Chapter 11: Secret Discussions, Reconciliations, and Planing
It was quiet in the hall of Jorrvaskr, as the group contemplated recent events.
Erik was the first to speak. "So… does anyone know what that was?"
The silver-haired Half-Elf shook her head. "No... I haven't seen Subaru that angry before."
"Something bad must have happened to him in the past," the onion knight suggested.
"Subaru did say he fell in love a long time ago, before he became an Undead," Emilia said. "Maybe that had something to do with it?"
"But to trigger such a reaction…" Solaire wondered as he looked down in thought.
"Could it have been a falling out, and he regretted it ever since?" Erik asked.
"That, or a grieving loss," Siegmeyer said.
"Sadly, that would make the most sense," the bucket-helmeted knight said.
Emilia was starting to see what was going on. "So, that's why he would be that angry. That man squandered what Subaru wished he could still have."
"Could... could that have something to do with why he became an Undead?" Erik asked.
"It's possible," the resident werewolf said. "Maybe he became one to try and save his beloved. But how long has he been around now…?"
"Subaru said he became an Undead around the time the Great Calamity happened," the amethyst-eyes woman said.
"Okay, so Subaru became an Undead to try and save his love, but chances are she's dead by now, and now he's been miserable for who-knows-how-long," Aela summarized.
"Then... what's been keeping him going? How has he not gone Hollow yet?" Siegmeyer asked.
"Maybe he found a new purpose?" Erik asked.
Emilia remembered something Subaru said a few days ago, when they were heading to Whiterun with Ralof. "Revenge…"
Solaire took notice. "What? What was that?"
"Something Subaru said... the day after we met," Emilia said, the others listening. "There's... a woman who hurt me when I was younger, and Subaru knew who she was. When I asked, he said "You're not the only one she's hurt."
"What woman?" the onion knight asked.
"Pandora."
The others turn to Patches as he walks up to the group, his usual mischievous expression all but gone.
"When did you get here?" Erik asked.
"Just now," the bald Undead said. "I was talking to Subaru about what happened."
"You know what's up with him?" Aela asked.
Patches nodded. "Yeah, but that's his secret to tell, not mine."
"Wonderful," Aela sighed. She didn't like being in the dark, but she respected someone's privacy. "So, what's he doing now?"
"Contemplating about his purpose."
Solaire leaned in, curiously asking, "And what is his purpose?"
Patches shrugged a bit before sitting down. "You could say he has two, but one of them is kind of a secret. Again, if you want to know, he needs to be the one to tell you, not me."
Erik looked at the others. "So… now what?"
"You said the name "Pandora". Who is that?" Aela asked, wanting answers.
"She's a monster, the leader of the Witch Cult, and Subaru's antithesis," Patches answered.
Erik did a double-take at that. "Wait, the Witch Cult? As in that terrorist group in Lugunica?"
Patches grimly nodded. "The very same."
"She's also the Witch of Vainglory, and Subaru says that she can rival the Witch of Envy in power," Emilia added on.
"You can't possibly be serious," Solaire said.
"Not in raw power, exactly, but yeah. I've never encountered her personally, not for a lack of trying, but Subaru said that she can manipulate any outcome to be in her favor," Patches said.
"So, she's just extremely lucky?" Siegmeyer asked.
Patches shook his head. "No, I mean she can say something, and it happens."
"He's right." Everyone turned to Emilia, who was looking down. "I killed Pandora multiple times when she attacked my home, but she could keep coming back like it never happened…"
Erik simply let out a single, "What."
"How are you supposed to beat that?" Aela asked, baffled at what she was hearing.
"Believe me, if killing her was as easy as a stab through the heart or chopping her damn head off, Subaru wouldn't be here." Patches gave an annoyed response.
"So… now what?" Solaire asked.
Erik shrugged, trying to comprehend how such a being could exist. "Yeah, how could we possibly beat that?"
"You're not gonna."
The group turns to see Subaru walking over to them.
"Pandora is not your responsibility, she's mine," Subaru said. "You're not gonna fight her."
"And how do you expect to defeat Pandora if she can undo her own death with seemingly no effort?" the ginger-haired woman asked.
"I'll figure something out," Subaru said.
"No," Emilia said. "Not alone, you won't."
"I mean, yeah, I'll have Patches…"
"No, not just Patches," the silver-haired Half-Elf said. "Subaru, Pandora ruined my childhood and killed the closest things I ever had to parents. I want to help you stop Pandora for good."
