attack, he turns towards the direction the attack came from to see a pink haired maid standing proudly.
"...? And who are you supposed to be?"
"Allow me to introduce one of my finest maids, Ram."
Xigbar looked at Roswaal with an annoyed facial expression before turning towards the maid known as Ram, noticing a smirk expression.
"What? Do you really need a maid to help you out? Man, you've fallen so low, Ros."
Xigbar felt a small cut on his check, not having sensed Ram's second wind attack.
This left him shocked for a couple of seconds before looking at Ram with a death stare.
Ram was also returning the death stare, having distain towards the Organization member.
"You will respect Roswaal-sama."
"..." Xigbar was for sure left impressed by Ram's dedication towards his former friend, making him aware that the maid was stronger than he originally seemed. "I see that you found a loyal servant to manipulate."
"Now Now, if thaaaat's how you'll view Ram, than you are faaaar too ignorant than I thought you'd be. She may be a loyal servant but she's sooooomeone I trust."
"In what exactly? There's so many levels of trust. Do you trust her deeply?"
"Of course." Roswaal spoke with confident. Ram kept a blank facial expression has she was hearing this, wanting to hide how much Roswaal's words were making her extremely happy.
Xigbar felt that Roswaal was lying, prompting him to question the magician with,
"Do you really trust her? Would you trust that maid with your true past?"
"..."
Roswaal didn't want to answer this question since he isn't even sure that he can realistically trust anyone but Beatrice in regards to his past.
Xigbar was able to immediately know that the answer is likely no, prompting him to prepare to cause some in-fighting between his former friend and the maid only for Ram to stand in front of her master.
She pointed her wand at the Organization member while saying with a sharp tone,
"That's enough out of you. I won't allow you to continue your disrespect Roswaal-sama any longer."
The Organization member smiled at Ram as he was eager to fight against the maid, wanting to see what made her so special to Roswaal.
"Well, if you insist." Xigbar pulled out both his arrowguns. Ram looked with determination as she began to say to Roswaal:
"Allow me to handle him, Roswaal-sama."
"..."
Roswaal looked at Ram, seeing how determined she is. This reminded him of when he first interacted with his maid, the fire she had against him.
Now she saw this fire though instead of it being directed towards him, it is directed towards his opponent.
Seeing this prompted him to pat her on the arm while responding to her request:
"No, let us do this together."
"..." Ram paused as she tried to hide just how much her happiness had increased. "Understood, Roswaal-sama."
"Two on one...this should be fun." Xigbar smiled as he prepared himself for a big fight. "I guess it takes another person to help you in order to beat me, Ros."
"...as much as I dooooon't want to agree with the boy, I can see that in this sceeeeeeenario, I'll allow some assistance."
"Hmph. As if, you are just unable to win on your own. That's the only reason you have your maid with you."
As Xigbar said this, he began the fight by firing a couple of lasers at the duo.
Roswaal using his yellow eye was able to cause the lasers to disintegrate before even being able to reach their intended targets while responding to his former friend's comment.
"I could beat you alone, Luxu. But thaaaaat doesn't mean I won't accept help from someone I deeeply trust."
As Roswaal said this, both him and Ram throw a combined attack at the Organization member, prompting him to teleport out of the way.
Roswaal and Ram noticed this which caused them to be on guard.
Prior to arriving to Vollachia:
Roswaal, Emilia, Ram, Rem, Reinhard, Felt, Crusch, Wilhelm, Julius, Yabuto, Kishida, and Waraki were in a meeting together while making their way towards the neighboring kingdom.
"We shooould prepare a sort of plan."
"Well, we know that there's that witch following big bro and my hero. So we should take her out!" Felt suggested, viewing the witch as the biggest threat. Waraki was completely on board with this idea while the others weren't sure.
"Felt-sama, I wouldn't want to challenge the witch just yet."
"And why not?!" Felt protested.
Waraki was prepared to explain why they should listen to her yet Yabuto advised against it since the knight's judgement is clouded once again.
Roswaal understood what Felt wanted yet he had an argument that could sway the young girl into some other plan that isn't challenging a witch, especially the Witch of Vainglory.
"Cooooonsider this, we have no clue how Subaru-kun and Sora-kun are aaaaat the moment. They could be in seeeeerious danger."
"I don't believe that." Felt retorted.
