Re: Starting Life in Teyvat from Zero
A/N: I should probably stop making promises of any kind. Really sorry to anyone waiting for the MHA stories that I promised.
Yo! This is my first ever fanfic in the Re: Zero fanbase or the Genshin Impact fanbase. Know that for GI, I'm still at AR 41, so there's some stuff that I have yet to learn about the story. However, I feel like I know enough to write this story. Anything else that I need I can pick up from Wikis. I don't particularly care about spoilers.
As for the Re: Zero fans, welcome! This fic, despite the title, is more geared towards you. I will be recounting events in GI completely (after factoring Subaru's powerlessness), so this can be read without having played the game, but it can't be read if you haven't finished up to Arc 6 of Re: Zero. There's a whole bunch of unreferenced and unsourced information in this story up till that Arc, which is why it's so important.
This story is still very incomplete in my head, so there is every chance that I could overhaul the entire thing or stop writing after some point altogether. Also, this is my second story based on time travel. And the first one is the only one I've ever finished. I've got good hopes of finishing this one off in the future, despite the lack of a plan.
Disclaimer: I neither own nor am I in direct influence of Re: Starting Life in a Different World from Zero and Genshin Impact. The rights to both of these belong to the teams behind them.
Disclaimer for the fic: The M-Rating is because Re: Zero. I'm not ready to write smut, especially not for this. This is more of a practice fic for me, since writing Natsuki Subaru is very difficult for me personally. It's also why I don't particularly care about this fic, but I know that I will start liking it when I come up with more plot points. I've had that experience with MCBA, my only completed fic, after all.
Anyway, enough of my rambling. Enjoy the story!
Chapter 1: Natsuki Subaru Wakes Up Once More
The feeling and taste of sand. The roaring of waves. The smell of salt water in the air.
Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but wonder what he was doing there, lying down on that beach.
'No, but seriously, where the hell am I?'
Sitting up from his slumber, Subaru rubbed his eyes with the balls of his fists, only to gasp out loud as some of the sand entered his eye via his palm. Batting the tears away and blinking the dirt out of it, Subaru's vision cleared up enough to peer onto the beach around him. He was surrounded by rocky cliffs and ocean water, only relieving into a single path to a grassy valley.
'Ok, think, what are you doing in a place like this? Where did you come from?'
Subaru pondered over it… and a flash of images came into his mind.
