-Dirt Road-
"Hah, well look who it is." Garfiel smirks as he crosses his arms. "That's one damn gutsy ground dragon ya got there. And ya even have Rem with ya."
"I'm pretty sure there's a misunderstanding between you and me." Subaru says.
"Hah?! A misunderstandin'?! Like hell there is! You and your witch stench are goin' out to do somethin' evil aren't ya? And ya somehow blackmailed this poor girl into comin' with ya. Whatcha got against her, eh?"
"Now look here." Rem gives him a crossed look as Subaru gets down from Patrasche. She follows his lead and after setting her feet on the ground she continues, "I appreciate your concern for me, but what I do with Subaru-kun is my business. He has not blackmailed me in the slightest. And regarding the scent of the witch on him, I can guarantee you with supreme confidence he is not among the Witch Cultists. If you do not believe me, you are free to ask Emilia-sama, Nee-sama, and Roswaal-sama as well. They'll say the same thing."
"And how would ya know about this scent? Did someone tell ya?" He asks, feeling suspicious about why she sounds so confident.
"If I answer, will you let us through?" Rem asks.
Garfiel pauses for a moment, seemingly pondering her question. Then he suddenly rushes forward, grabs Subaru, and roughly pins him up against a tree.
"Subaru-kun!" Rem quickly brings out her Morningstar and aims it at Garfiel. Patrasche also gives out a small roar of anger.
"You two better not try nothin'! If ya do, it's off with his head!" When he turns his head back to face Subaru, Garfiel finds that he's smirking.
He calls him out on it, "What the hell are ya smirkin' about?!"
Due to pushing him up against the tree as roughly as he is, Subaru has a little trouble speaking. Despite that, he continues to smirk, "You…you're so easy to…read…
"Huh?!" He bares his sharp teeth against the tracksuit wearing teenager.
"Now…I've got a good idea of what…gets a reaction out of you…and what makes you mad."
The two stare at each other for a little while. Garfiel looking ready to pounce while Subaru is still smirking. Eventually, Garfiel realizes something and lets him go. He then shouts, "Ya bastard! You were testin' me?! You're freakin' insane! To go as far as riskin' yer life…what the hell were ya thinkin'?!"
"That's Subaru-kun for you. Even if he says otherwise, he really is excellent with coming up with plans on the fly like this. If you truly had gone through with your threat, I would have followed through with smashing your skull into the ground." Rem casually threatens, causing Garfiel to give her a quick fearful glance before returning to a neutral expression.
"T-Thankfully it didn't come to that." Subaru takes a deep breath to reel in from his near-death experience. Sure, he had Rem and Patrasche there to protect him, but Garfiel could've easily made his move before either of them were able to reach him. He truly had to rely on his quick-witted thinking and the memories he obtained from being engulfed by Envy to realize what would likely cause Garfiel to let him live.
"Now will you let us through?" Rem asks once more.
"If my amazin' self does that, can ya two guarantee ya won't do anythin' bad to us later on?"
"I won't betray Emilia, and I won't do anything bad to the Sanctuary. Count on that." Subaru answers with a very serious expression. He continues, "Garfiel, I know you're hiding something. But I'm going to find out what it is. I swear it."
"Shut up! What's the problem with ya?!"
"So long as I don't give up, there are no secrets. You'd be wasting your time trying to stop me."
"Just what is it you wanna do to this place?! To us all?!" Garfiel shouts.
"To help Emilia and bring the villagers home. I have no intention to bring any harm to the Sanctuary. I might annoy you all a bunch, but I truly want to help."
"Who the hell do you think ya are?!" Garfiel makes a forward motion with his arms to accentuate his question. "Ya don't know crap 'bout this place, the old hag, none of it!"
"He knows more than you think, Garfiel-san." Rem says.
"And what I don't know, I'm going to try to learn. In the end, I'm going to try my best to get everyone out of this safe and unharmed."
"Ya say that, but ya know words are nothin' but prattle! What are ya seriously thinkin' of accomplishing with merely encouragin' crap coming out of yer mouth alone?! Ya have no idea what pain or suffering even are! Quit runnin' your damn mouth like you do!"
"I do know. I. Know. Hell." Subaru speaks this in such a low and stern tone that it even makes Garfiel flinch and takes a step back.
"I as well." Rem gives the same nasty and disgruntled expression as Subaru. "Not to the same extent he has, but I've experienced my share of horrors too."
"And that's why we're working together to make sure that hell doesn't come for anyone else. Let's go Rem-rin."
"Yes." The two get back onto Patrasche and ride off, leaving a speechless Garfiel behind.
-Roswaal's Home-
"Here's your tea Roswaal-sama." Ram, holding a small plate with a teacup sitting neatly on top of it, hands over both items to her master.
"Muuuuuch appreciated Ram." He graciously accepts and takes a sip, lightly licking his lips once he does so. No taste as expected. At least it relieves the parchment of my throat.
"You appear to be in deep thought." Ram says as she observes his expression.
"I suppose you're right." Taking a few more sips, he hands the tea back over to Ram, who promptly sets it on the nightstand beside his bed.
"Is it about that letter Barusu left behind?"
"Indeeeeeed. It appears Subaru-kun and Rem left for my mansion early this morning."
"Tch. That Barusu. What does he think he's doing? Going to the mansion without giving us so much as a reason and dragging Rem along with him. He's also needlessly worrying Emilia-sama. Even that merchant, Otto, is worried about him."