"And we can help, too!" Solaire cheered.
"If Pandora is as big a threat as you say, then the Companions will have your back," Alea said.
"I shall assist as well!" Siegmeyer added on.
"Yeah, same here!" Erik pumped his fist.
"Guys, you don't have to do this," Subaru said.
"You're right, we don't have to. But we want to. We want to help you, Subaru." Emilia smiled as she grabbed hold of Subaru's hand.
After a moment, Subaru genuinely smiles at his newfound comrades.
Subaru shed a tear at that. "Thanks... really, but let's worry about Pandora and the Cult later. We still have more Dragon Shrines to find."
"Right! So… where to next?" Erik asked.
Emilia takes out the map as she tries to find other Dragon Shrine locations. "Let me see…"
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Aela spoke, surprising everyone.
"What do you mean?" Emilia asked.
"The strange Draugr mage you recently fought was about to kill you when you weren't looking. Had I not been there, you would have had an ice spear straight through your torso." Aela explained, giving a sense of dread in the group.
Subaru spoke next. "So, what are you suggesting?"
"You need to get stronger." Aela said. "Your current level of strength has carried you well so far, but if you do not seek to improve yourselves, then you will hit a wall you cannot overcome."
"So, we need training?" Erik asked, earning a nod from the werewolf.
"Precisely."
"So, where do we go to do that?" Emilia asked, "Truth be told, I have no idea how to train."
Aela thought over it for a moment. "Well, It depends. Do you want to train physically, or magically?"
Emilia thought over it before coming to a conclusion. "Magically, I suppose. I was always told that I was gifted in magic, and that my mana pool was unnaturally large."
"That's it!" Erik snapped his fingers. "The College of Winterhold would be perfect for you then! They're the best mages in all of Gusteko!"
"Eh? You're sure?" Emilia asked.
"Definitely! You may even be able to master your Fire magic while you're there!"
Aela hummed. "Talk about convenience."
Erik did a double take. "Wait, you're... joining us?"
Aela shrugged as she smirked. "What can I say? You're an interesting group, and I see some promise in you, Erik."
Erik blushed a bit as he responded, "Um... thanks."
"Okay, what's the plan?" Subaru asked.
"If you're serious about getting stronger, then you should probably get some new armor and weapons."
"Ooh, we could go looting!" Patches smiled.
"Or, we could try hunting for the Daedric Artifacts?" Erik offered an alternative.
"What are those?" Siegmeyer asked.
"Insanely powerful weapons from the plane of Oblivion," Erik explained to everyone else. "Seigmeyer, you're a tank, right?"
The onion knight nodded. "Indeed I am."
"Then you would love Volendrung," Erik said. "It's a Warhammer that can steal the energy of an opponent and add it to you."
"That does indeed sound nice."
"There's even something for you, Aela," Erik addressed the werewolf. "The Ring of Hircine."
Aela nodded. "I've heard of it. It supposedly allows one to fully control themselves as a Werewolf."
"You weren't in control?" Solaire asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I was, but it is no easy task. It takes many years of training and practice before you can hold back the beast within, and even now I struggle."
"Then that ring should be helpful," Subaru said.
Erik nodded in agreement. "Definitely."
"Any other goodies and trinkets?" Patches asked.
"Well, if we're gonna get them all, we should probably decide who gets what," Erik said.
"Well, what else is there?" Emilia asked.
"Let's see... Dawnbreaker, Mace of Molag Bal, Volendrung, Ring of Hircine, Wabbajack, Mehrunes' Razor…" Erik listed them off.
"That's a lot of edgy names," Subaru huffed.
"Well, I suppose I'll be taking Volendrung," the resident onion knight said.
"And the Ring of Hircine is all mine," Aela said.
"From what you told us about Dawnbreaker, I don't think any of us Undead should have it."
Erik agreed with Subaru. "Could I give it a go?"
Patches gave a thumbs-up. "Knock yourself out."
"Yay!" Erik cheered, his hands in the air.
"Hmm... Now that I think about it, I think I'll take the Wabbajack, just for the Chaos it could create," Patches said, licking his lips.
"Gotta admit, it's a pretty silly name."
"I think that's the point," Erik told Subaru.
"I shall cause many kitchen nightmares!" Patches laughed maniacally. "And other kinds, too!"
"Speaking of nightmares, there's also the Skull of Corruption. A staff created by Vermeana, the Daedric Prince of Nightmares," Erik said.