'Japan. L̷̟̼̻̏̓͘ů̵̱̦͒ĝ̴͈̭̌̿u̴̖͎͑͆̉͋n̷͙͌̐̉̔͑i̴͚̘̙͛̀͠c̸̪̳͔̎͋͗a̸͈̓̏̇͝. Son of Natsuki Kenichi and Naoko. Student, yet deviated from attending class for three months due to lack of will. Didn't live up to expectations set by others inspired his father. T̴̛̠̹̘̼̬̰̥̦̞͇̻̞͚̆̑͛̄̄̔̈́͌̍͜r̷̩̟̺̗̩̖̥̲̤̜̦̈̑͒̐͜a̶̧̙͚̣̘̹̻̣͛̿̅̚ṋ̶̢̡̨̡͔̻̩̼̻͕͖̱̟͚̲̲̀̒͌͋̅̇̅̀͂̾́s̵̨̡̤̟͕̖͔̭̪̪̬̙͋͗̇́̀͗̀̿̈́͐͘p̷̨͕̖̬̞̼̻̠̫͖̅͐̈̚ợ̸̩̩̖̔̎̍̓̔͆̎̚r̷̡̗̩̩͓͙̩̎̀̎̿̑̆̚͘t̴̡̡̰͕̹̺̙̣͔͇̺͈͓̗̋̃̅͆̄͂͝͠e̴̢̛͍͈̞͕̮̠̤̲͔̼͔̦̳̳̫͖̔͗́̓̽̒̀̍͠͝d̵̢̛͙̣̗̞̮ͅ ̶̢̢̛̝͇̼̔̈́̔͌̋̊̓̑͌̉̂͝ͅt̸͕͕̜͔͖́̔ơ̵̘͎̼̥͉̫͕̼̪̳͆̓̅̓͗̐͂̉̋̀̕͝ ̴̜̃̔̉̇͑̿̂̆ã̴̧̧̛̗̞̦͆͋̽̿̈̆͂̈́̀́͒̀͝͝͠ ̸̨̢͙̺̲̟̝̗̗̠̒̇̅̚͝p̶͎̹̱̱̹̖̭͎̲̑̔̐̔̌̀̈́͌̄͠ḁ̶̡̡̨̧̢̨͔̮̞̞̯̺̗͓̤͙̅̈́͐r̸̛̘̺͍̥͔͂̈̿̀́̇͆͑̚̕̕͘a̸̡͚̟̍́͊̊̀̈́̈́̈͋͐̈́̎̽̚̕̚̚l̷̛̬͕̤̦͖̖̳̫͔̲̦̼̥̄̂͒l̴̢̦͙̞͎̪̲̗̦̟͛̕ͅe̷̠̹̲̿̃̏̀̇̐̋̄͐͝l̴͇͎͕͚̒͆̋̒̽̔̇̎̽̀̃͒͑͛̂͝͝ ̷̨̭̺̤̫͚̭̠̩͍͕̳̼̙̣̞̝̎͋͆̇̔͠w̸̘̻̥͔̘̺̙̟̖̭̫̽̋ͅơ̵̠̩̜͗́̀̿͛̄̾͘̕͠r̴̢̖͙͒̿̍̅̇̽̎̚l̴̢̛̮̣̞͓̝͙͉͈̲͎̙̿̐͆̽̉̑̈́͂̎͛͒̉̾͋̆ͅd̷̡̧̡̙̱̫̺͖͑̃̆̉̏̆̈́͌̕͘̚͝͝.̸̨͙̦̗̥͕̃͒͐̒̐''
Subaru winced as his head pinged in pain. By then, he could remember everything that happened from his past, yet there was something that he couldn't remember. Something that he couldn't help but feel was incredibly important. Yet, the memories evaded him.
'Why does this feel so familiar?' he couldn't help but wonder.
Gently coming up to his feet and dusting his clothes free of its sandy covering, Natsuki Subaru presented himself to this new world before him.
"Was I… kidnapped?!" Subaru wondered out loud upon processing his current situation.
"No, that can't be it. Why would a kidnapper leave me in the middle of a beach? *gasp!* Is this an island?! Have I been caught up in some international conspiracy?! I gotta practice my English! *ahem, ahem* Herro. I am-u Natsuki Subaru. Yeah, that's it!"
Gleefully looking around, Subaru's expression fell when he found that there was no one around him.
"I don't know, what would I have been kidnapped for? I mean, yeah, this is so much more interesting than things were back home, but why?"
Subaru paced over to the body of water and quickly splashed some of the water on his face.
"*gah!*"
He hadn't account for how salty the water was, and how it penetrated his eyelids.
Rubbing the sting from his eyes yet again, Subaru looked back down at the reflection on the surface of the cool water. His ruffled ethnic jet-black hair pockmarked with grains of sands falling onto his face as he cleared it up. Generally unattractive features that didn't match up very well. Brown eyes with three whites, sanpaku fashion. Intense enough to frighten any poor sap that sees them on a passing glance. Features that he had mainly inherited from his mother, yet he still admired regardless.
'Mom… Dad… Where are you?'
"I guess… I should look for a way back, huh?" Subaru wondered out loud. "Maybe that road can help me get somewhere, maybe find out where I am."
His rambling was interrupted by the rumbling of his stomach.
"Yeah, that too," he chuckled as he rubbed his belly.
Feeling uncomfortable under the heat of the sun overhead, Subaru took of his coat and wrapped it over his waist. However, upon looking down to do so, he noticed something on him entirely out of place.
"W-What the hell is this?!"
Besmirched upon his right arm was a pattern of black veins running under his skin. Gently, Subaru ran his fingers over them.
