Chapter 51: A Slothful and Wrathful Reunion
Back at the Sanctuary, Garfiel was saying his good-byes to Ryuzu, before he and Subaru headed off to adventure.
"You about ready?" the nasty-eyed man asked.
"Just gimme a minute, ya prick!" Garfiel snapped back, which made the Undead sigh.
Subaru waited for Garfiel, and in a few minutes, he came back, ready to go. As the two of them began to walk through the forest, Garfiel said, "See? Ya jus' needed some patience!"
Subaru snorted in response. "Minerva would beg to differ."
"Who's she?" the blond teen asked. "Some side chick?"
Subaru was sure the Witch of Wrath would have decked him in the face for that. Though, if she decked Subaru or Garfiel would be anyone's guess. "My wife's best friend."
"Not far off th' mark, then."
Make that two decks to the face. "I swear to the Divines it is not like that."
"I'll believe ya when I see it,"
Subaru just sighed. "Let's just get a move on…"
As the two walked back to Mansion, Subaru once again had that feeling that they were being watched. This time, it was more intense than before. And it felt so familiar…
There was only one group who stalked him like that.
"Garf, be ready to attack," the black-haired Undead said.
Garfiel just looked around in confusion, not seeing anything around them. "Huh? Attack what?"
Subaru narrowed his eyes. "Whatever's watching us right now."
Suddenly, shadows began to move around. Weaving around the two warriors as they solidified into robed people with daggers and spells at the ready.
Subaru groaned in annoyance. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me…"
"Eh? Ya know these chuckle-fucks?" Garifel asked.
"Pandora's Witch Cult."
"Ah, yes! Excellent! How observant you are! To pay attention to current events! To not know who we are would be… slothful…"
Subaru froze as he recognized that voice from anywhere, even in the crazed state the owner was in. It couldn't be. There was no way…
"No… Geuse…" Subaru blurted out as the being in question made himself known.
Another robed man came, but unlike the others, Subaru could see his greenish grey skin, malnourished figure, and crazed expression. Bowing, he said, "I am Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti! Sin Archbishop of the Witch's Cult representing Sloth! DESU!"
He wanted to puke. He wanted to scream. He wanted to curse Pandora for what she had done. Subaru felt like he was gonna have a panic attack. The nice holyman who used to pine for Fortuna was reduced to… this. He should have never given Sloth for Guese to guard…
No. Now wasn't the time for self-loathing. His friend was in front of him. He needed to reach out. "Geuse... It's me, It's Subaru!" he called out to the man. "Flugel! Don't you remember me?!"
"Flu… a flu as in an illness?" the green-haired man asked. "An illness that debilitates the man! The man who can no longer work, no longer perform his duties! Yes, that is truly… slothful."
Subaru could only curse himself as his actions, one way or another, led to this happening. Dammit... It's just like with Satella all over again… He's lost his mind…
Garfiel cracked his knuckles. "Aight, how do we kill 'im?"
Subaru didn't want to kill Guese, and he was almost thankful they couldn't. "We don't. Even if we do destroy his body, he can just jump to another host."
"What?! That's total bullshit!"
"Be careful," Subaru said, as he eyed Guese and the Witch Cultists. "I'm not sure what his Authority is, but I'm willing to bet it's similar to Sekhmet's. Some kind of invisible force."
"And such a clever mind!" Petelguese laughed, complementing Subaru. "Yes, yes, come closer, and witness my… AUTHORITY OF SLOTH: UNSEEN HAND!"
Visible only to Subaru and Petelgeuse, the Sin Archbishop of Sloth summoned dark hands with purple outlines that connected to his body. They lunged at Subaru and Garf at great speeds, with the Great Sage grabbing Garfiel and ducking out of the way of the attack.
"OW!" the blond growled. "Wha'd ya do that for?!"
Subaru continued to eye the Unseen Hands, studying them and how they must work. "I guess I was right... he has invisible hands he can summon, kinda like Sekhemt used to. Not exactly sure why I can see them, though."
"You can see the Unseen Hand?!" Petelguese asked, as he bit down on his own fingers during his external freakout. "How?! Unless… ARE YOU ALSO LOVED?!"
Subaru couldn't stop himself from smirking. "I mean, I am the one she decided to marry."
"WHAT?! HOW CAN THIS BE?! HOW HOW HOW HOW HOOOOOW?!"