"Rem has been sticking awwwwwfully close to Subaru-kun lately, hasn't she?
"She has…" Ram agrees before trailing off.
"Do you have aaaaaaany idea as to why? You know your sister better than I do after all."
"She's completely infatuated with Barusu, no doubt." She says in immediate response. Anyone who's spent as little as a day with Rem would quickly come to know of her affections for the black-haired butler. "However…I can't help but feel that something happened between the two not very long ago."
"Oooooh? Why is that?" Due to being bedridden, Roswaal has been relying primarily on Ram to bring him details of the developments of what is happening around the Sanctuary.
"Last night she had some sort of nightmare with Barusu in it. I don't know what the nightmare was specifically about, but from how Rem was reacting, something bad happened to Barusu in her dream. Whether she did it on purpose or not, her Synesthesia activated and I was able to determine feelings of strong fear and guilt. Additionally, I could sense a deep desire to protect." Ram explains.
"Aaaaand this is all centered on Subaru-kun?"
"It is not fully confirmed, but yes, that is likely the case."
"Hmmm…is her loyalty for me waning?" Roswaal puts his thumb and index to his chin, pondering over his own question. If she were to behave like she always has been, then she'd be here with Ram attending to his every need, especially since he is bed-ridden. However, ever since last night, Rem has spent nearly all of her free time with Subaru. She only visited Roswaal once, and that was only because Ram told her he called for her. Why was she called in? It was because she failed in her task of collecting herbs for Emilia's tea.
Flashback Start
"You called for me Roswaal-sama? Rem asks upon entering Roswaal's room. She had been on her way with Subaru to the house where they along with Emilia and Otto are staying at. Along the way they saw Ram approach them, asking for Rem to come with her to see Roswaal. Rem gave a light sigh and told Subaru to go on ahead without her, which he did.
"I most ceeeeeertainly did. Do you recall a veeeery important task I handed out to you earlier today?"
It takes Rem a moment to recall, but she lets out an "Ah!" once she does and says, "It was about finding herbs for Emilia-sama's tea."
"Correct. I remember you went out to collect them but ran into some compliiiiiications." He smiles a tiny bit. "Now, I understaaaaaand that you had to escape with Subaru-kun at that moment. However, once the danger had passed, why did you not go back and complete your task?"
"My apologies." Rem gives a bow towards her master. He shifts an eyebrow in slight interest, noticing that her action of bowing looks a little stiffer than usual, as if she's forcing herself. She continues, "I had to…erm…check the borders around the Sanctuary to make sure that girl hadn't come back with her mabeasts. It would've been terrible if Emilia-sama and the other villagers suddenly got attacked due to my negligence to keep them safe. By the time I had ensured the Sanctuary was secure, it was already very late into the night. Additionally, Emilia-sama seemed to have been able to obtain her tea thanks to Nee-sama finding a backup supply of herbs in the kitchen, so I didn't think the task was urgent."
"Was Barusu with you the entire time? I didn't see him at all while you were gone." Ram asks.
She nods affirmingly, "Yes. Subaru-kun kindly allowed me to ride on Patrasche-san so that I could perform the border check more quickly. If I had tried to ride her by myself, I'm certain she would've kicked me off immediately. While Patrasche-san was a major help, it still took quite a while to go around the border."
Roswaal takes a few moments to digest everything Rem has just said. He had no reason to doubt her words. Everything she said appeared logical and while she has generally always done anything Roswaal asked of her without fail, she seemed to have a valid excuse for not finishing her latest task assigned by him.
"I see…very well. I suppooooose it couldn't be helped. The safety of everyone here is indeed most important. You are dismissed Rem. Though dooooo take care to properly obey my orders the next time, alright?"
Rem bows once more, "Yes, understood Roswaal-sama. Now then, please excuse me." She takes her leave.
Flashback End
Ram shakes her head to Roswaal's question, "I doubt she'd ever think of betraying you Roswaal-sama. She's infatuated with Barusu, that's a known fact. However, they're simply co-workers and nothing more. And both her and Barusu work for you. Barusu is more intending to assist Emilia-sama, but Rem has your best interests in mind."
"I seeeeee. Well, either way, it doesn't matter."
"Huh?" Ram tilts her head, puzzled by her master's words, "Why doesn't it matter?"
"This world has already reached its conclusion. I trust he will understand and go down the proper path this time. My patience is neeeearly running out."
"I'm sorry Roswaal-sama, I don't really understand what you're trying to say." Ram's disappointed in herself for not understanding him.
"That's quite alright, I was mumbling to myself. Now then, will you help me up?"
"Forgive me for talking back, but I believe rest is most important for you right now."
Roswaal counters with, "I must take care of an urgent matter. Time will not wait for an injured body such as mine to recover to prime condition. To bring back my teacher, I'll do anything."
Ram opens her mouth, wanting to voice another complaint, but nothing comes out. Instead, she gives a small sigh and replaces the initial words she wanted to say with, "Understood. Then allow me to assist you."
Offering her shoulder for him to lean on for support, Roswaal is able to slowly get out of bed and make his way outside.
-Forest-
"Ram, please take a few steps back." Roswaal orders his pink-haired maid. She complies, allowing him to stand on his own.
Then, in a mumble to himself, "Now you must face the consequences for attempting to go down a path contradictory to the Tome of Wisdom, Subaru-kun. Whether it's there or here, you'll have no choice but to loop."
Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a mana crystal. Holding it above his head, he begins to pour mana into the crystal. In a low, quiet tone, completely devoid of his usual clown-like attitude, he says, "Next time, dedicate yourself fully to Emilia-sama. Forget about Rem, who should've been erased by the Archbishop of Gluttony."
-Roswaal's Mansion-
Subaru and Rem's trip to the mansion was peaceful. Without stopping anywhere, they managed to arrive at the mansion by late morning. Compared to the last time Subaru was here, he's arrived a little more than half a day earlier this time.
"Everything is calm and peaceful so far. But I guess that doesn't say much since it was like this last time I was here." Subaru says as he observes his surroundings from atop Patrasche.
"This was the state of the mansion when you came with Nee-sama?" Rem asks, wishing to confirm with certainty.
He nods. "Yeah." The two disembark from the ground dragon's back, with Subaru telling her to stay put. They walk up and enter the mansion. Due to it being bright daylight outside, there is plenty of light coming into the mansion through the windows, forgoing the need for lanterns.
They initially don't see anyone, which makes Subaru nervous. He tries to not jump to any conclusions and assumes they are elsewhere in the mansion. He and Rem split up to quickly cover more ground.
-Guest Room-
Subaru walks down a few hallways, checking various rooms to see if he'd run into anyone. He moves at a fairly casual pace, but he knows in the back of his mind that they can't linger here for very long. He has no idea when Elsa shows up and begins her rampage.
"I'm surprised I haven't run into Beako or the Forbidden Library yet. I've been wanting to see her too." He frowns a little at not having been able to see the Great Spirit for a little while now. They may not have the most fantastic relationship, but Subaru has come to greatly enjoy his time in the Forbidden Library with her. Teasing her always cheers him up whenever he's in a sour mood.
Upon reaching yet another guest room, in there is a person he's been looking for.
"Petra-chan!"
"Ack!"
Petra, currently dusting a night stand, jumps up a little in fright at being suddenly greeted. She turns to him with an angry look, ready to give a harsh reprimand, when she sees who it is.
"S-Subaru-sama! Don't scare me like that!" She gives a shocked expression before scolding him anyway. She takes a moment to breathe and says, "You're back already? Then that means…" Her eyes light up with excitement, "You brought everyone back to the village? Right? Right?!"
Subaru awkwardly smiles at her excitement. He wishes he could give her an affirmative answer. Unfortunately, neither of them can always get what they want. "Um…I'm sorry. There's been some complications and we've been unable to bring them back yet."
"Oh…" The twinkle in Petra's eyes dies out as the reality of the situation sinks in. "What's going on? They aren't in trouble are they?!" She anxiously asks as she drops her feather duster she was using to dust a small table and rushes towards him, looking him straight in the eyes.
He waves his hands. "No! No! They're doing fine. There's a barrier at the Sanctuary that is preventing a few people from leaving, specifically half-bloods. But enough about that for now. There's something very important that I need to discuss with you, Frederica-san, and Beatrice. Do you know where they are?"
"Beatrice-chan is probably in her library right now. As for Frederica Nee-sama, I'm pretty sure she's in the west wing doing some cleaning right now."
"Alright. I'll meet up with Beako in a little bit. First let's go see Rem."
"Rem-chan came with you?" Petra is a little surprised to hear this.
He nods, "Yep. We've been looking all over the mansion for you and the other two I just mentioned."
"What you want to talk about with us must be really important then…" She begins to get a little anxious at what could be so important that both Subaru and Rem traveled all the way here just to talk to them.
The two leave the guest room.
-Foyer-
Upon returning to the foyer, Subaru and Petra find that Rem and Frederica have already arrived. Frederica appears to be happily chatting with Rem, but the latter has a troubled look on her face.
"Subaru-kun!" Rem cheerfully runs over to him, happy to get away from Frederica who keeps attempting to get up in her personal space.
"Remy-chan!" Frederica puts out a hand in her direction, poorly attempting to grab her back. A second later she notices she isn't alone. Quickly entering a proper maid stance, she greets Subaru. Petra likewise greets Rem. Subaru suggests they all go to the guest room a couple rooms down, which they agree to.
-Guest Room-
"Before we start, I need to get Beako. Hold tight everyone, I shouldn't be long!" Subaru says before running off.
"Aaaand he's off. Subaru-sama can really run!" Petra is impressed at the speed he zooms out the door.
"Please don't attempt to copy that Petra. It's very impolite to run in the mansion like that." Frederica says, shaking her head at Subaru's poor decorum.
"Oh, really?" She asks with slight disappointment.
"That's right. If we were to do that in front of guests, then they would likely think of us and Roswaal-sama as silly and foolish, like clowns."
"Roswaal-sama already looks like a clown with that makeup he wears. I've never seen anything like it." She laughs a little at imagining his face. She's only caught a couple glimpses of Roswaal in the past. Primarily whenever he would have to make a trip to Arlam village for whatever reason. Despite very rarely ever seeing him, his very unique style of clothing along with his makeup easily made him stand out amongst the crowd. His appearance was burned into her memory and she could never forget that face that she could only describe as extremely odd and unsettling.
"Shhh!" Frederica puts a finger to Petra's mouth to hush her. "I get that his attire and choice of cosmetics is rather…peculiar. However, that does not give us any ground to laugh at his appearance." Then she turns to Rem, "Sorry Remy-chan. It's only been a little over a day now and she's only just beginning to learn how to behave as a servant."
