Aka: Subaru gets his name eaten by Gluttony, is summarily tortured and turned into a child, in that order. This can only end badly
Her name was Emilia, just Emilia and right now she was in a world of trouble. She was out of breath and frantic. Why you might ask? Well the details aren't really important but at the moment she was being chased by a voracious beast who was out for blood. Hers to be more specific and after an intense game of cat and mouse throughout the halls of the Milord manor the half-elf found herself stuck in a dead-end hallway with no means to escape.
Talk about rotten luck!
Emilia gulped nervously, knowing that her end was near.
A crack on the floorboards nearly made the girl jump out of her skin as the sound of approaching footsteps reverberated all around her, drawing closer with each second.
Emilia knew she was out of time and options. What else could the half-elf do except to grovel and beg for mercy from her would be assailant.
"Found you." A vicious voice that sent a shiver down her spine spoke, causing Emilia to flinch. "I've got you right where I want you. There's nowhere left to run."
'It would appear so.' Emilia grimaced, finally seeing that resistance was futile as the figure moved forward, slow and methodical as if savoring their impending victory.
The half-elf closed her eyes, not wanting to bear witness to the looming catastrophe about to unfold.
The figure hastened their pace, rushing towards her at breakneck speed before wrapping their arms around her waist and tackling her to the floor.
"Oof!" Emilia felt the air leave her lungs as she and her attacker tumbled over.
"Ow, ow, ow," Emilia grumbled, more out of annoyance than any real pain.
"Tag. You're it!" her pursuer said gleefully.
Emilia glared; okay it was more of a pout, but it still got the point across that she wasn't exactly pleased with the bundle of joy sprawled out on top of her.
"Yes, yes, you got me." Emilia sighed, her annoyance soon giving way to a serene smile. "You've gotten really good at this game Subaru-chan."
A black-haired boy who couldn't have been older than five years old gave her a wide, toothy grin.
He was dressed in a black long sleeve shirt, with brown trousers and an orange scarf wrapped around his neck courtesy of a certain beast maid who thought it would make him look more dashing. Emilia couldn't help but agree with that assessment!
"That's because Meili-nee-san taught me all about hunting down and corning my prey!" He said, with a pleased look and his chest puffed out proudly.
Emilia sweat dropped. The half-elf made a mental note to have a talk with their resident assassin later. The last thing she wanted was for Meili to corrupt the poor boy!
"Hey! Emi-nee-tan!"
"Hm? What is it?"
Subaru gave her a set of puppy eyes that nearly made the half-elf lurch back in shock.
Do you want to play again! Pretty please!" the boy begged, his lips wobbling cutely in hopes that Emilia would cave into his demands.
And Emilia was tempted to do exactly that, only stopping herself short when she reminded herself that Ram would be really mad at her if she slacked off on her studies again and the last thing she wanted was to make the temperamental maid upset.
"Sorry Subaru-chan, maybe later." Emilia said, as she poked the boy's forehead getting an endearing mew from him as he rubbed the sore spot.
The raven-haired boy with creepy eyes (that had a sort of appeal to them) scrunched up his face adorably as he pouted.
"Your no fun,"
Emilia rolled her eyes, "Don't give me that. I seem to remember that a certain someone has their own lessons to attend." She said teasingly, which elicited a nervous reaction from the youth who seemed almost abashed.
"I don't wanna," he mumbled.
"Oh?" Emilia rose a brow.
"Frederica-nee-san is a taskmaster."
Subaru grumbled which made Emilia burst into laughter.
"Nee-tan! It isn't funny!" Subaru squeaked, as he turned as bright as an appa.
"I-I'm sorry Subaru-chan, I couldn't help it." As the half-elf tried and failed to hold in her wheezing.
Subaru gave her the stink eye and turned away with a huff.
"Meanie."
Emilia sighed, okay now she really did feel bad about messing with the kid. But could you blame her? His reactions were absolutely delectable.
And she wanted more of them!
"Oh, I'm a meanie huh?" Emilia drawled, with something dark creeping into her voice.
Subaru's eyes widened, his face paling as he realized where this was going
Heh, too late.
"D-Did I say meanie!" Subaru shook his head fiercely, "No, what I meant to say was that you're the best sister ever!" The boy said in a poor attempt to save himself. But Emilia wasn't buying it.
"Subaru, Subaru, Subaru," Emilia said with a mocking tint in her voice, "It looks like I'm going to correct this bad behavior of yours."
The half-elf said, taking a bit of enjoyment out of seeing the boy squirm.
Then he bolted as Emilia knew he would as she shot to her feet and wrapped the boy in her loving embrace, his head shoved deep into her chest.
"Let me go!" Subaru let out a muffled cry.
"Not happening!"
"You better let me go or else I'll -"
"Or you'll what Subaru-chan," Emilia grinned wickedly while putting emphasis on his status as a baby, "You'll cry again?" She mocked.