"I would also find that extremely hard to believe, Margrave." Wilhelm added in, knowing full well how capable Sora is and how resilient Subaru is.
"Even so, we can't deny the possibility of that Sora, Subaru, and Subaru's parents encountering someone that is around the Keyblade Master's strength." Julius said.
"Like those Organization punks?" Waraki asked to which Julius nodded a yes, having been thinking about them being a possible problem for the Keyblade Master. Felt crossed her arms as she started to see now why the others want to go check on Sora and the others first before confronting the witch after him.
"What should we do if we encounter the witch?" Reinhard questioned, having a feeling that they might end up countering her.
"Then we should proceed with caution." Crusch said calmly, figuring that facing a witch would mean certain doom for them, especially if they try to encounter the witch itself.
Rem contained herself as she definitely hated hearing about a witch roaming around.
Ram could feel this and also had her own contempt against this witch yet she also remained calm.
Roswaal looked at the two maids of his and knew instantly that the word witch wasn't one they were fond of.
"If weeeee encounter any witch, allow my attendants and I to haaaandle it."
Everyone looked at the margrave for a moment, having taken note on what he had just said.
Yabuto was the first of the group to question Roswaal.
"Are you sure that's a wise idea?"
"Ram and Rem are booooth capable of such a task."
"I'm not denying that they are capable...I'm just concern that this witch could do something to them and to you."
Roswaal remained silent as he kept a confident composure.
"I uuuuunderstand the concern Sir Yabuto, but I have complete trust in Ram and Rem. They can haaaandle a simple witch. Espeeecially with my skills aiding them."
"Isn't that overconfident of you, Margrave?" Kishida questioned.
He's aware that Roswaal is strong though he doesn't believe he can take on a witch alone, even with Rem and Ram assisting him.
"It'll be fine." Ram interjected. "If Roswaal-sama believes that my sister and I can help him in defeating a witch...then it shall be done."
Everyone remained silent as they saw how diligent Ram was to her master.
Rem remained silent, having her own reasons to not add in her own opinion on the matter.
Reinhard waited for a moment as everyone remained silent before adding in his opinion on the main matter:
"We should return to topic. Our main objective should be the safety of those in Subaru and Sora's group. It is possible that they might have allies that will be assisting them during their journey through the Empire of Vollachia."
"There's also the possibility that they might have people going after them for being affiliated with the Kingdom of Lugnica." Crusch added, having a gut feeling that someone might go after the two keyblade wielders.
"Then we should prepaaare for whatever outcome we fiiiiind ourselves in."
Everyone agreed as they prepared to go in their separate groups for the journey to the Vollachian Empire, Roswaal asked Ram and Rem if he could speak with them personally.
The two maids nodded in respect and followed Roswaal towards a place they could speak privately.
Once this was found, the margrave began to question the two on one matter.
"Dooooes it anger you two to know that a witch is roaming around?"
"..."
"..."
Both maids kept their expressionless face, catching the margrave's attention.
He closed his eyes as spoke in a more serious manner,
"There's no need to hold back your opinion with me. That is why I requested we speak in private before making our move to rescue our camp members."
"..."
The two oni sisters continued with their blank expression until a hint of anger was finally being shown in Rem's, no longer being able to hold this façade for long.
"...I'm...not happy...about it..." Rem spoke as anger can be heard in her voice.
Roswaal could tell that this was something she was holding back immensely since learning that a witch was after Sora.
He approached Rem, seeing the anger in her eyes while her face was remaining as emotionless as possible.
Without warning, Roswaal patted her shoulder while reassuring his maid:
"I promise you thaaat nothing bad will happen to Sora-kun. That witch woooon't get him."
"..."
Rem remained silent though she nodded at Roswaal, appreciating the kind words before asking:
"Could I please have some time to myself, Roswaal-sama?"
"Well moooost certainly."
"Thank you, Roswaal-sama."
Rem bowed before she took the opportunity to walk alone, wanting to have some space to herself.
While this happened, he turned towards Ram to see what she had to say about the situation.
"What about you, Ram? Do yooou have any problems with the current situuuuation?"
"...with all due respect, Roswaal-sama, I wish to kill this witch myself."
"Hm? Dooo elaborate on this, why do you wish to fight the witch alooone?"