Rem, barely able to withhold a chuckle at Petra's insult of Roswaal's taste in fashion, responds with, "No, I understand. She's a brand new maid. Everyone has to start somewhere. Thankfully Roswaal-sama generally has a good sense of humor, so he wouldn't take Petra-chan's teasing seriously. It seems you're already hard at work training her."
"Yep! Frederica Nee-sama has been teaching me a lot of things! It's hard to keep track of it all, but I am having some fun!" Petra says, satisfied with her new working conditions and environment so far.
"Petra is very obedient and willingly listens to everything I have to say too. She's been a very good girl. As expected of my apprentice!" Frederica pats Petra's hair as a sign of praise.
"Heh, thanks. Let me get you girls some tea. Be right back!" Petra happily makes her way to the kitchen. Her plan to become a stay on as a permanent maid seems to be even closer than she initially anticipated.
A moment of silence passes by before Frederica eyes Rem with a serious expression and says, "Rem, are we in danger? I know you said you wanted to wait until everyone is gathered, but the pressure of you not telling me what is going on is about to kill me."
"Yes. It'll still be some time until the attack strikes, so we should have plenty of time to escape to-"
"Oh my, I wouldn't say such hopeful things so brazenly like this." A sadistic voice rings throughout the guest room.
The girls turn and widen their eyes in complete shock and horror. Right in front of them, Petra is being held hostage with a blade pressed against her neck.
"Petra! Petra-chan!" Frederica and Rem call out respectively.
"Black hair, purple eyes, black dress…you…you are…" Rem grits her teeth and narrows her eyes as she realizes the identity of this woman even though she has never met her in person before thanks to hearing her physical description before. "Elsa."
"Oh? Am I really that famous? Well, I'm quite honored!" Elsa licks her lips while continuing to hold the blade against Petra's neck.
"Fame has nothing to do with it. How could I ever forget the assassin who attempted to kill my hero? And now here you are, threatening to take more lives!" Knowing that only holds true in the current timeline, Rem quickly allows her horn to emerge atop her forehead.
"Ara ara. An oni huh? Lovely! And such bloodlust! I don't think I've ever experienced such pure hatred towards myself before! Though do take care, one step and it's off with this girl's head." Elsa threatens, bringing the blade close enough to Petra's neck that it starts drawing blood. Petra whimpers in response to the slight pain.
"Frederica Nee-sama…Rem-chan…RUN!" Petra cries.
The cry distracts Elsa's focus on the two older maids for a brief moment. Taking advantage of that opening, Rem dashes forward as fast as she can and in a split-second, brings out her Morningstar and attempts to smash it into her skull.
Elsa brings up her unused hand and successfully blocks the attack with the other blade she has. Specifically her white blade. Then, Frederica comes in just as quickly and attempts to strike at her with her hand, transformed into a giant beastly claw.
Elsa is forced to bring up her black blade, the one she was using to hold Petra in place, and block her attack as well. Petra ducks and escapes her clutches. "Partial beast transformation. Demi-human blood huh. My, very interesting!" Elsa smiles at having found a couple opponents worthy of being disemboweled by her blades.
Jumping back, Elsa prepares herself to strike, when she hears a voice to her left. "I won't let you escape! Die! Al Huma!"
Rem, fueled largely by rage, decides to use one of her strongest attacks against the assassin. Summoning a ten meter long icicle, she launches it forward via telekinesis. Elsa dives to the side, landing on her hands upside down. She quickly launches her body once more, performing a successful flip.
"Ah…" Looking down, Elsa finds that her right foot has a deep hole right in the center. Leaning to the ground, she puts her index finger directly through the hole. Her finger covered in blood, she brings it to her mouth and runs her tongue all over it, savoring every lick.
"Goodness, that hurt." She complains despite smiling. "I thought I was a goner. I like it."
Bringing up her white blade, she points it at the three individuals in the room. "Maids in large, medium and small. This mansion truly offers such a wide selection of dishes! And I know for certain there's also a spirit around here that'll make an excellent desert. Mmm…I've never opened a spirit's insides before. The thought of it already has me drooling!" Licking her lips once more, Elsa is rather pleased with the amount of options she has. "I'll put you all on a table and compare your bowels with one another. The one who's bowels pleases me the most will have the honor of being the first set I dig into."
"How disgusting!" Frederica says, repulsed by her plans.
Suddenly, Petra screams. "Petra-chan!" Rem shouts her name and attempts to run to her, as she's in the back corner of the room. As she's running, she hears something sharp pierce the air. She's barely able to register what is happening when Frederica jumps in front of her, shielding the oni girl from about a dozen glass needles.
"Frederica!" Rem quickly darts her head back and forth between the two who've both been injured.
"Out!" Frederica yells.
Looking towards the window, Rem immediately understands. With a swing of her Morningstar, she shatters the only window in the guest room. Grabbing Petra with one arm and swinging her Morningstar with such precision that it wraps Frederica around in its chains, she pulls back her Morningstar. Frederica lands safely on her other shoulder.
"El Huma!"
With that chant, thirty icicles immediately form and head for Elsa. Rem doesn't expect them to successfully hit. They are merely there to serve as a distraction as she jumps out the window and runs away. The window is somewhat elevated off the ground, but not enough to where Rem suffers any damage to her feet or legs upon landing.
-Forbidden Library-
Meanwhile a little while before the attack, Subaru makes his way to the nearest hallway. He knows that behind every door is a chance to meet with Beatrice. Though Beatrice is often cold with Subaru and even blasts him out of the Forbidden Library every now and then, he still cares greatly for the Great Spirit. After all, she is the one who has provided him with invaluable information time and time again. She even agreed to contract with him to protect him one time. Other times, particularly when Subaru isn't annoying her, the two can have relatively normal conversations. So it's quite natural that Subaru wants to save her from Elsa, who will be arriving at some point today to kill everyone here.