Subaru saw this as his chance to try and reach his old friend. "But you should know that because you were there! You gave me your blessing along with Fortuna! You have to remember who you are, Guese!"
"Yes! You are my Geuse, and mine alone!"
Eh? I didn't say that —
"CAP'N, GET OUT O' TH' WAY!"
FWOOM!
Subaru and Garfiel quickly dodged out of the way from a Goa spell, and saw a woman with Elven ears and bandages wrapped around herself, making her look like a mummy.
Subaru couldn't exactly place the appearance, but the voice and speech pattern was enough of a hint. "No... not you too…"
"Greetings and salutations!" the bandaged woman said, bowing, as her purple eyes shined with madness. "Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult, representing Wrath, Sirius Romanee-Conti!"
Subaru was now certain it was her. One of the first people he met in this world alongside Satella and Guese. "Fortuna…"
"Fortuna? Who is that, someone I resemble? I'm flattered, but I'm married!"
It didn't even stop with Satella and the Witches... Pandora even went after Guese and Fortuna as well...? Subaru felt like he was going to be sick. Reanimation spells were rather common, but they always acted like mindless drones and didn't last forever. They were never this… lifelike…
"Cap'n, whuz th' plan?" Garfiel asked.
Subaru gulped. "We need backup... now."
"An' how do we do that?!"
"…By being bait." Before Garfiel could ask what that meant, Subaru screamed, "AL SHAMAK!" and pushed the blond teen into the dark portal. Subaru looked back at the two Sin Archbishops, and yelled, "Come and get us, you two! Unless you wanna be really slothful!"
Sirius' smile dropped. "Gladly…"
Subaru quickly went through the portal, and left it open so Petelgeuse and Sirius could follow. The portal opened just outside the Roswaal Manor. If it wasn't for the fact they were being chased right now, Garfiel would have commented on the fancy architecture.
"Garf! Go warn the others, I'll keep them distracted!" Subaru ordered the beastman.
"What?! Are ya fuckin' crazy?!"
"I'm immortal, remember?! They can't permanently kill me!"
"Rrrrr… FINE!"
Garfiel ran inside the mansion to look for help while the two Sin Archbishops made their way through the portal, along with their grunts.
"Peek-a-boo, I see you!" Petelgeuse laughed. "Nyahahahaha!"
Subaru could feel his heart sink. "Please... don't make me hurt you two…"
Petelgeuse didn't say anything, as the Unseen Hands were launched at Subaru, intending to grab hold and restrain him,while Sirius did the same with her chains, but Subaru kept his distance from both of them.
"You're coming with us!" the slothful man jeered.
Subaru braced himself as knew there was no avoiding this. "I'm not going anywhere! WRATH OF THE GODS!"
Subaru launched a massive force that pushed the hands and chains back to give him some breathing room.
"SUBARU!"
Subaru turned around to see the others (minus Frederica) running out of the mansion's doors and into the front yard, preparing to face the Sin Archbishops and their grunts.
"KEEP YOUR DISTANCE!" he shouted.
"What do you mean –?!" Before Subaru could answer, Aela could feel herself getting grabbed by something invisible and tossed to the walls of the mansion. "WAAAAA–"
Erik's jaw fell to the floor. "Aela?!"
"What the hell was that?!" Oscar shouted.
"Sloth's got some kinda invisible hands!" Garfiel yelled out as he prepared to fight.
Emilia's eyes snapped wide open as she heard that. "Invisible... hands...?"
Wait a minute… Green and silver hair… eyes just like her's… even their color schemes… Looking at the Sin Archbishops now, Emilia instantly recognized who they were…
Those were Emilia's foster parents. Her father and mother. Geuse and Fortuna.
She felt sick. She felt like the tears were threatening to spill out of her eyes. They were supposed to have died in the Elior Forest. Not be turned into…
"No. No, no, no, no…"
Beatrice and even Roswaal recognized the insane man. "No... Guese. Is that truly you?"
"HEY!" Subaru shouted. "TALK LATER, SURVIVE NOW!"
"UL GOA!" Sirius launched a volley of fireballs towards everyone, but the water users were able to use a Huma barrier that blocked the attack, albeit barely.
Ram decided to return the favor. "AL FURA!"
Sirius simply smirked as she allowed herself to get hit by the attack, which caused a massive slice on her chest. Ram was momentarily confused by that, before suddenly collapsing, as a massive identical gash appeared on her chest. "HRRK!"
"SISTER!" Rem ran towards her twin.