Subaru squawked then sputtered.
"I've never cried?!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Too!"
"Not!"
"Too!"
"Not!"
"Oh really, so that time you teared up when Garf-kun ate the last slice of cake was just for show then?"
Subaru gave a pitiful whine.
Hehehe. Too easy.
"I thought so," Emilia smirked triumphantly as she adjusted the boy in her arms so she'd have a better grip, "But now that I have you at my mercy what sort of punishment should I dish out." She hummed, letting his fear marinate.
"You're so mean!" Subaru began to tear up "I hate you! You're a monster!"
Oh, how precious. Emilia smirked.
"That's not a very nice thing to say Subaru." Emilia playfully scolded before pretending to have an epiphany. "But maybe you're right. Perhaps I am a monster."
Emilia said with something sinister in her eyes.
Subaru swallowed nervously.
"What are you saying?"
Emilia smirked viciously, "Well monsters gobble up rude little boys who don't respect their elders!"
Subaru's eyes grew as wide as saucers, his voice on the verge of trembling
"Nee-tan you wouldn't,"
"I don't know Subaru-chan you do look pretty tasty right about now," Emilia licked her lips, drawing closer as if preparing to take a huge bite out of the frightened child.
"Noooooo!" Subaru wailed in terror.
"What are you two idiots doing!" A sharp voice rang out, drawing both their attention.
'Uh, crap.'
Emilia's smile faltered. "Oh, Ram! I didn't see you there. We were just – "
"Ram-Nee-sama help! Emi-Nee-tan is trying to eat me!"
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
"Not!"
"Too!"
Ram pinched the bridge of her nose. "Emilia-sama, I believe you still have lessons to attend, am I correct?"
"Hai," Emilia's shoulders slouched glumly as Subaru gave her a smug look.
Little brat!
Ram's crimsons then bored into the child who shuttered under the venomous glare.
"As for you Pride," Ram said with a level of seriousness not uncommon for the maid, "Wasn't Garf and the Merchant supposed to be watching you.
"Uh…."
"Well, speak up!"
"I might have snuck away after they started arguing," Subaru made a funny face. "Garf-nii and Otto-nii always get into fights about stupid things.
That they did. Emilia nodded sagely. Ram was less impressed.
"I'm going to wring those idiots' necks when I get my hands on them." Ram deadpanned as if it were a simple fact of life. "For now, you're sticking with me. We can't have a prisoner wandering around on their own unattended."
Emilia frowned. Logically she knew what Ram was saying wasn't completely wrong in fact it was a sensible decision especially when it came to dealing with a member of the Witch Cult. But still it rubbed her the long way for some reason.
Subaru was a good boy. He shouldn't be treated as some scoundrel.
"That wasn't very nice Ram." Emilia scolded, feeling a harsh ache in her chest at the dejected look Subaru gave at the maid's crass tone. "You don't need to treat him so harshly,"
"Forgive me Emilia-sama but I disagree. Our guest," She began sarcastically, "-is a Sin Archbishop. One of several known for wreaking havoc throughout the world. It would be foolish to lower our guard and not to take the necessary precautions just because he's been reduced to such a pitiful state.
Emilia sighed in defeat; she knew there was no changing the maids mind on this especially when she was entirely wrong.
Subaru…was a threat as much as it pained her to admit it. Despite his outward appearance as a sweet little boy Emilia couldn't forget that this person was once the Sin Archbishop of Pride. One of those who led the devastating attack on Pricilla over a year ago and it was only thanks to the joint efforts of both Reinhard Astrea and her knight Garfiel Tinsel that they were able to come out of that battle in one piece.
But the cost had been great. Many were affected; injured or killed. One of those being Crusch Karsten, someone she considered a friend despite being a rival candidate.
The Duchess had been one of the victims of the Sin Archbishop of Lust, her blood tainted by the vile cultist. It was sickening and her knight Felix Argyle was left devastated in the wake of being unable to cure whatever ailment that had befell her.
Things seemed grim but it wasn't a total loss. For the first time ever, a Sin Archbishop had been captured and identified due the miasma he admitted. It was a huge win and despite pleading his innocence, no one bought into his lies, especially when the one who pointed him out was none other than the Great Spirit Beatrice, her partner.
Emilia really wasn't really sure what had become of him after. At the time she didn't want to think about that horrible man and only wanted to put the whole fiasco behind her. And after the failure of her and the other camps to get into the Pleiades Tower and seek out the aid of the Sage, life went on as normal.
That was until a few months ago when each of the camps received an emergency message to reconvene in the capital.
Emilia didn't know all the details about what happened, and she didn't have the nerves to ask due to the graphic nature but apparently Felix and Sir Julius had been the ones put in charge of interrogating the Cultist and from what she heard It wasn't pretty There even rumors that certain methods had been used to get a confession that would make your stomach churn.