Luckily for him, he manages to get the right door on the first try this time. He enters to see Beatrice sitting atop her usual stool, reading a book.
"Beako!"
"You're back already, I suppose? And just when Betty was finally getting some peace and quiet around here."
"Aw come on, don't be like that! We always have a good time together!"
"You mean you have a good time, I suppose. Don't include Betty in this."
"I swear I'm going to make you adore me one way or another! We're already practically like siblings anyway."
"How did you come to that ridiculous conclusion, I suppose?! If you've just come here to spout random nonsense, then leave, in fact!" Beatrice holds up a hand, ready to forcefully eject Subaru from the library.
He frantically waves his hands, "Wait, wait! I have a genuine reason for coming here aside from seeing my precious Beako!"
"...Out with it. Betty doesn't appreciate time wasters."
"Listen," Dropping his playful tone, he begins to get serious, "I came across some pretty terrifying information. This mansion here…it's going to get attacked by an assassin. And not your run of the mill assassin either. This is an assassin that managed to escape Reinhard's powerful attacks alive."
"And?"
"And, well, we need to get out of here! If she's able to survive Reinhard's attacks, then there's no way we could ever deal a significant blow to her. And according to the classic flight or fight response, if you can't fight, you flight!"
"Half the time you don't ever make sense! It's so annoying in fact!" Beatrice sighs, "Don't worry about Betty. She can take care of herself, in fact."
"No, you don't get it. I'm telling you this is not your ordinary assassin! You may think you're safe behind the doors to the Forbidden Library, but you're not! She can easily enter if she wishes to!" Subaru raises his voice a little.
"Preposterous, in fact. Betty can allow anyone in or out of the Forbidden Library as she pleases, I suppose."
"I seem to be able to get in pretty easily despite you saying how annoyed you are with me."
Beatrice goes silent at this counterpoint. Eventually she says, "You always seem to find the right door no matter how hard Betty tries to keep you out. It's so aggravating, in fact!" She stomps a foot in frustration.
"Right, right. I get it, I get it." Subaru smirks at his seemingly high luck. Then, remembering that they don't have all the time in the world, he shakes his head to get rid of his smirk. "Anyway, isn't it possible for someone to forcibly enter the library if they open all the doors? What if the assassin does that?"
"Then let the assassin come, I suppose."
"Huh?" Subaru widens his eyes immensely at hearing this unexpectedly dark answer. "What are you talking-huh?" About to question her further, he looks down at the book Beatrice is reading and is unable to believe his eyes, stopping himself mid-sentence.
It's a black book. The black book looks nearly identical to the gospel the Witch Cultists hold, except it's a little bigger than theirs.
"Why…why do you have…" Subaru mutters in disbelief. Then he violently snatches the book away from her.
"Hey! Give that back, in fact!" Beatrice attempts to jump up to reach the book. But her tiny statue compared to Subaru's means she has no hope of reaching it.
"Tell me! Is this a Witch Cultist book? Or could it be a Tome of Wisdom?" He gives her a moment to answer. When she doesn't, he continues with, "Dammit! Why aren't you denying it?!"
"Betty hasn't been commanded to answer that question, in fact! Now, give it back!"
"All the more reason for me not to! What's written in this thing? What's it telling you to-"
"Give it back now! Betty demands it!" Beatrice shouts. Subaru had just opened the book to check the contents when she blasted him to another part of the library, forcing him to drop the book. He collides into a bookshelf, causing dozens of books to fall onto his body.
Beatrice quickly picks up the black book and holds it close to her chest, smiling at having been reunited with it.
"Please…tell me what it's doing to you…" Subaru violently coughs, feeling like his ribcage has cracked.
"That question isn't in here either, I suppose."
"What?! Are you not allowed to do anything not written in there?" He shouts, clawing himself out of the pile of books.
"That question isn't in here either!"
"Y-You've helped me so much in the past before! And you've answered so many of my questions too! Now all of a sudden you can't do anything? Did you just recently acquire this book somehow? Is it cursing you? Is that it? Is that why you're saying to let the assassin come?!"
"Shut up, in fact! I don't know!" Beatrice shouts.
"Is that book really telling you what to do?!" He repeats this question, even louder this time.
"Yes, in fact! That's right. Everything Betty does is in accordance with the gospel's guidance, I suppose. That is the meaning of my life!"
"No…no way…" Subaru staggers to a standing position. "Was everything we ever did…you saving me…you telling me about the curses…the times we laughed and smiled together…all of that you did because of that book?!" His voice raises drastically in volume.
"Yes!" She yells, "I told you, I suppose! Everything Betty has done, has seen, has said…all of it was written in this book!" She then points a finger at him and states accusingly, "As if you could've ever moved Betty's heart on your own, I suppose! What an egotistical man if Betty has ever seen one! Just because you moved that younger maid's heart doesn't mean you can do the same with Betty, in fact! Learn your place human! Everything I do is for Mother! All you are…all you are is a human! A human! A human, in fact!" Tears begin to roll down her cheeks as she continues to yell.
Subaru is only able to blink, having no idea how to respond to this sudden emotional outburst. This is when the door to the Forbidden Library suddenly flies open and just as quickly shuts. A girl's cry can be heard as it happens, as well as a bellowing roar that has to come from a beast of some sort.