"Since when did I get a tattoo?" he wondered out loud. "And when did I get so swole?! I never worked out this much!"
Sure enough, his arms were quite bigger than he imagined. His constant practice of radio calisthenics left him fit enough, but now he could see the lines of his biceps on his arms. Far more than anything that his practice had ever given him.
Moreover, his entire getup was different than what he wore when he left the store that day. The very coat that he worked with was different. What he imagined was his orange-grey-and-black jumpsuit was actually an open green overcoat, now wrapped around his waist. He was wearing a buttoned half-sleeved shirt beneath that, topped with an orange scarf around his neck. His black pants felt somewhat familiar to his old ones, yet his sneakers were replaced with brown boots.
"Was I going somewhere? Like a hike, or something?" Subaru couldn't help but ponder as he observed his new clothes. "Wait, did my kidnappers change my clothes?! Ah, my underwear's different too! What kinda creeps have I got myself involved with?!"
Looking back at the exit, Subaru finally shook his head and slapped his cheeks.
"Focus, Subaru! Find a way out of here first. I need to find someone. My phone's missing too, I need to borrow one from someone if my kidnappers are missing."
Gulping, Natsuki Subaru wandered into the forest beyond the beach he was stranded in.
"This place… is so weird."
Subaru couldn't help but wonder how quickly the scenery around him changed. It almost felt manufactured. Just a moment ago he was in the cleanest beach he had ever seen in his life, and now he was in a pure grassland between the peaks on either side. It was enough to make Subaru consider not being kidnapped but being put into a pure-life simulation of some kind. The air here was far too clean for the standard pollution levels of anywhere on Earth. In any case, it was clear that he was very far from home. His venture back would be equally arduous.
Subaru took his time to drink from the freshwater stream that he stumbled on, islanding some kind of statue that he didn't bother to mess with. He was also fortunate enough to find an apple tree as well as a pear tree. Or at least, that was what he thought. The fruit of the pear tree tasted nothing like pears. 'Some foreign fruit I've never heard of before,' Subaru concluded as he took his second bite of the strange fruit. It tasted good, after all. Almost like oranges, to some extent.
He decided to follow the dirt-paved road the whole time he ventured on. He still wanted to keep track of where was going in case he ever got lost, or if his kidnappers came back and tried to strip him again.
Now that he was refreshed, Subaru couldn't help but hum as he paced down the road, enjoying the wonderful scenery before him and the cool air wafting into his nostrils. He imagined that even if this was a simulation, it was one that was built ridiculously well.
That was until he heard the voices from beyond a rock blocking his view.
His mind immediately thought that they could be fellow people. Wanting to get help for his situation, Subaru eagerly stepped through the rocks and faced the people beyond.
What he found weren't humans.
He had no clue what they were. They were humanoid and about as tall as he was, maybe a little shorter, but they looked pretty much identical to each other. They had brown-black skin with small claws tipping their hands and feet. Their limbs were guarded with gauntlets, and they were wearing rags tied together by two belts to keep their privates secure. Their heads were completely covered by a mane of peach hair, and their faces were covered by masks with some kind of pattern adorning their fronts. They had their ears over their head, crudely making them resemble a bunny. Subaru couldn't help but shiver at that mental connection he had made. For some reason, bunnies frightened him now. He had no clue why.
The two creatures before him were currently talking to each other in some tongue that Subaru couldn't understand. However, Subaru decided that he would try and talk to them. After all, if this was a simulation, they wouldn't try to kill him since he was the playtester, right?
Gulping, Subaru took a step ahead and announced himself to the two.
"H-Hello!" he spoke in Japanese. "I'm Natsuki Subaru! Can you please help me?"
Immediately, the two creatures stepped back defensively and picked up wooden clubs that were sitting next to either of them.
"Woah, woah, don't worry, I'm not here to fight!" Subaru insisted, holding his hands up to them. "See? I'm unarmed!"
Upon finally observing how he wasn't a threat, the creatures set their weapons down and started to regard him a little closer. However, they didn't drop their clubs, clearly still being wary of him.