"RAM!" Even Roswaal was shocked at this.
Subaru was just bewildered by this. "What the hell...?"
It didn't make any sense. Why was Ram suddenly hurt? Guese's invisible hands weren't anywhere near Ram, so why...?
Then, Subaru realized that Sirius didn't even bother dodging. Was that her Authority…?
"You bitch!" Rem roared. "I'LL KILL YOU!"
"No! Rem, don't!" Subaru's words fell on deaf ears as Rem activated her horn and charged at Sirius in a bloodlusted frenzy. "Siegmeyer, stop her!"
"On it!"
"Erik, get to healing Ram!" Subaru yelled out before running off with Seigmeyer.
"Right!"
Rem swung her Morningstar around and prepared to crush Sirius's head, but Subaru intervened by grabbing onto the chain. Seigmeyer also intervened by making sure Sirius wasn't able to do anything.
"Rem, you've gotta calm down! We don't know what Fortuna's ability is!"
"IT'S GETTING HER STUPID HEAD CRUSHED IN BY ME, THAT'S WHAT IT IS!"
"NO! You don't understand!" the nasty-eyed Undead shouted, as he kept her back. "That wound on Ram appeared right when she attacked Sirius! It has to be connected!"
"He's right!" Siegmeyer yelled. "Listen to reason!"
Sirius grinned despite the pain she was going through. "Go ahead... attack me... give into your wrath…"
"I… I… I…" Rem's eyes then started glowing red as she began getting angrier and angrier, Subaru then wrapped his arms around her to keep her from lashing out too much.
"Rem! Calm down!" Subaru's words fell on deaf ears as she was thrashing and yelling like a rabid animal.
The other Cultists saw this as their chance to capture their target, but they were wiped out in an instant by the undead Court Mage.
Emilia, meanwhile, was trying a different set of tactics. "Mother! You have to stop!"
"Mother?" Sirius twisted her head at Emilia. "What are you on about?"
"It's me! Emilia! Your niece! You raised me like your daughter in Elior along with Geuse! You have to remember me!"
"I…" Sirius shook her head. "No! Lies! ALL LIES!"
Emilia kept going, hoping to reach her surrogate mother. "You and Geuse gave everything to protect me and Elior Forest from Pandora and Greed! Remember that! Remember who you are! BOTH OF YOU!"
As Sirius began to scream, everyone's heads began to hurt, like, seriously bad.
Subaru was clutching his head in pain as he tried to gather himself. Everyone's... in pain...? Wait... letting herself get hit... the slash on Ram... this major headache... that must be her Authority... she can share her pain and injuries with others...
Subaru knew there was only one shot at making both this pain go away and taking down both the Sin Archbishops, as he moved closer towards Sirius.
"MAKE IT STOP!" Sirius screamed. "MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!"
Subaru turned to the insane spirit, and positioned himself in just the right spot. "Hey, Guese… you want me? I'm right here? Come and get me, malnourished Hulk!"
Petelgeuse fought through the pain and looked directly at Subaru. "I will... FULFILL MY DUTY!"
Petelgeuse unleaded his Unseen Hands once more, sending them flying towards Subaru, who had the last second dodge, sending them straight towards Sirius.
WHAM!
Due to a combination of pain and determination to complete his mission, Petelgeuse ended up ramming his Unseen Hands right into Sirius' head, knocking her out cold.
Everyone seemed to collapse at that, as Subaru smiled, before collapsing, as well.
Hearing everything going silent, Frederica soon came out and saw everyone unconscious. The maid sighed, as she began to get to work. "Once more, I have to clean…"
At least her little brother was with her again. Little victories.
A few hours later, the nasty-eyed Undead opened his eyes to see that he was resting on a bed. Looking around, he could see that it was his designated room within the Roswaal Mansion.
"Fuuuuuck…" Subaru groaned as his head was killing him. "I need some aspirin…"
"Well, look who's finally up."
The Japanese man turned around to see that Patches was sitting by his bedside. Not only that, but Frederica was standing at the far end of the bed, waiting for Subaru to get up.
"What'd I miss?" Subaru asked.
Frederica sighed and began to explain. "After everything went silent, I checked outside and saw everyone unconscious. I brought everyone inside and provided Ram with some medical treatment to prevent her from bleeding out. I also went ahead and locked up the two Sin Archbishops in the dungeon."
"Missed out on all the action?" he joked.