"...I wish to not put Rem-san or you, Roswaal-sama, in danger. I wish to protect you both!"
Roswaal was taken aback by the dedication from Rem while also having noticed something about that look in Ram's eyes.
It was indeed determination but there was also something else.
A reminder of himself when he was determined to face Hector for the sake of his teacher all those centuries ago.
("Allow us to protect you, teacher.")
He remembered saying those words, although he did drag Luxu into the situation with this, he wanted so desperately to protect Echidna.
That's what he's seeing in Ram's eyes, the desire to protect someone that close to them.
He set his hand on top of Ram's head while confidently speaking in his odd tone of voice,
"I understand thaaaat feeling of yours. There's nothing wrong with thaaat. But I woooouldn't allow either of you to go up against a witch. Alone at the very least not."
"But—"
"Ram, you won't fight alone against some witch...(Especially against the Witch of Vainglory)."
"..."
Ram remained silent as she understood that Roswaal won't allow her to go after the witch herself.
This did prompt Roswaal to do something nice for once, giving his maid a few second hug.
After all, he does care for Ram.
He may use her for his own means but having taken care of her since they had met, he has grown fond of her.
"When thiiiings get tough, I'll be counting on you to fight by my siiide."
"Yes, Roswaal-sama." Ram responded with her face being red.
Roswaal and Ram both sensed Xigbar attempting to attack from above, prompting the two to immediately attack with a combined wind magic.
"Al Huma!"
As this power wind attack was able to push back Xigbar, he quickly teleported to the right side of Ram, preparing to fire a barrage of lasers at the maid.
Roswaal noticed this and quickly used his yellow eye to negate the attacks.
This annoyed Xigbar since he can't do anything if his opponent has that kind of ability, to neutralize his attacks before they can reach their intended targets.
Roswaal smiled as he took this opportunity to send another barrage of different colored fireballs at the Organization member.
Xigbar prepared to use his two arrowguns to counter his friend's attack yet Roswaal again used his yellow eye to negate the lasers from being created.
"What?!"
"Got you!"
Xigbar was preparing to teleport out of the way only for Ram to suddenly appear behind him and land a kick to his back side, sending him right into Roswaal's attack.
As he was receiving multiple hits from the attacks, he manage to teleport out of the way after one of the fireballs nearly hits his good remaining eye.
Once he successfully got out of there, Ram swiftly moved herself back to her master's side.
Roswaal notices this yet he remained focus on looking for where Xigbar had gone off to.
After a couple of seconds of looking, he noticed that Xigbar was hovering above them, floating with his two arrowguns glowing.
"You have indeed gotten much tougher, Ros. But now it's my turn to show you just how dangerous I am."
As Xigbar said this, he began to teleport all around his two opponents, figuring that he should fire from many different directions to prevent Roswaal from negating his attacks with his yellow eye.
Roswaal was able to keep up in some way by using fireballs to counter most of the lasers while Ram used her wind magic with the remaining lasers heading towards them.
With the two working together, they made a very strong defense.
"You really are a pain, Ros!"
Roswaal smirked at his opponent as he continued his strong defense with Ram by his side.
The two continued though the margrave was able to tell that Ram was starting to reach her limit.
This prompted him to eventually wait until Xigbar started to teleport before charging at the possible area the Organization member could teleport to.
As Xigbar teleported back into the world and prepared to fire another laser, Roswaal was on the right path as he closed the distance between the two of them.
Without any kind of hesitation, he landed a devastating punch on his former friend.
Xigbar was completely caught off guard by this since the punch Roswaal landed was on his left side where his eyepatch was located.
This punch sent Xigbar flying violently towards the ground, giving Ram an opening to land her wind attack.
"Al Huma!"
This wind attack managed to land on Xigbar just as he prepared to teleport, causing an almost fatal like blow.
"Tsk...that one hurt..."
"Then this'll finiiiiish you off!"
The Organization member looked up and saw the margrave was charging a bunch of mana on his hands, creating a blue ball of light.
Xigbar watched as his former friend prepares to give his most dangerous attack.
"Seems like this is wheeeeeere we part ways, my old friend. I enjoooyed the reunion but I must say goooooodbye."
With this being his final attack with the majority of his mana, he fired the last of his mana at the Organization member with Ram adding another powerful wind magic of her own, wanting to make sure that she can assist her master in eliminating Xigbar.