But even so! The Cultists were a cruel bunch, and no one would bat an eye or weep for one of their leaders getting his just deserts.
No, the main issue revolved around one of Felix's latest tests which resulted in unintended consequences.
The cultist who she remembered as a mean faced and nasty villain had changed, turned into a child if you could believe it, with no memories of his previous affiliation with the Witch Cult.
That begged the question. What did you do with a boy who had no memories of all the wicked deeds he'd committed?
Some in the Sage's Council and the nobility argued that the Sin Archbishop should be disposed of anyways due to the risk he posed.
That idea had left Emilia feeling ill.
Thankfully cooler minds prevailed and Miklotov and the Captain of the Royal Guard Marcos Gildark left it up to the camps to determine what would become of the Archbishop since they had been pivotal to his capture in the first place.
Predictably things got off to a rocky start.
Felix Argyle who was representing Crusch at the time due to the latter's poor health had been the most vocal in securing Archbishop for his camp, arguing that he had been on the verge of a major breakthrough and if he had more time with the cultist, he'd be able to uncover a cure for all those that had been affected by Lust.
The Knight of Blue who was known for being an eccentric albeit well-meaning person seemed almost off. Emilia didn't know how else to explain it but the half-elf didn't like the look in his eyes whenever the Archbishop was brought up.
Those feelings only grew more intense when at one point Marcos asked how the knight intended to extract such information from a child who couldn't even remember his own name, much less the means to reverse an Authority.
Felix only responded coldly, "Nyah! There are other ways to get a Cultist to start talking then just using your words."
The answer had made Emilia feel uneasy.
Even if he was an Archbishop, the idea of harming a child, well it was a bit much wasn't it?
Surprisingly it was Priscilla who spoke out against such an arrangement, calling Felix a lot of vulgar names which led to the healer having to be restrained when it looked as though he might very well attack the noblewoman.
"I shall be the one to take the Archbishop! His talents are wasted on you lot!"
The redhead had declared, her arrogance rubbing everyone the wrong way.
Unsurprisingly it was Felt who was the first to speak out against handing anything over to the entitled Baroness, much less one of the most powerful members of a terrorist organization.
Anastasia Hoshin was the next to make her voice heard and in a surprising twist announced that she had no desire for the Archbishop and that the others were free to do what they wanted with him.
This seemingly generous act surprised everyone and led to a few suspicious glances being thrown at the self-proclaimed 'greedy gal' who none believed would let an opportunity of snatching up a valuable asset slip through her fingers.
Emilia was one of those skeptics but a cursory glance at the man standing next to the merchant princess painted a much different image and left the silver-haired half-elf feeling as though she had missed something vital.
Julius Juukulius, also known as the Finest Knight due to his impeccable record, had remained strangely silent throughout the proceedings. Seeing as he was the one who spent the most time around the Archbishop, you'd think he'd want to stick his own claim on him. But instead, the knight looked almost depressed, as if a dark cloud was hanging over him.
'What could have happened? What changed?' Emilia thought worriedly.
"Screw you all!" a hand slammed on the table as crimson eyes bored into each of those present, "I'm not trusting any of you to handle this? The kid is coming with me, end of story?!"
Felt had exclaimed as if baiting one of them to tell her differently.
The blonde had never been fully on board with imprisoning the Archbishop. A fact which had baffled all of them. Emilia always assumed that it had something to do with her distrust with the system that had looked down on her whole life, but when asked about her reasoning for this all Felt could say was that it felt 'wrong.'
Emilia didn't know what to make of that, neither did the others she'd wager. But it seemed as though Felt harbored some sympathy for the Archbishop and was willing to fight tooth and nail in order to get him.
This was something Emilia couldn't allow. The half-elf loved her surrogate little sister dearly and refused to let Felt put herself into harm's way just to help someone who didn't deserve it.
So, Emilia made her choice. The Sin Archbishop of Pride would be hers! She wouldn't take no for an answer.
It was a bold move which shocked even her closest allies. Emilia could feel Beako's annoyance even through their mental link, but Emilia weathered the criticism. Right now, trying to get everyone on board with her plan was the top priority.
So, Emilia went into further detail. Adding that her camp would be responsible in making sure that the Sin Archbishop stayed out of trouble while using their past accomplishments against the Witch Cult and the Great Rabbit as the backbone to her argument.
It was a tough fight, with negotiations lasting well into the night but eventually Emilia was able to get everyone on her side. Well, almost everyone.
Priscilla had stormed out of the meeting halfway through while throwing insults at each of them.
At least her Knight Al seemed sympathetic and embarrassed for causing a scene and apologized profusely before chasing after his furious liege. But considering that the Baroness wasn't really well liked amongst her fellow candidates to begin with, her absence only helped to promote Emilia's plans further.
