A/N: Hello friends. This week's chapter is much shorter, but ultimately it's a chapter I've had envisioned for a long, long time. In addition, this chapter also features an artwork by RelpamaKun on twitter. (FFnet users unfortunately can't see it for obvious reasons)

I hope you all enjoy it.

Chapter 121 The Green, Green Grass of Home.

Rumbling along, the carriage YN rode in rattled into familiar sights.

The sun above was bright and cheery. Few clouds littered the sky, and the bountiful blueness of the skies could be seen from horizon to horizon.

Blue skies.

Blue.

Blue, much like the hair of the woman he was coming home to see finally, after so long.

Arlem had managed to look the same after all this time. Surprisingly, the small, ultimately insignificant village remained stagnant in both its appearance, and its residents.

Few of its residents recognized the carriage, and even fewer recognized YN, even with the carriage's windows open to the warm breeze from outside.

Time is a fickle thing to memory, isn't it?

The village in a sense, even having been gone from it for so long, was his hometown now. While YN felt he should feel more heartfelt having finally returned through it, there was one spot further up the road he was bound for, where all things precious and important to him waited.

It was only a short bit longer that it would be till he arrived there, and soon, she'd be there to see him too.

It's been so long...

He had left her side, still asleep, when he'd set out on his wayward and distant quest, and it had taken what had felt like a lifetime to accomplish.

But now—

We'll have a lot to catch up on, won't we?

With a strong spirit, his destination came into sight.

YN: I'm home... I'm truly, truly home.

Pulling up to the familiar gates to its long paved entrance, YN sat himself up and prepared to depart.

Here it goes...

Stepping down from the carriage with but one worn, leather suitcase in his hands, there were already two souls here to meet him as he arrived. As his equally worn shoes touched the cobblestone makeup of the road, YN was met by their friendly expressions, warm and inviting.

Roswaal: Ahhh YN-saaaaaan how fortunate it is for us that you return in good health.

Removing his morning top-hat as he said this, the Margrave YN hadn't seen in such a long time held the brim of it to his chest as he bowed his head forward. And as for the other soul to his side—

Ram: —It is Ram's pleasure to welcome you home, YN-sama.

Bowing as she said this, the peach-haired maid smiled brightly at his figure.

While YN was dressed in old, worn, but not tattered formal dress-wear, equivalent to what a traveling noble might wear, he appeared as he did when he first left the Mansion. His appearance now after this long journey was impactful against the two he now stood in front of, since when they had only last seen him, the same outfit was still fresh with newness.

But these two were dressed very differently then he had remembered too. It seemed his planned return was an important enough event to warrant the use formal-wear for them as well. While Roswaal was adorned in a morning suit, complete with his top hat, Ram was clad in a maid-like outfit not unlike the one Rem had worn during the single day off everyone had made her take all that time ago.

With the carriage pulling away behind him, YN loosened the shirt collar around his neck as a breeze went by across the warm ground, fanning in unison the small blades of the Roswaal Mansion's front lawn.

Bending down to better meet the height of it, YN reached out to touch the green, green grass of home.

YN: You've all taken good care of it in my absence. It's good to touch it again...

Giving him a weak smile in reply, the Margrave clued him into the reality of the lawn's well tenured appearance.

Roswaal: In truuuuuuth, it has only been in such an agreeable state since the day she had awakened.

At first lifting a brow of concern to what he said, it quickly formed into a smile of warm familiarity.

YN: That's just like her, isn't it? Getting right back to her duties...

Standing back up, YN looked and spoke to Ram, a gentle tone in his voice.

YN: How has she been?

Ram: She has been in high spirits since your letter returned from so far away. It unfortunately fared poorly in its journey from so far away, but it was just legible enough to read that YN-sama had been successful in his quest to rid the effects of the Authority she had been forced to suffer, and was now headed home.

YN: So she remembers everything? There's no lingering side effects?

Roswaal: Quiiiite the opposite in fact. She is just how we all remember her. Tis a strange and powerful ability to make us all unaware how important she was to all of us.

Ram: —What Roswaal-sama says is correct, although he perhaps lets one thing escape being mentioned though.

Speaking this with no urgency, Ram did not heed this "thing" it seemed with any grave or due concern. Sensing this, YN nodded to her to go on.

Ram: It is nothing alarming, although it is unlike her to behave as such, —especially in regard to the one whom she says is her Hero twice over now. —For before, and for what you did for her in your quest.

Sighing as she knew she had gone off topic, Ram straightened her posture before going on.

Ram: Even though it was known to us all YN-sama would be returning close to Fire-time on this day, she has been somewhat beside herself as the time grew closer...

Trailing off her words as she said, it was still done with a smile.