The Organization member was tempted to continue the fight yet he had a feeling that it would only prologue the inevitable.
'You really have grown a lot stronger, Ros. But do you honestly believe that this attack will be my end? As if.'
The powerful mana attack managed to reach Xigbar's location before causing an explosion all around the Organization member.
Roswaal and Ram both waited for a moment before seeing that Xigbar is nowhere to be seen after the smoke had faded away.
As they saw this, Roswaal lowered himself towards the ground while turning towards Ram, seeing that she's at her last of her mana.
"Are you okay?" The Margrave asked his maid, wanting to be sure that she's alright. Ram did her best to keep her composure.
"I'll be okay...Roswaal-sama."
Ram said this though she was struggling to stay standing. Roswaal smiled at this, seeing how tough his maid is before approaching her.
As he was approaching her, he remembered when he first saved Ram from the witch cult after they had managed to cut off her horn.
Being reminded of that fateful night, he set one of his fingers onto the place that was once Ram's horn to start transferring mana into her.
Ram was caught off guard by this and slightly made a moan like sound before keeping herself in check.
While Roswaal was transferring the remaining mana he had in him, he began to tell Ram:
"Your sister will need your help. I fear that the threat Sora-kun is facing will be too much for them."
"...What about you, Roswaal-sama?" Ram was concerned.
"I'll be fine. You should get to your sister."
As Roswaal finished speaking, he stopped transferring anymore of his mana into his maid, feeling confident that she has more than enough to handle herself.
Ram was conflicted by this since she doesn't want to leave her master on his own yet she also doesn't want to disobey him.
The Margrave took notice of this, prompting him to pat her in the head while speaking back in his unusual voice,
"Eeeeeverything will be fine, Ram. Nooooow go. They'll need your help."
"...Understood, Roswaal-sama."
Ram bowed in respect before going off towards the direction her sister had gone off to.
As Roswaal watched Ram leave, he closed his eyes as he began to remember a few lines told towards him by many different people.
("I'll never let anyone say that they quit. As long as you are alive, there's nothing out there for you to quit. And I'm not letting anyone die here! Do you want Ram to grief for your death?!")
("You see, that boy, the original Keyblade user...no, the Keyblade Master, he has something special in him. No matter how tough an obstacle is, no matter what is going on around him, even when everything looks like it'll go down in flames, he somehow manages to make the best out of it. He keeps pushing forward to make a future for all those he cares about, even if the risks are high enough that would end up in his death. He is the embodiment of good.")
("That guilt you have in you, get rid of it. It's not doing any good for anybody, especially you. If you wish to get back your teacher, then act. Just like I have set in motion all the events, you can also set all the motion of events but don't rely on some book. Rely on your own intuition.")
("May your heart be your guiding key.")
Those words from all those people have helped him in his current state to finally act on the desired goal he wants.
"I will revive you, teacher."
Roswaal says this to himself while picturing Echidna, remembering the good old days before that man ruined it all.
As he pictured Echidna, he began to speak out loud to someone nearby:
"Seems like I was right to guess that attack wouldn't kill you, Luxu."
"At least you did noticed. Would've been ashamed if you didn't."
Luxu spoke as he wore his hood on, dropping the Xigbar act.
"I will say, calling me Luxu out in the open is dangerous for you, is it not?"
"Unless Sora-kun was here, I dooooubt anybody would think of your name."
"Still can't believe that boy managed to do it."
"To do what?" Roswaal questioned with a curious look. Luxu looked at him with his one good eye before covering his face with his hood.
"That boy somehow finds a way to change fate, wouldn't you agree?"
"...he's veeeery unique." Roswaal responded to Luxu's question though he had notice the Organization member avoiding his question.
Before he had the chance to go back into the question, Luxu extended a hand while asking:
"I truly meant it this time when I say last chance, either be an ally or truly be my enemy."
"I'll ooooonce again ask, what do I geeeet from breaking my oath with Subaru-kun for siding wiiiith you?"
"I'll get you to the future you desire most. I'll make sure Echidna is back on the realm of the living."
"..."
Roswaal remained silent as he looked at Luxu, taking a moment to think deeply before responding to the question. As he thought, Luxu added in:
"Wouldn't you want to see her again?"
"...I—"