He immediately turns around and finds Rem lying on the ground, panting heavily. Blood covers both of her arms, trailing down to her fingers. Her right leg is punctured, with the blood from the wound gushing to the floor. Her horn shines brilliantly atop her forehead, clearly indicating she's been in battle.
"Rem-rin!" Beatrice's book and her hostile behavior immediately clear from Subaru's mind to make room for the girl who is quickly becoming his most precious person in this world. He runs as fast as he can to her, kneeling down observing her condition. "Oh Rem, Rem-rin! What happened to you?! What's going on?!"
"S-Subaru-kun…" A small smile forms on her face at being able to see him.
"Beatrice, please! Heal Rem-rin!" He turns to her with a pleading expression, begging for the Great Spirit to lend her assistance.
"Stop telling Betty what to do, in fact! Until Mother tells me otherwise, Betty will only follow what is within this book!"
"I-It's fine." Rem says tiredly as she applies her own healing magic to the puncture in her leg. Little by little, flesh grows on top of itself as the hole slowly closes. Eventually, minus the blood that has poured out and stuck to her skin, her leg looks good as new.
"It's…it's worse than we imagined." Rem admits in a defeated tone.
"What…what do you mean? Those wounds…"
She somberly nods, now focusing her attention to her arms and healing the many cuts and scrapes on them. A few of which are quite deep. "Yes…we were attacked by Elsa."
"No way…" Subaru gulps with a newfound feeling of dread. "She arrived this early…?"
"That's not even the worse of it."
"There's more?!"
"Meili…is working with her."
"Meili? The mabeast user? No…" Subaru's pupils shrink as he looks back towards Beatrice, who hasn't moved from her position, still tightly clutching her black book. "P-Petra! Frederica! W-What's going on-"
"I don't know." Rem swiftly answers the question she knew he was going to ask. "When Meili arrived…she brought a ton of mabeasts with her. We decided to separate to fight them one on one. Frederica-san took Petra-chan with her. I…I haven't seen them since."
"O-Ok. So they can definitely still be alive right now." A certain degree of hope fills Subaru's heart. "Alright. Rem-rin? Sorry but um, can you stand?"
"I think so." Her right leg is a little wobbly, but with Subaru's help Rem manages to stand relatively easily. "I should be able to manage."
"Now, there's no way we can take them both on. So we're going to run like the wind. We'll search this mansion up and down for Frederica-san and Petra. Once we do, we group up and evacuate the mansion. Hopefully we can deter them somehow in the forest or something. How does that sound Rem-rin?"
She nods, agreeing to the plan. "Yes, I believe that's the best course of action we can take right now. Let's go."
"Alright." Subaru then turns to Beatrice and holds out a hand, slowly walking towards her, "Come on Beako."
"W-What are you doing, I suppose?" She steps back and recoils a little in fear.
"This mansion isn't safe anymore. We have to leave now if we want to survive!"
"Betty isn't going anywhere with you, in fact! The Forbidden Library is sufficient protection!" She barks back.
"Even so! Elsa may still find a way in here! Stop being so freaking stubborn! Let's go already!" Subaru attempts to forcefully grab Beatrice's hand when she smacks him with the book, forcing him to fall to the ground.
"Subaru-kun!" Rem runs over towards him. "Are you alright?"
"Uh…yeah." He mumbles a reply, slowly sitting himself up.
Rem gives an angry glare to Beatrice, "Listen Beatrice-sama! I don't really understand why you're being so rude to Subaru-kun and refusing to listen to him, but he's right! The Forbidden Library doesn't guarantee absolute safety against outside intruders, you should know that! …Wait." Finally taking a moment to get a closer look at the person she's speaking with, Rem notices a rather large black book being clutched with her hands.
"What…?" She is completely left dumbstruck by what she sees. "No…what…how…how do you have a Tome of Wisdom?!"
"That's a Tome of Wisdom?" Subaru asks, looking at her book with newfound curiosity and fear.
At that moment, the door to the library opens, and a thunderous roar pierces the eardrums of everyone present.
"There's nowhere left to run oni maid! Oh?" A young girl, riding atop a Guiltylowe and with numerous Black Winged Rats flying around her, makes her entrance. Looking around the library, she spots two more individuals aside from the person she was looking for. "Onii-san and that Great Spirit! Wow! Everyone else was huddled right here! Well, what did I say? Me and onee-san always pay back what we're given! It sure was a pain opening all those doors, I'm glad onee-san told me the trick beforehand!"
"You!" Rem grits her teeth, instantly entering a fighting pose while wielding her Morningstar. The young girl is none other than Meili.
Meili calmly smiles despite having a very dangerous weapon aimed for her head, "There's nowhere to run, so I'd suggest giving up now. Though since onii-san was such a great playmate back at the village, I'll give you all a quick and painless death. It's the least I can do, as I do feel a little bad you all ended up being my targets."
"N-No…wait…" Subaru tries to force his brain into overdrive mode, thinking of any sort of feasible escape route where all three of them can get out alive. Unfortunately for him, Meili would not be merciful in allowing him time to think up a strategy.
Pointing a finger forward, Meili has the Guiltylowe and bat-like creatures charge forward. Immediately following them are four Wagpigs that take up a considerable amount of space. Rem grabs Subaru in her left arm and jumps back.
"Damn it! I won't let it happen! I won't let you die here!" Rem cries out to Subaru, fervently determined to never let him experience the trauma of death ever again. "El Huma!"