Taking his chances, Subaru stepped closer to them.
"Hey, um, can you point me to the nearest city? I'm… uh… kinda lost."
The creatures simply grumbled in their tongue as Subaru walked to them.
"Ah, um, you can't understand me, right? How am I gonna say this…"
As Subaru pondered over it, the creatures slowly approached him in turn. Upon getting within range of him, they gripped their weapons a little tighter.
"Hmm… Ah! Do you have something I can write on?" Subaru asked, signing the same message by feigning a pen writing on his left hand.
However, he looked up to see one of the wooden clubs headed straight for his head.
And with a loud bonk, Natsuki Subaru was knocked out.
He woke up again.
He was lying on a patch of grass, surrounded by even more of those creatures he had met earlier.
'Ah. That wasn't a dream.'
Sitting up with a groan, Subaru looked at the horde of creatures now looking at his rising form. Upon looking closer, he saw them all playing around with a whip of some kind, along with several clothes that looked a lot like…
'Wait. Those are my clothes!'
Turning his head down, he finally felt the cold wind biting the surface of his naked skin. His only saving grace was his underwear.
'W-W-What?! They stole my clothes?!'
Looking up in horror at the creatures before him, he finally noticed that thy were all running away from him.
"H-Hey, give me my clothes back!" Subaru yelled as he ran to catch up with them. He kept letting out gasps as rocks poked into his bare soles, but he pressed on. He needed to remain decent to be approachable, after all.
However, the true reason why the creatures ran away made itself known as Subaru heard a loud thud from behind him, soon followed up another, and then yet one more. They were footsteps, incredibly loud footsteps.
Freezing in his tracks, Subaru slowly turned around to see what could make a sound like that. Surely enough, there was a monster standing behind him, one that made Subaru shiver in fear.
The monster was tall; towering over Subaru at more than double his height. It looked similar to the previous creatures but made plus-sized. This monster was a lot buffer than its smaller counterparts and its mask was a lot more intricate, while its mane of hair was now entirely brown-black like its skin. In its hands were an axe as large as itself, its blade a fiery red. Subaru couldn't help but wonder what it was that kept the blade that hot all the time.
After a momentary standoff, the monster huffed through its nostrils, almost comically spewing out mist. Pulling back its blazing axe, the monster started to run up to the half-naked Subaru. Subaru yelled out in fear of the approaching thing and hastily made his way to the side, wanting to avoid its bullrush. He managed to get out of the way just in time, but the ensuing spin that the monster did with its axe sent Subaru flying away further.
Groaning, Subaru picked himself up from the ground, fully fueled by the adrenaline in his veins. However, something felt off with the way he held himself up. His right hand reacted a lot more than he had expected when he applied his support onto it. Upon looking down at it, it was painstakingly clear why that was the case.
He was now missing his right hand; it was lying on the floor behind him, cut off by the monster. The cut through it was singed shut, not letting a single drop of blood flow through. What was left was a burned blackened stump on the end of his right arm.
"Ah… AH… AAAAAAHHHHH! MY AAARRRMM!"
Subaru rolled onto his back as his fear of the monster before him spiked even higher. Holding his right arm to his chest, he crawled back away from the hulking form of the monster, bringing itself back up after its rush. With an agonized yell and tears running from his eyes, Subaru climbed onto his feet and ran away from the monster.
And as he ran, a red ball of slime came down to the ground from behind him. Subaru briefly made out the face on its surface right before it touched the ground.
BOOM!
Immediately, Subaru was thrown back by the ensuing explosion. His entire body was charred by the proximity of the burst, and he couldn't stand up without feeling how his singed skin would brush against itself painfully.
'No, I need to run, I don't wanna die, I DON'T WANNA DIE!"
Gasping through his teeth, Subaru tried to crawl away from the incoming threat, ignoring the way that the grass scraped his hardened skin. Still pushing through the loss of his hand, Subaru kept crawling ahead.
Only to be stopped by a black foot entering his view.
The monster was standing right in front of him.
Looking up to the masked face of the Reaper itself, Subaru couldn't help but bemoan the loss of the lush nature around him.