When all was said and done the half-elf got exactly what she wanted. The Archbishop belonged to her now!
Next came the difficult part, meeting the Cultist himself.
To say Emilia was nervous would be an understatement. She was terrified, but now wasn't the time to second guess herself. She had to see this through no matter what!
Thankfully her camp had been fully supportive of her decision and agreed to make the trip with her to the prison where the Archbishop was being kept.
They were nervous of course, fearful even, who could blame them. But looking back Emilia didn't think anything could have prepared them for what they found when they arrived at that horrible dungeon..
Poke. Poke. Poke.
"Nee-tan, are you okay?"
Emilia snapped out of her reflections as she felt a finger shove itself into her cheek. Subaru was staring at her with a deep concern, something that Emilia couldn't help but find heartwarming.
Ah, he was such a good boy!
She hugged Subaru tighter, ignoring his renewed protests and shrieks of indignations. Ram was also giving her an unimpressed look, but Emilia couldn't care less.
She needed this!
Subaru may have been a scary Archbishop but he was still someone she was beginning to take a liking to and nothing would stand between them.
After a few more minutes of coos and cuddles, Emilia passed the boy off to Ram promising to visit him later.
And so, with a skip in her steps, Emilia found herself actually looking forward to her lessons for once. Her goal was to become ruler after all and create a Kingdom where everyone could smile and work together as equals.
And it may have been naive of her to think this, but a part of the half-elf hoped that dream included a certain Archbishop as well.
...
With Emilia's departure Ram was left alone with the villainous Cultist, a fact that left her more exasperated with the situation then frightened.
(Tch) "Honestly mingling with a Witch Cultist was one thing but playing games with him? What the hell is that half-elf thinking?"
Don't get the wrong idea. Ram loved Emilia dearly, the two had been through thick and thin together and she would always support her no matter what. But she would be a horrible friend and servant if she didn't call the idiotic elf out on her bad behavior. Ugh, talk about being reckless!
Ram felt a tug on her sleeves and a pair of soft brown eyes peering up at the maid with joyful innocence.
"Hey Ram-nee-sama! I'm hungry!"
Ram snorted.
"And I suppose you'd like me to prepare you something?"
"Yes please!" Pride nodded excitedly, "Can you make some of your steamed tatoes! They taste really yummy!"
"..."
"Nee-sama?!"
Ram put a hand over her face and muttered.
"A murdering psychopath shouldn't be this infectious."
"Eh?" Subaru tilted his head in confusion.
"It's nothing, come along Barusu."
She said, forgoing her usual title for the brat in favor of the one she started using when it was just the two of them. For some reason the nickname felt familiar, almost comfortable on her tongue. It didn't make any sense. But that wasn't the only strange occurrence. The Cultists' arrival had sparked something in each of them although no one would acknowledge it. It was as if a vital piece they hadn't even known had been missing was suddenly returned to its proper place.
Despite the initial wariness, the Cultist had managed to worm his way into the hearts of those in the manor with surprising ease, with most seeing him as a little brother in the case of Emilia, Garfiel, Otto, Meili and Petra or a surrogate son as was the opinion of those like Frederica and Lady Beatrice.
It didn't make any sense. Had they all gone insane?! Was this the power of the Archbishop at play making all those within this mansion prey to his insidious charm. If so, they were all in serious danger and she had to act fast before it was to late -
"Nee-sama!"
"...What is it?"
Subaru gave her a warm smile.
"I love you."
Ram didn't respond, then again, the sight of blood leaking from her nose was enough of an answer.
"Let's get you something to eat Barasu." Ram responded curtly.
"Hai!" the Sin Archbishop of Pride responded cheerfully.
If this turns out to be some elaborate ploy to get them to lower their guards then Ram could say with the utmost certainty that they were doomed.
Really, a Sin Archbishop can't be this fucking cute!
Boom!
Another Re: Forgotten fic, oh no who could have seen this coming. Anyways, I decided to do something a bit different when it comes to the effects of Gluttony. Meaning due to Subaru's existence being erased all of accomplishments basically end up getting split up between all of his friends. A few examples of this are Crusch and Anastasia getting sole credit for defeating the White Whale, Reinhard and Garfiel teaming up to take on Greed and Emilia and Beatrice being the ones to free the sanctuary.
And to sink the dagger in further Emilia life is kind of better off without Subaru due to his character development being overhauled to her. In everyone else's mind Emilia was the one to save the children of Arlam, defeat the Sin Archbishop of Sloth and foil Roswaal's plans which leads to her being a more assertive person and having a much better relationship with everyone in her camp since in their minds she's a charismatic leader they all decided to follow to hell and back.
Meanwhile, the cinnamon roll Baru gets to sit back and be adorable all day and not have to worry about any world ending disasters, which in all honesty is a beat I think we all can swing too.