Dozens of ice spears form and are aimed for the general mabeast group. The Guiltylowe responds by turning around and swinging its large tail around, destroying the vast majority of the spears. A few manage to get through regardless and kill a handful of flying rats.
"Rem! We have to find an alternate exit!" Subaru shouts.
"Beatrice-sama!" Rem turns towards the spirit who has moved back several feet since Meili charged in. Still clutching her book, her expression from a while ago has gone from being furious to a more neutral look. "Please! Can you show us any alternate exits to this library?"
She shakes her head and speaks in a rather calm manner, "There are none, in fact. It appears…the time has come."
"Huh?! What do you mean by that?!" Subaru demands to understand the meaning of her words.
"Younger oni sister, are you able to kill them all, I suppose?" Beatrice asks, pointing to the mabeasts. After asking that, the three are forced to retreat further back as the Wagpigs take center stage and charge forward. Rem manages to hit one rather hard with her Morningstar, severely damaging it. However, that only buys them a little time as some Wolgarms begin to enter the Forbidden Library through the open entrance.
Rem does a quick survey of the current condition and frowns deeply, finding the situation rather unfavorable. "As much as it pains me to say this…no. I don't believe I can. We must escape through that door somehow if we are to get out alive."
"Human." Beatrice and Subaru lock eyes, the former begins to tear up, "Please…kill Betty. Betty doesn't care if you're not That Person, in fact. It's been over 400 years since I made that contract. I want this to be over…I suppose."
"Wha…" Beatrice has said so many unbelievable and rather disturbing things that Subaru is having trouble keeping up with it all. With the mabeasts attacking behind them, he's hardly able to process this absurd request of hers. "K-Kill you?! H-How could I possibly…"
Rem is likewise utterly shocked and disturbed by Beatrice's request. But she's too busy repelling the attacks to comment on it. Despite her best efforts, the mabeasts are clearly beginning to close in on them. There are simply too many powerful mabeasts at once. The small fighting space due to the amount of gigantic bookshelves does not help matters, as she's unable to freely fly her Morningstar around all that efficiently. It's not that she's afraid to break apart the bookshelves, but that the bookshelves will kill the momentum her Morningstar has while swinging around.
"Aha…then you cannot, I suppose." Beatrice gives the tiniest bitter laugh imaginable. "Even so, Betty cannot bear to watch you two dying with Betty. So go away, in fact."
By using a specific version of her Door Crossing magic, Beatrice summons a small portal to suck in Subaru and Rem. The suction power is rather intense, as it manages to suck them both in immediately. It closes off before any mabeasts get sucked in as well. However, the second before it completely closes off, Subaru catches a quick glimpse of a Wagpig charging straight into Beatrice. She makes no effort to resist the attack.
Why…why does she not value her life… Subaru asks himself as he travels through the portal. If he was able to grasp anything from their chaotic conversation, it's that Beatrice does not seem to care whether she lives or dies at all. And for someone like Subaru, who's literally experienced death, there's no way he's going to let her get away with believing her life is worthless or that it has no meaning. He must figure out what that Tome of Wisdom is doing to her. If it's anything like the gospels, then only catastrophe lies ahead for the Great Spirit.
-Small Field-
In only a few seconds, Subaru and Rem are transported to what seems to be a small field. Surrounding them on all sides are tons of trees. So naturally they seem to be in an open section of a forest.
"Ugh…" Rem makes a noise as she tries to distinguish her right from left. The teleportation has messed with her sense of direction. Additionally, she feels dizzy. Subaru likewise feels the same. Neither of them have ever teleported like this before.
"Beatrice…" Subaru mumbles her full name, remembering just how miserable her face was in her last moments. "Why…"
"Subaru-kun…" Rem finally recovers enough to where she's able to locate and crawl to Subaru. She wraps her arms around him, "I'm sorry…"
"It's…" He has trouble forming the words he wants to say. "It's alright. But Beako…"
"Don't tell me you're thinking of…" Rem widens her eyes in horror at what Subaru might possibly be considering right now.
"No!" He shouts. "No! I won't do that. I won't ever put you through that." He begins to tear up as he returns the hug, "But…but…!"
"I…I know…I know it's awful. But Beatrice-sama gave us this chance to escape. I…I hope Petra-chan and Frederica-san were able to make it out safely. I'm sure they'll come here if they did." Rem tries to give a tiny glimmer of hope in their seemingly hopeless situation.
"Hey…was it always this cold?" Subaru abruptly changes the topic. Upon hearing his question, Rem notices it too. Looking down, she notices a strange substance that she hasn't seen since Puck had to release a huge amount of mana at the mansion a few months ago. And more recently saw it in her second trial. Shifting her gaze upwards, she sees more of it fall to the ground.
"Snow? Why…is there snow here?" In an instant, Rem's alert level is once again raised to the max. "Did that spirit make an appearance somewhere?! Where is he?!"
"I don't know…" Too confused and exhausted, Subaru doesn't try to make sense of it. "Let's just ask the villagers."
Rem silently agrees and they slowly begin their journey to the village, though they don't get very far before Rem notices another strange thing.
"This field…the layout of the trees feels familiar…" Not quite able to put her finger on exactly why, she internally shrugs and continues on. Except, they only get a few more steps before a little creature hops in front of them.
"Huh?" Subaru takes a closer look at the creature. "A rabbit?"