'Such a beautiful day… and I'm going to die here.'
The monster hoisted its axe over its shoulders.
'Mom. Dad. I'm so sorry.'
In a flash of orange, Natsuki Subaru was no more.
"I love you."
Natsuki Subaru woke up once more.
'I'm… back in the beach?' Subaru wondered as he held his hand up against the sun, wincing at its glare on his eyes. 'Was that just a dream?'
Standing back up, Subaru looked down to see the same clothes he had on him earlier, now back on his body, in his possession. He also made sure that his right arm was back on his body, with no sign of a scar anywhere. The black vein-like tattoo was still there, however.
"That felt waay to real to be a dream," Subaru mumbled as he looked back down at his new clothes. "Did someone heal me, bring me the same clothes I was wearing, and leave me here again? My captor, maybe? Nah, what are you saying, Subaru, that's way too far-fetched!"
Abruptly stopping his rambling, Subaru stared off into the horizon.
"Still, even if it was a dream, that monster was too scary. I'm kinda glad I don't have to meet it again, or those other things. I'd like my clothes on me, thanks."
Looking back at the valley exit, he couldn't help but shiver.
"It's stupid, but I guess I'll just camp here for now," he declared as he collapsed back onto the soft sand beneath him. "What to do…"
Once again, the rumbling of his stomach interrupted him.
"Didn't I just have those pears…? Oh right, it was a dream. Heh, maybe those pears don't exist as well?"
Coming up to his feet, Subaru decided to go to the road once more. He was just going to look for food, after all. He wouldn't venture too far.
However, as Subaru made his way through the road, his unease kept climbing. The sights he saw were exactly what he had seen in his dream. The false pears were there along with the apple trees, tasting just like how he remembered them. Moreover, he also noticed that statue once again. The statue islanded by the freshwater stream that he drank out of once more.
"Did I dream the future or something?" Subaru wondered as he dried his hands off on his clothes. "None of this is making any sense. Does this mean… that I'll meet those things if I go further?"
Shivering once again upon remembering them, Subaru immediately turned around and went back the way he had come in. Supposing they were actually real, Subaru did not want to meet them once again.
As he kept walking back, however, he couldn't get the experience that he felt just earlier out of his mind. It felt far too fresh to be a dream, something in him told him that. A simple dream could not have had so much effect on him; he rarely ever remembered his dreams, after all. But there was nothing else that it could have been. After all, this was not like a game in which he had been revived at the start, wasn't it?
He had lost track of time.
He didn't know how long he had sustained himself in this beach. There was more than enough food and water, but he had not interacted with any human beings in far too long. It was slowly beginning to eat away at him.
However, the time he spent was enough for him to understand the threats in the area. He had finally confirmed that the smaller creatures did exist. He still had no idea what they were called, however.
Other than those creatures, there were other monsters that Subaru made sure to stay away from. Slimes. They were everywhere, and they seemed to be made up of some kind of elements. There was a morning he had woken up and found a few Ice Slimes along the shore. Remembering what happened with the creatures, Subaru chose to not try to kill them, but stay hidden away instead. He felt wimpy doing that, but those slimes were literally freezing the water they were standing on. He didn't want to earn the ire of something like that.
Aside from that, while avoiding threats like these, Subaru took his time to explore the area he was in. He never wanted to move past the statue due to his fear of the big monster there. In his travels, he had discovered quite a bit. For example, he had found a journal in an abandoned camp nearby. He couldn't read it, however; he couldn't recognize the script. He was also lucky enough to find a cooking pot there, as well as several essential tools like a lighter and a fishing rod. Sadly, he couldn't find any weapons of any kind other than a small rustic knife, probably used for cooking instead.
And that was what got him by the shore of the beach once more, using a fishing rod for the first time, covering himself from the wind with a black coat he had found early on. He had read about fishing on Wikipedia once, and it seemed simple enough. Clip on some bait on the end of the hook and throw; Subaru found a couple worms wriggling around the beach, he had no idea if those could actually be used, though. He just hoped it was worth the struggle to catch them. He would then simply throw the hook into the sea and… wait.