"I was making sure Petra was safe." Frederica responded.
"She was here?"
"Yes, she arrived while you were gone."
"Heh," the former Great Sage let out a half-hearted chuckle. "I don't know whether I should be glad that she missed all the violence, or annoyed that she came to work late…"
There was a small groan, as Subaru looked down to see that, at the foot of his bed, Emilia was there, and she had begun to wake up. Huh. I didn't even notice her there…
Patches then got his usual stupid grin. "Hey, Frederica, head out."
Frederica raised an eyebrow in concern. "Are you sure?"
"Trust me, it'll be funny."
"Very well. Call me if you need me, Subaru-sama."
Subaru nodded, as Frederica walked out of the room, and Patches cleared his throat.
"Emilia?!" Patches shouted, with false worry. "EMILIA!"
"AH!" Emilia's eyes instantly shot open as she heard Patches scream at her. "AH?! WHAT THE HELL?!"
"OH, THANK GOODNESS YOU'RE AWAKE!" the bald Undead shouted, crying false tears. "IT'S BEEN THREE HUNDRED YEARS! EVERYONE ELSE IS DEAD!
Emilia's eyes widened as much as they could be. "WHAT?!"
"YES! WE'RE THE ONLY ONES LEFT, AND THE WORLD IS GOING TO END!" Emilia looked like she was processing that everyone she knew and loved was dead, as Patches smirked.
Admittedly, it was funny for a few seconds, but Subaru knew that it would only be a matter of time before Patches took it too far. Sighing, he said, "Okay, that's enough."
Emilia snapped her head to Subaru. "What?! Enough what?!"
"Patches was just being a dick. It's only been a couple of hours since we were knocked out."
"Pfft… worth it." Emilia took a second before growling and kicking Patches in the face, launching him to the other side in the room. "OW! Did I really deserve that?!"
"Little bit."
"Well, I thought it was funny," the kleptomaniacal Undead said, rubbing his head.
Emilia sighed as she regained her composure. "Ugh... so, is everyone okay?"
Subaru nodded. "For the time being, yeah."
"How did we get knocked out? And why were we in such pain before then?"
"It was your mom's Authority. She can apparently transmit her pain and injuries onto others, so, I had your dad knock her out, which ended up knocking everyone out."
Emilia was silent for a few seconds. "I see... where are they?"
"In the dungeon."
Emilia then prepared to ask what she needed to. "They're... alright?"
"Physically? Yes. Mentally? No."
"Is it... like what happened with Satella?"
"Somehow even worse," Subaru grimaced.
"Worse...?"
Subaru sighed and explained, "Satella just has a split personality in the form of Envy. Both Guese and Fortuna are just batshit insane."
"...Is there a way to help them?"
"Maybe. I'll definitely try, though," the tracksuit-wearing Undead said. "Best we can hope for is being able to repair their minds while we wait to remove their Authorities…"
Emilia nodded to that. "Alright... let's make sure everyone's okay."
"Yeah, good call."
Subaru and Emilia, as well as Patches, left the room and made their way to the others. Frederica was waiting outside the room. "I assume you're done now?"
"Yeah, Patches was just doing something stupid," Subaru said.
"I heard," the maid said, as she rolled her eyes.
"How is everyone doing?" the silver-haired half-elf asked.
Frederica frowned a bit. "They'll live, but that doesn't mean they aren't complaining."
Subaru sighed. "Well, let's go see them."
Elsewhere in the Roswaal's mansion, the rest of the newfound Emilia Camp were in the biggest room within the manor, whether laying on the couches or the floors.
"How are you feeling?" Erik asked Aela, who was still clutching her head in pain.
"Like crushing you…"
Erik gulped a bit. "I'll... just take that as 'I'm fine'..."
Serana didn't get it. "Crush him like… railing?"
Erik's face went crimson red at that.
"Heh-heh," Siegmeyer chuckled, still out of it. "Rail."
Rem was currently tending to her sister. "Sister, are you okay?"
"I want my lungs to leave my body," Ram hissed.
"Cease your whining and allow Betty to continue healing you, in fact."
"Meeeh…" Ram stuck her tongue out at the Great Spirit.
Subaru, as well as the others, walked into the room. "Hey guys, how's everyone doing?"
Multiple groans of varying volumes.
"I'll take that as an "I'll live"."
Multiple single-finger salutes rise up.
Subaru sighed as he looked at the door to the dungeon across the room. "Alright, now I need to go talk to our other guests."