A lone white rabbit sits in the middle of the cold white snow. Its fur is just as white as said snow, the only distinguishing features of the rabbit is its red eyes and a tiny horn on its forehead.
"I've seen many types of rabbits in my life. But I've never seen one with a horn on its head before." Rem says.
The rabbit licks its paw before gazing at the two with curiosity. After a few moments, it hops to them.
"Cute…" Enthralled by its cuteness and fluffiness, Subaru leans down in an attempt to pet it. This turns out to be a grave mistake.
In an instant, the rabbit opens its mouth and rips Subaru's hand clean off. It's so instantaneous that it takes a second for him to react, which is with a bloody scream.
"EL HUMA!" In a fit of fury, Rem summons a few icicles to pierce the monster disguised as a friendly looking rabbit, successfully killing it.
"AAHH AHHH!" Subaru shrieks once again when half of his left leg is broken free from his body from two rabbits that appeared out of nowhere, with the exact same appearance as the first.
Rem is barely able to turn to face him before she herself has a limb torn from her body from a couple more rabbits. In this case, it's her left leg. She too screams at the pain as she falls to the ground.
They frantically look around, only to realize to their complete and utter horror that the small field is littered with hundreds upon hundreds of the little devils.
"N-no…no…this can't be…" Rem realizes that in their condition and with this many killer rabbits, they are truly, completely, totally, fully, and utterly screwed. If a mere five rabbits were able to do this much damage to them this quickly, then they have no hope against hundreds.
The rabbits begin to hop as fast as they can towards the two, prepared to feast on their tasty flesh bodies.
Subaru comes to the same conclusion as her, as he slowly crawls himself over towards her as best as he can. "Rem-rin! Rem-rin! I…I…"
"Subaru-kun! Subaru-kun!" She cries out his name in equal anguish.
"Rem!"
"Subaru!"
They crawl towards each other as fast as their one leg bodies will allow them. When they reach one another, they embrace each other as tightly as they can. They cry out, despite knowing that no one will come and save them. They brace for the worst.
And the worst comes.
The rabbits arrive. The dozens that managed to arrive first waste no time in beginning to feast. Piece by piece, flesh rips off the two of them. Blood pours out of them, but the rabbits are quick to lick that up with their tongues, making sure not a single drop spills onto the snow. Fingers are bitten off, toes as well. Lips, nose, ears. You name it, the rabbits will spare no effort to gobble it all up. And they do it in the most agonizing way.
Subaru and Rem can feel every piece of skin and bone that is ripped off of their bodies. The agonizing pain that comes from just one piece being torn is repeated hundreds of times for each bite. This is nothing short of true torture. Nothing is spared. Stomach, kidneys, heart, brain. All of it is consumed by the monsters that take the form of cute little rabbits.
The process takes about thirty seconds, but each second feels like a thousand years. The two kick, scream, cry, and shriek as loudly as their vocal chords will permit them. Hoping that these actions will relieve the excruciating pain in any way whatsoever. At least, until these parts of their bodies are eaten and they can use them no more.
In Rem's last seconds, among all the chaos that her brain, which is quickly getting torn apart, is trying to articulate, one coherent thought manages to form.
This is what true horror feels like.
-Author's Corner-
A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update! A little writer's block has been getting to me, but I'm back with another chapter!
Not too much to say honestly, except for of course the rabbits finally arrive!
I quite enjoyed writing the scene between Roswaal and Ram.
danielsantiago4545: Glad you loved the last chapter! Subaru and Rem were able to get him off their tail this time.
Dovahking2023: You were indeed correct! And yes, it wasn't pretty for either of them. As for your question, Satella did not mess with Return by Death. Here's my thought process behind why Rem remembers. I hope this analogy suffices. You know how when you look at an image, you see it a certain way? At least, that is the case until someone points out to you how they see the image. Thanks to that information, you're able to see the image in the same way as the person who told you about it when you couldn't before no matter how hard you tried. It's a similar-ish thing here. Rem (or anyone for that matter) could never retain their memories of previous loops due to lack of knowledge of RBD. Once that knowledge was gained, while the person still couldn't remember loops prior to learning RBD, they'll now remember any loops Subaru dies in now. Again, not the best analogy, but it's the best I got. Hopefully that helps convey my thought process on it (and no I'm not basing this on canon. It's just my own headcanon of sorts)
demon god noir: Huh, weird. Well, I'm glad you're still able to review despite that! Yeah, even though Subaru forgave her, she won't be forgetting what she saw in the second trial anytime soon. Glad you enjoyed the chapter! And yeah, I don't like Puck either.
Guest: Thank you very much! Looking back I do think my earlier chapters are a bit rougher compared to the later ones. But anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed the character interactions so far! I do agree it's a little weird how no one has been able to at least somewhat piece together the oddities surrounding Subaru (like miasma, for example). I think if Rem were allowed to stay awake longer, she'd be able to pick up on these sorts of things.
Maximum Rhapsody: That's a secret! As for Ram's horn, no, there won't be any way to get it to grow back. As for Halibel and Tia, perhaps! I'm not too familiar with them as I haven't read Sloth IF yet. I plan to at some point though.
Deathenglegamers1144: Hmmm…one can hope.
codywhite162: Thank you! Glad you're enjoying it so far!
Ger0nim0: Hm, when I went to check the chapter, it was still there and intact. Did you try refreshing the page? Fanfiction net has been acting weird lately. Stats have been broken for over a month and email notifications aren't working anymore. If you're unable to read it here, you can check out the AO3 version.