Ram: After all, YN-sama's quest had taken so long, Ram believes the time and gravity of what you accomplished for her has had a compounding effect for what it'll be like for when you two finally meet again. —Your long awaited reunion.

Although in YN's mind lingered the subject and knowledge he had been successful in his quest to save and cure his beloved, and that it had been one he set out for all on his own, alone, and against seemingly impossible odds, the exact details of this quest, and what he had actually needed to do, were fuzzy at best.

How had such an ordeal come to be so blurry in his memory? Why was such a monumental undertaken gone from his mind now?

Just as he began to ponder on how this could be, the Margrave interrupted these thoughts.

Roswaal: Ahhh. Speaking of her, it appears she's decided to join us after allllllll.

Having noticed her first, Roswaal had said this with his face turned in the direction of the gentle, fast paced footsteps that could be heard against the cobblestone pavings beyond the front gate that lead to the stairs of the Mansion.

Turning to see her too, Ram saw her as well, and looked back to Roswaal.

Giving each other a nod, they knew their presence still blocked YN's view of the approaching, long awaited guest. Taking a side step each to the edge of the pathway, with their movement in unison, YN was given the scene of what felt like a lifetime of effort to see once again.

?: — — —

YN: — — —

As she had been running up to both Roswaal and Ram, she too had been denied the opposite view of YN he had of her, yet the difference was, she was unaware their presence had been concealing that he was already here.

The two were stopped, frozen in time as they gazed upon each other. For so long, even before this, the two had been separated by such an impossibly far expanse, it seemed like they'd never again bask in each other's presence.

—Yet here they were.

Down the road, she had been running towards YN, and now was stopped. With one hand upon her head, keeping the large, brimmed sun hat from being blown away in her stupor, the same gentle breeze of the warm day rippled her matching sundress of white.

As her hat was half-on, half-off, the sun's radiant light caught the hue of a beautiful, shiny blue; her hair of azure-gold. Its rays also fell to a deep red upon the face; her lips, like cherries.

The silence between them though, was brief.

YN: It's good to be home, Rem.

Eyes watering up, the oni shook them off for the time being. Her lips still quivering, the girl smiled through her tears as she ran up him, throwing her sun hat to the wayside.

Rem: YN-kun!

Crashing into him, the maid wept silently into his chest her hands griped tightly onto his clothing.

Here she was.

Standing, talking, running, crying, hugging.

The arduous journey he had taken was now all worth it. Although faint in his mind, the pain and tribulations he could not recall but knew he had faced to get here now mattered even less what they were.

Rem was happy and healthy thanks to him.

As her round, blue head made up just the lower part of his vision as she looked up with her face still glued to him, he saw everyone else coming up to greet him.

Yes, they'd all come to meet him. They're arms were reaching out, each wanting a hug of their own, sweet smiles upon all of their faces.

Frederica, Petra, Emilia, and of course, Subaru.

Coming out from holding him, Rem wiped her face as well as she could.

Rem: YN-kun probably wishes to see everyone else too, doesn't he?

Rem said this as she turned to face the others, which had seemed to cause a string of guilt to be plucked from each of them.

Frederica: Ahh~! Rem, I think we can all wait a bit longer if you're still—

Rem: It is fine. Rem should not monopolize YN-kun to herself.

Getting a moment to reconvene with his friends, —the people he really could consider his family, much like Rem did as well, was ultimately a brief one. They could all tell that the only thing YN wished to do was have time with the one he loved.

Subaru: —Go make up for lost time. We've waited this long, we can wait a little longer.

Emilia: Hmm, yes. We'll all be back in the west-wing of the Mansion for when you're both ready.

With each and everyone else departing to leave the two lovers alone, they quickly found themselves alone in front of the Mansion.

Down the lane to the gardens, Rem and YN walked, hand in hand.

Looking up at the Mansion before him, YN was somewhat surprised at the state of it, and the greenery around them.

Although the old Mansion was still standing, it's paint was cracked and dry.

Age and time had not been kind to YN on his journey, but it was even less considerate to the Mansion and its surroundings. Although it still held the spirit and familiarity YN knew well, the property ultimately took on a new appearance.

It appeared to be a well preserved, but ultimately neglected impoverished-noble's estate of sorts. Many of the gardens were still maintained, but to a lesser degree, and the further one got from the Mansion, the less tended to they appeared.

Like some of the earliest days of his time here, Rem and YN walked the perimeter of the Mansion's back gardens.

YN: Things must have been rough here while I was gone...

Concerned he felt like he had truly abandoned many of his duties, the maid reassured him with a squeeze of his hand in hers.

Rem: Rem had only woken a short time while ago. Everyone has been insistent that Rem should regain her strength before taking on many of the duties to bring things back to the state they should be.

YN: According to Roswaal, that hasn't kept you from entirely focusing on that though.