"Should I come with you?" the amethyst-eyed girl asked.
"That's up to you." The silver-haired half-elf thought about it, before she nodded in determination.
Subaru nodded in return. "Then let's go."
The Chosen Undead and the Dragon walked down into the dark basement, where they could hear the rattling of chains coming from below.
They soon saw the two Sin Archbishops in separate cells. Sirius had been stripped of her chains and attempting to use her elven strength to release herself from being chained to the walls, as was Petelguese, who was trying to bend the bars with his Unseen Hands.
Subaru had constructed those two cells specifically for the contentment of Authority wielders, but in all honesty, it was nothing short of a miracle that it worked. He should count himself lucky that this generation's Sloth and Wrath had such mid-Authorities, in the grand scheme of things.
"Huh." Subaru then realized he forgot something about the cells. "Wonder how they'll pee…"
"YOU!" Petelgeuse pointed at Subaru. "RELEASE US AT ONCE!"
Subaru just raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"We were ordered to capture you and bring you to Pandora-sama! We would be slothful if we could not complete our task!" the green-haired man explained his broken reasoning.
"Wow, he answered honestly."
Emilia, meanwhile, looked at her foster father with a mix of pity and sadness. Like he was too far gone. "Geuse... do you really not remember who we are?"
Petelguese tried to pin her from somewhere. There was a small familiarity in the back of his mind, but it was too much of a mess. "You… are you… Satella?!"
"No, I'm Emilia. The little half-elf girl you met in Elior Forest."
"Eh? Is this a test?"
"No, I'm trying to get you to remember me! You were like a father to me!"
"Is that some kind of pick-up line?!" Sirius yelled from her cell.
Emilia then faced her aunt. "And you! I watched you die! I thought you were killed, only to just find out you went insane and made a puppet by Pandora!"
"LIES!" the badgered women roared. "YOU SPEAK LIES!"
Emilia screamed out in response, silencing them both. "NO! I'M NOT! You are Fortuna! My aunt! The person who acted as my mother! You took care of me and always made sure I was okay! So why... WHY CAN'T EITHER OF YOU REMEMBER ME?!"
Both of the Sin Archbishops remained silent, but stared at the half-elf.
"Well?! SAY SOMETHING!"
Subaru put his hand on her shoulder. "Emilia… that's enough."
Emilia then began back up until she hit the wall. "Why...? Why does she keep doing this to us...? Why does Pandora love making us suffer...?"
"I don't know. I honestly don't know."
Emilia leaned against the wall and started to cry.
Subaru grimaced at this, wondering what all this could be for. What was Pandora's endgame?
Why destroy their lives…?
Eventually, Subaru picked up the crying Emilia and carried her back up the stairs, leaving the couple of Sin Archbishops alone to stew in their madness and self-reflection.
Author's Note: Talk about a depressing ending, huh?
(Welp, we have now met some of the other Sin Archbishops, being Wrath and Sloth. They also happen to be Emilia's surrogate parents, Fortuna and Guese, who have gone insane due to incompatibility. Will they eventually recover? Guess we'll have to find out later.)
5queso: Alright, that's enough Marvel references out of you. Anywho, I'm glad you liked the previous chapter. Subaru casually hanging out with the Witches is always fun to write, as it's fun to imagine the outside perspective of some random guy hanging out with such ancient monsters. Infinite and I also have fun portraying Echidna as a mix of her canon self, along with pining over Subaru. (It's mostly Erna's interpretation of Echidna, and I just kinda got hooked on.) Yeah, it is mostly me…
Qubon: I can see that your autocorrect certainly hates you, given that it added the word cyciero (He means one of the Dark Brotherhood's members) and tought (maybe that's a misspell). But anyways, about the likelihood of Subaru getting jumped by some of Miraak's followers or the Thalmor, well… Infinite? (Well, we don't really have any plans for the Thalmor at this point in time, but Miraak… well, he and his own cultists will show up soon enough.) Good luck with the autocorrect for when you comment again! (Also, word of advice, take time to look over a comment before you post it in order to correct any autocorrects or misspells that may have occurred. Just a little friendly advice.)
Kifhjoofff: Siempre disfruto escribiendo Echidna como un simple. (Sí, todo eso estuvo bien.)
Anyways, back to the regular old shilling…
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Thanks for reading, and once again, see you next time!
- Ernalore & Infinite the Celestian