Wait.
Waiting.
Subaru yawned. 'How do people find fishing fun?! You're literally sitting down and wasting time! The only exciting part is when you actually catch the fish! Hell, I don't even know if I'm even gonna get anyth-'
A tug.
Subaru immediately reacted to the sudden motion on his rod. Yelping out loud in nervousness for his potential first catch, Subaru held on tightly to it once more, making sure that he was certain about what he felt.
In response, he felt another tug.
Cheering to himself, Subaru lifted his hands up and pulled his first fish in weeks from the sea.
And to his horror, what came out was not a fish.
It was a tiny human.
To put it simply, the person was small enough to be considered a newborn toddler yet had a face and body structure reminiscent of a flat-chested woman. She had white hair that curled past her shoulders and an unusual white dress that was more reminiscent of a onesie, yet far too intricately designed to be one. It was partly covered up by its overhanging night blue collar. She had a star hairpin on her head and was also adorned by a rose gold crown that matched her cuffs and the patterns on her clothes. For some reason, the crown atop her head was floating, yet it wouldn't budge from its spot. There was also a blue cape flowing behind her, designed to look like a starry night.
Hastily, Subaru pulled the little person back to him, freeing her from the depths of the sea. Now cradling her with his hands, he found out that the girl was unconscious.
"Holy shit, I've got to save her!"
The culprit for this was easily noticeable; there was a damp black and white cloth stuffed in her mouth. Subaru immediately pulled it out to clear her airways.
To bring it down to scale, Subaru performed CPR to the best of his ability with two fingers pumping her chest. However, only after a couple strokes, the person coughed up a glob of water and opened her eyes, revealing midnight blue orbs within.
And so, the two looked at each other for the first time.
And the little girl shrieked out loud. Suddenly, she formed stars around her and jumped away from him. However, instead of falling, she kept hovering midair.
Subaru, upon seeing this tiny girl flying, couldn't help but react similarly.
"AAAAAHHHHH!"
A/N: And there is the end of the first chapter. The first ever use of Return by Death, although unnoticed by Subaru, and Subaru's first ever interaction with Paimon.
Now, some of you might argue that we never met any Mitachurls so soon in the game, especially not on the road to Monstadt. To that I say: I know. Creative License is a thing, and I need to introduce a threat into the story early on. So, I decided to change things up a bit by introducing a Blazing Axe Mitachurl so early.
Now, for the case with Subaru. This is Arc 6 Subaru, taken to Teyvat instead of Vollachia by the shadow at Pleiades. His memories have been sealed away for now, but he will slowly regain them as time passes. This is mainly because I did not have a clear idea about how to implement the story.
Let me explain this a little better. I had two choices when I wrote this story: Take Arc 6 Subaru or take a Fresh Subaru (that phrasing sounds so weird). With Arc 6, you get plot. With fresh, you get character development. And for me, like all things, I decided to bring them together in a matrimony. Arc 6 Subaru, but without his memories, giving him a similar personality to Fresh Subaru. And so, he will get the plot and the development. This honestly does not feel like a good idea to me in the long run; it can reduce the impact of certain events in the story. However, it's the best that I've got right now.
In terms of a ship… I have no idea. I mean literally, there are way too many options, I can't determine a good one just yet. I know that I will regret this, but… what do you guys think? I'm willing to take advice from you all for this. Please don't be mad if I don't pick the ship you wanted…
Honestly, I don't think there should even be a ship here. Subaru loves Emilia, this would carry over even through his suppressed memories. It is true that I hate that fact, being in Team Rem myself, but it is a fact regardless. Anyway, this is another problem for future me.
Now, my new semester is rolling around the corner, and I'm also looking into taking internships during my break. That means that I will have less time for writing. However, I will do whatever I can to keep to an upload schedule. I'm also pretty busy exploring Inazuma as well.
Next up, Subaru starts interacting with Paimon, and he remembers something from his past in Lugunica. I'll see you all next chapter!