Rem: Roswaal-sama is correct... Rem cannot sit by idly while Nee-sama and Frederica have struggled to maintain so much for so long. Since Subaru-kun still struggles, and Petra is still learning, it seems Rem's momentary disappearance has still had lingering effects on the duties needing to be performed.

YN: Well... I guess since I was gone too, they must have prioritized the inside instead.

Rem: That is correct. Rem is eager to help her YN-kun restore it though. But that is for tomorrow.

In their talk of things they had missed, they had managed to circle the entire garden practically. Now before a familiar place, YN looked up at the mighty tree before them.

YN: This thing really did grow big...

Seeing how much this tree had grown, —the same one YN and Rem had first sat under in the very first Loop here in the Mansion, it really brought home just how long it had been since that first evening together.

As if knowing exactly what he felt, Rem took his hand once more, smiling warmly.

Rem: There is someplace else Rem wishes to take her YN-kun before the others begin to be curious as to where we are.

Not wishing to deny Rem, YN let the maid lead him on, a sensation he hadn't felt in such a long time; the feeling he could truly rely on, and trust Rem to guide him wherever.

With their short walk back to the Mansion, YN inquired as to why they had decided to come to this side of it.

YN: Umm, I know you know the Mansion well enough... And even after we've been on our own for so long now, I thought we'd be going to the wing where everyone said they'd be...? So why are we at the east one and not the west one?

Looking down at their held hands, Rem and YN stood by a side-door entrance to the Mansion, the side opposite Emilia had said they'd all be in.

Rem: ...The truth is... Rem asked for the festivities to be in the west wing for a rather selfish purpose...

YN: Rem, given everything that's happened, I don't think anyone could call you selfish for much...

Blushing up, the oni turned her gaze back to meet his own to answer.

Rem: This may be though... Does YN-kun recall telling Rem of what [she] had wanted to do once everything we were facing was resolved? It was said before we both tried to go and assist Emilia-sama...

YN took only a moment to recall the interaction of the fargone Loop based off the one small detail Rem had provided.

YN: I... I do.

Rem: Then... Then YN-kun should understand why it is Rem has brought him to the part of the Mansion that everyone else is absent from.

Stepping in closer, Rem stared deeply into YN's eyes as she went on.

Rem: Before YN-kun arrived back... Rem did as she said she'd try and do... She found a vacant, unoccupied room with a bed... —one where she made sure the floor does not creak underneath when there is even excessive movement. She has spent the last few days cleaning it, and bringing in candles and other romantic itinerary...

YN: Rem...

Rem: —So please! Please... Give your Rem your touch... and please take her innocence... It has been so long since Rem has taken pleasure in her YN-kun's presence... So after so long apart, and after YN-kun has done so much for her, freeing her from such a frightening eternity alone... Please accept the only thing Rem can offer to the one who loves her more than anything! —To the one she loves more than anything!

Eyes wide at what Rem was asking, it was but the one and single thing she could both offer, and ask for all in the same notion.

It was what all lovers were bound to do...

Rem: Please—

Placing a hand on the door's handle, Rem pleaded for approval, her blush red, and her body shaking.

Rem: —follow Rem upstairs... and let us embrace as we never have before.

Looking to the door Rem offered to open and lead him through, —a door that led to pleasures he could barely imagine, he ultimately smiled weakly back to Rem.

A hand was placed upon her hand which roosted upon the handle of the door, and with one gentle motion of his own, removed it from its stoop.

Rem: —?!

At first making an expression as if denied on her solitary request, YN's weak smile persisted as daggers of pain stabbed his heart, having to see the face of his beloved be so aghast.

Rem: W... Why...? Does YN-kun not—?!

YN: —That's not it. We both know... that's not why I'm doing this.

Rem's expression remained like glass; solid, unmoving, and fragile.

Rem: — — —

YN: Rem.

Rem: — — —

YN: [Rem...]

[Rem]: — — —

Uttering just her name, YN shattered that glass, and with his next words, he tore down the illusion before him.

YN: This is too good to be true. All of it.

?: — — —

The woman before him, blue haired, blue eyed, and adorned in beautiful clothes befitting and exaggerating her best features stared back at him, blankly.

The false-tivities were over.

?: When did you become aware?

Speaking in her voice, YN did not immediately answer the perfectly replicated softness he adored when it entered his ears.

YN: After all this... The sincerity, the gravity of it all... It was all as tempting as it could be. But—

As if choking back tears, YN looked up the sky above them.

—If he could even call it a sky, that was.

YN: —No where, in Rem's words, mentioned or not, was the reason, or even the semblance of what makes our love special. Because I think, no one, not even you can perfectly fathom, —or let alone, recreate what sort of a tragic love it is that Rem and I share.