"What does it do?" Solaire asked.
"Apparently, it harvests a person's dreams, and prolonged exposure could lead to death."
"Definitely taking it," Subaru said to himself.
"You wanna use it against Pandora and her goons?" Patches asked his friend.
"That, and I technically can't die."
"No, it says the person the staff is being used on could die," Erik corrected Subaru.
The Japanese man smiled. "Even better."
Erik just shook his head. "Anyways, next we have Azura's Star, which is said to be able to hold the "Soul of the World"."
Patches, and the rest of the group, was confused. "How does that even work?"
Subaru thought about it for a minute. "Well, I've seen souls used as a power source before, but not the world's "soul"."
"Well, some of the Artifacts work in strange ways, so I guess we can figure out its real purpose later." Erik shrugged before moving on.
"Moving on from that one, we have…?"
"The Oghma Infinium," Erik answered Aela's question. "A book belonging to Hermeaous Mora, the Lord of Knowledge and Fate."
"Dibs," Subaru said. "Scratch that, double dibs."
"It's said to grant unimaginable magic power, or physical strength or skill to whoever reads it, but once someone reads it, the book will disappear back to Oblivion," the dirty blond explained.
"Ehh, I'm good," the resident onion knight said, waving it off. "I like a good challenge."
"So, Subaru's taking it?" Erik asked.
"I have no objections," Patches said.
"Well, that's all the Daedric Artifacts in my book," the dirty blond said, closing the book. "There are probably many others out there as well."
"And where are they all now?" Solaire asked.
"The book doesn't say," Erik said.
"Guess we're doing a good old classic scavenger hunt for them," Subaru said, smiling.
Erik nodded in agreement. "Seems so."
"Then perhaps our first objective is finding someone who knows where these Artifacts can be found," the ginger-haired woman said.
"Maybe one of the Greybeards?" Emilia asked.
"No, they wouldn't know where to find them." Solaire shot down the possibility.
Patches hummed. "Some other old wizard?"
"Like... one of the Jarls' court mages?"
"Yeah, maybe one of those guys could help," Subaru agreed with Erik. "But if they can't… then I might have an idea of where to go next."
Patches resided an eyebrow at that. "Oh?"
"The Forbidden Library," Subaru simply said.
Emilia never heard of that place. "What's that?"
"It's a pocket dimension located in Lugnica, home to the Witch of Greed's collection of knowledge."
"Would it not take us days to travel there?"
"It would, but I doubt that the Artifacts would go anywhere," Subaru answered the werewolf.
"We'd also have to cross the border to get there and back," the dirty blond said.
"Like I said, contingency plan," Subaru said.
"Alright then. Let us rest tonight, and we shall head to Winterhold tomorrow," Alea said.
Everyone else nodded as they headed to their rooms.
Authors' Note: And with that, the one-scene chapter is over.
The next time around, something's gonna happen. Not sure what, but whatever it is, it's probably gonna lead to something cool. And now, for the comments!
5queso: Yes, we did a Henry Sitckman reference. Not too sure about that Rick and Morty one, though. Glad you enjoyed the nostalgia, but we've still got a dark and gritty reality to deal with. The first of Subaru's true colors have been revealed, along with some more lore on what he's been doing for the last four centuries, all of which will become relevant again, eventually. And of course, canon is coming along schedule. Trust us, you're gonna love it, twist or no twist. See you next week! (The Royal Selection won't be for a while, but it will happen.)
nekoshiroinu: We're gonna be killing you with more than just Distraction Dances! (We'll try not to overuse it.)
SenSlice: Don't worry, we're gonna have some future adventures where the party will split up to cover more ground, and everyone will be named dropped! Subaru being old will keep reappearing in different ways, and maybe so will the Distraction Dance, who knows? In terms of the future, with the Flugel reveal and the Sin Archbishops… this is the part where Infinite and I laugh. Also, we'll be keeping Subaru strictly to Re: Zero and Dark Souls spells, and Emilia to Re: Zero and Skyrim spells, no matter how convenient mixing them would be. (Gotta keep their power sets unique.) And while it is true that Erik is interested in Aela, the two of them won't be leaving any time soon.
Kifhjoofff: Pasará un tiempo antes de que la Selección Real prevalezca. Pero sobre la verdad sobre Subaru y Satella… eso sucederá mucho antes.
And now, for the last bit of shilling…
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Thanks for reading, and once again, see you next time!
- Ernalore & Infinite the Celestian