Looking back to the person before him, they no longer held hands. The face of the woman he loved was gone, however the body and clothes, mimic'd as they were, remained.

YN: But that's no fault of your own. There's no way you could ever hope to mimic it. I commend you for trying, and maybe I should even thank you for giving me a brief escape from the hell I've been living in since she was taken from me... But I'm aware of what's going on now.

?: — — —

Before YN now stood a taller woman, a woman he had met before, but had been forced to forget.

Her white, long hair overtook the short, curt azure-blue he adored. But in her hair, where Rem's signature hair clip would have been, was a new one now. One, of a butterfly of all things.

YN: I gotta ask then... Why's this Trial so much more different than the last one... Echidna?

With the ruse fully dropped, and his memories of her restored, the contrast between this Trial, and the last one he took were all apparent now. The game was now over, and the late Witch Of Greed was now openly questioned by YN.

Echidna: What makes you so entitled to that information, anomaly?

Blunt with her own question in reply, the annoyed Witch glared at YN with intense malice.

YN: Because, this time, I actually managed to beat it, didn't I?

Echidna: — — —

Her lack of reply only signaled YN's own good fortunes.

YN: So, was this your way of fixing it, or did you just change the rules on your big and important Trial just for little ol' me?

Echidna: Do not think so highly of yourself. While yes, this is a separate Trial, as to why you're able to participate in this one without my say-so has me justifiably angered. It's one thing to thwart my Trial once and change its mechanics... But to totally flip the entire thing on its head this way is inexcusable... I would normally eject you from my Citadel without a second thought... However, you're just intriguing enough to keep me curious.

With the world around them seemingly beginning to fall apart, YN did not fear a thing as this Witch might have hoped.

Echidna: To answer the question I'm sure you'll ask though; the answer is yes. You have passed this Trial, a Trial you should not have made it to yet. You rejected a convenient present for a much harsher, real one. That in and of itself however, is not necessarily the conditions anyone should also need to meet to pass, rather, it must simply be a result I find enlightening.

YN: Well isn't that dandy? But I guess you're going to make me forget about you again, aren't you?

Echidna: This time... This time I'll refrain from doing so. As much I detest inviting the anomaly back in my Citadel of Dreams, I shall allow you to attend the next Tea Party when the more... interesting of you two otherworldly travelers show back up in my Tomb together. There is much we will discuss then, including your unique position that has allowed you here to take this Trial without first clearing the normally required hurdles. Until then—

The world was finally beginning to fully unfold as it broke apart, leaving but just Echidna and YN together with the same door as before. Gesturing to it and taking a step back, the Witch crassly ordered his departure.

Echidna: —don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Taking the handle as she said that, YN stepped into the blinding white light he found on the opposite side of the door.

Encased in a hot sensation, YN's consciousness began its return to his body, and the outside world with its own problems he would need to face.

It was good to see Rem... but I know now... with the way our love is, if it's too good to be true... It probably isn't tragic, which means... it probably isn't real.

Facing what felt like illusion after illusion in this world, YN knew he needed to tread carefully, especially given how weak his mind could get if tempted by visions of Rem.

Suddenly waking up, a force of consciousness was thrust upon YN. With a sharp inhale of breath, his eyes were wide open.

His back was to the ground, and an air of cold dampness permeated from the stone through his clothes, and to his body.

Looking up, all he was greeted with was a moss covered ceiling, and the sound of his own heartbeat echoing in his head.

Lifting his body up, he simply glanced around himself to be sure Garfiel hadn't followed him. With no other company but himself, YN was alone, essentially just four gray walls surrounding him.

His meeting with Rem, the shared hug, the walk they had, and her offer of sincere temptation, was all but a dream; a figment of his imagination conjured up by the Trial. While he felt he had many questions regarding it, what it all meant, and why it was different, YN knew he couldn't afford any time to be given to it.

The Trial is over. And now, I have to walk out of here and face Garfiel...

In the darkness he walked though, a faint light appeared from over his shoulder.

Algol: — — —

As if trying to aspire confidence in him, YN let the tiny spirit land in his hand.

YN: We got things we've gotta done, right?

Shaking as if to nod "yes," the spirit lingered in a way as if to guide him from the Tomb.

Exiting out into the night-time exterior, it appeared as if Garfiel had taken the time to ignite the pair of flaming torches to give himself some light.

Out stepped YN to the edge of the Tomb, and looked down its set of mighty steps to the golden-haired youth that awaited him near the bottom.

Arms crossed, his expression was made more sinister by the uneven light of the torches being cast on his face.

Not knowing what to truly expect, YN took his first step down the stone stairs.

I really hope Ram and Otto were given enough time…

A/N: If anyone so happens to search this chapter's song title, please do yourself a favor and listen to the Porter Wager version. It's the best one.